First Stage Of The Wedding Plan First off, you don't have to make all the decisions at once when planning your wedding.
If you plan the wedding in manageable stages, it will help make the planning process much less complicated.
Just make sure to plan all the essential elements first as you will need to make any necessary bookings well in advance, as many places are booked out months and even years in advance.
Once you have decided on your budget and before you set the date, you should do some research to find out what is out there in the market, to get an idea of what you might like to include in your wedding.
At the same time, make sure you shop around and get prices on everything so you can then go home and add up all the costs.
This will give you an idea of how well your budget is going to cover all your expenses.
Next you should sit down with your partner and work out all the details of your wedding to use as a guide.
For instance, what kind of ceremony do you want and where to hold it.
These days there are lots of different options to choose from besides the traditional church service.
If you decide on a church wedding make sure you book early to avoid disappointment.
When setting a date for the wedding, bear in mind that certain periods throughout the year are more expensive than others, as they are in more demand.
For instance, if you wanted a December wedding, you might find that all the venues are booked out being so close to Christmas.
You will also find that the costs go up during peak periods throughout the year.
Next you need to choose a theme and color scheme for your wedding.
These two things help set the mood for the type of wedding you are wanting.
Establishing these elements at the start, will help make the wedding planning a lot easier when it's time to shop for items to fit in with the theme and colors you've chosen.
It will also help you focus on exactly what you need to look for and therefore save you wasting time or money on things that don't help you achieve the result you're after.
Having a theme and a color scheme will also be useful when choosing the outfits for the wedding as you will need to coordinate with the other elements you've already picked.
Second Stage Of The Wedding Plan In the weeks leading up to your wedding you need to make decisions about what other elements you want to include in your wedding.
These include things such as picking the cake, hiring a photographer, the flowers, the rings, the entertainment for the reception etc.
During this stage it's important that you make lists of things you need to do so that all your arrangements are coordinated and ensure that all the various elements will come together and be on time.
Some important elements you need to keep checking up on is when bookings need to be finalized with suppliers, payments need to be made, rehearsals for the ceremony, and appointments made for sampling the menu and the cake etc.
Final Wedding Preparations In the couple of weeks before the wedding you should begin to see how all your plans are going to come together.
Make sure to keep a checklist of everything and then double check the list to make sure nothing is left out.
You hear of so many wedding stories of where plans hadn't been checked properly and things went wrong at the last minute.
While many mistakes can be rectified on time, many could have been avoided if the person planning the wedding had double checked the details.
You also need to make appointments to test out different hair and makeup options.
In addition, all the outfits for the wedding party should be ready by now and put away in a place away from everything else to keep them clean and uncreased.