How to Start Wedding Planning
I am super excited to announce to you that I’m Engaged! It’s only been a couple of weeks, but here are some of my tips for How to Start Wedding Planning!
Wedding planning can be overwhelming, so where do you need to start?! I’ve had a lot of help along the way and figured I’d offer the best Wedding Planning Tips I can at this moment!
1. Breath.
You just got engaged! YAY!! Now what?! Where do you start?! Do you have a date yet?! What about a venue!? Have you decided on colors!? … All of the questions you get asked the first 3 days you are engaged! Don’t worry, you’ve got this! Maybe you had your dream wedding already planned and Pinterest boards full of ideas, or maybe you are like me and waited until there was a ring on your finger to start planning. Just breath.. You don’t have to know everything RIGHT NOW. I sure wasn’t ready for all of the questions that came quickly, but my Fiancé was quick to remind me that “it’s only been 2 days.” Enjoy the time you have and soak in every moment!
2. Find a location.
I though this would be the easy part, but then I started looking and still have a hard time deciding. At this point we have a venue booked, but it also took a lot longer than I had anticipated in my head. I went back and forth on a couple of locations and wanted to pick the one that would be absolutely perfect for us! Well, there were pros and cons of both, and it was really hard to decide between the two. Both places were gracious to work within our budget, but it was a process to get everything processed and the paperwork completed. I thought it would be easy – call, pick a date, see it it’s available, and then decide to book! Well sometimes the booking process has to go through many people so it could take longer than you were hoping. Try to be patient and willing to look at other options along the way!
3. Set a date.
I am all about short engagements! I figure once you know and you are engaged there is no point in waiting. We are waiting jut long enough that we can take vacation and go on a honeymoon. We are doing it as soon as we possibly can and have a date that I absolutely love that is perfect for us! It’s actually a date I was hoping for before we ever got engaged, but we decided not to talk dates until after engagement! We wanted to take the steps in the right order and I’m so glad we did! My Fiancé is great at providing sound wisdom and reassuring me that we don’t have to rush! He’s great at balancing my Type A personality! 🙂
4. Look for deals.
It’s not even been two weeks for us to be engaged and we already have a couple of things ordered and picked out! Not because I was jumping ahead, but because I found some GREAT deals! I even already have my invitations because we found a GREAT deal I couldn’t pass up! Look for deals and ways to make your wedding budget go further. Compromise on the things you don’t really care about and save for the things you want!
5. Decide what is most important.
For us, the most important thing is photography! We can go cheap on invitations, and I am even okay with saving money on a wedding dress. It is super important to us that we have pictures we will love for years to come! We have still been looking for a photographer that fits in our budget, but it’s taken lots of calling, e-mails, and research to find photographers that we love and are affordable! Keep your options open and be willing to dig deeper!
So far it’s been a fun, almost stress free experience! I’m learning to let go of expectations I had in my head and embrace real life! I am hoping to do my wedding on a super tight budget and finding ways to work within that!
To all of the single ladies out there who are still longing and hoping to plan a wedding. Wait till you find the one that God has for you. Wait for someone who loves you and cherishes you for who you are and who God has made you to be! I can’t imagine going through this season of life with anyone else.
I am so thankful for all God has taught me so far in this journey and I’m super excited to see what’s in store! My Fiancé is amazing and I am so thankful for him! Our story is unique and I am thankful for each and every day with him!
We have grown, learned, and played for the last year and he is truly a blessing to me. He helps me grow in the areas that I need most and handles me well when I fall and fail. We are super excited to start planning our wedding and all of the details that that involves! I am hoping for a Vintage Winter Wedding and all that entails! I am hoping to keep you posted on my latest finds and money saving tips we gather along the way!
*A super special thank you to my friend Betsy who took these photos on the night we got engaged! She was hiding in the bushes! 🙂
