Top tips for planning a wedding
Wedding planning tips
Are you planning your wedding? Is it making your head hurt? Check out my quick-fire list of top wedding planning tips to get your brains engaged (pun intended!) and your creativeness flowing!
These tips come from both myself and many local wedding suppliers who have been there and done it many, many times!
Plan B
Have alternative plans ready if required – an outdoor ceremony, barbecue and garden games can be amazing, just don’t forget the good old unpredictable British weather!
Budget
Prioritise your budget. Work out what’s most important to you and don’t scrimp in those areas. If they take up more than expected then try and save in other areas of the day, but walking away from an awesome day with any regrets is a no no!
Nicki, Nicki Shea Photography
Flowers
Find a florist who’s work and style you love. That way you know you can trust them to produce something you’ll love. Don’t be afraid to get in touch early to get your date secured, florists often get booked up quickly like other wedding suppliers.
Ellice, Willow & Blossom Floral Design
Find a florist you get a good feeling about on your first meeting that is personable and listens to your ideas and makes you feel confident that they will deliver the brief. It’s no good if you feel you can’t pick the phone up at any point to discuss any concerns or changes you may have.
Kim, Bloom In Gorgeous Flowers By Kim
Save the dates
Don’t necessarily send out save the dates! Don’t get me wrong, I love the stylish impact of a save the date, but do you really need them? Unless you’re having a destination wedding, are getting married on week day or bank holiday, or have friends & relatives travelling from far flung countries, you can probably save yourself a few pennies and skip straight to the invite!
Clare, Clare Gray Designs
Venues/Celebrant led
Before picking a venue consider the possibilities available by having a celebrant led ceremony. This means you can broaden your venue search to non-licensed and possibly more unusual settings
Kelly, Kelly Hawes Celebrant
Colour scheme
Before choosing your colour scheme, look at the flooring, walls and curtains in your venue. If they are heavily patterned then choose a colour scheme that will complement it not fight with it. Your future selves will thank you!
Sandra, Fabulous Functions UK
Likes & Dislikes
Think about other weddings you have been to. What were the parts of the day you liked and disliked? Would you have done things differently?
Makeup
Definitely have a trial. Having a makeup trial before the wedding day allows you to try out some different looks to see what you feel most comfortable and confident in. You’ll still want to be feeling like you on your day, just the best version of you! I often start off with something quite natural and then build up in stages to something quite bold, taking photos on the way so you can look back on and see which you prefer.
Michelle, Michelle Nash Makeup
Cake
When choosing a cake maker ensure you actually get to try the cake. After all it’s a cake – it’s designed to be eaten!
Shelly, La Belle Cake Company
Venue dressing
If you are embarking on a DIY project to dress your venue be realistic as to what you can achieve on the morning of your wedding day! The small details take time to put in place. Hire someone to do it for you. So often I turn up an hour before the ceremony and these things are still being sorted.
Kelly, Kelly Hawes Celebrant
Music
Music plays a key role in creating the right atmosphere, from the ceremony, to the wedding breakfast, right through to the last song of the night. Just imagine your wedding without any music!… Choose songs that you like, that represent you both, that will help create that right atmosphere and bring all your guests together for an amazing day. If you’re struggling for ideas I recommend having an evening going through YouTube or Spotify playlists to help jog your musical memory!
Suppliers
Meet with your suppliers, see their work, take up the opportunities to try before you buy and give feedback.
Vikki, Your Wedding Friend
Don’t be afraid to ask your suppliers lot of questions! I totally understand that you may feel like you know anything about my flowers, but my job is to take you through step by step! Don’t be worried about asking those questions even if you think they might be silly, they are probably not! Suppliers are always happy to help and want to help give you the wedding of your dreams.
Sophie, SA Floristry
When looking for a supplier, meet them or have a consultation with them. A 5 minute phone call is worth 10 emails. You then get to vet them. Building a relationship with them is so worth it.
Sandra, Fabulous Functions UK
If applicable, feed your suppliers, they’ll thank you for it and output will be maximised!
Kevin, Kevin Lines Photography
Do your research when it comes to booking suppliers, check their testimonials, meet them face to face and make sure you see the product they are offering before the day!
Becca, Engage Weddings
Guest numbers
Think about your guest numbers and roughly decide how many you are having before looking at venues. There is no point falling in love with a venue only to find they cannot accommodate your numbers.
Helen, H N Photography
Photography
Also when viewing venues consider if you are wanting a photographer and a videographer what space is available for them to stand/set up. Many small venues seriously do not have the space for both so you then have to compromise.
Helen, H N Photography
If you are having your photographer capture you getting ready, think about if you want to get ready at home, or at a hotel. At your house, you may have clutter laying around in the pictures, but in a nicely presented hotel room, everything will look clean and minimal.
Lee, Lee Rushby Photography
DJ/Band
Whether you decide to go for a DJ or a band for your wedding entertainment, always meet up with them first before booking. Even if it’s just a video call if a meeting isn’t possible. They will be playing a key part in your day so you’ll need to all be on the same wavelength to ensure an awesome evening party!
Don’t miss out!
Make sure you get a chance to see and try out all the wonderful things you have booked for your day; the canapes, the gin bar, the photo booth, the donut wall etc. You could even give someone the job of putting food in you hand! It can be easy to miss things during a busy day – I totally missed the mulled wine at my own wedding! You’ve paid good money for these extras so join in and enjoy them with your guests.
Michelle, Michelle Nash Makeup
Hair
Get your hair wedding ready by starting regular conditioning treatments, upping your water intake, and having regular trims.
Kim, Kim Sandford Hairdressing
Food
Everyone loves a good wedding, but everyone loves it even more when the food and drink are good! It can be a long day and hungry guests will be unhappy guests. There’s no need to go overboard, but try and provide the best food that your budget will allow.
Getting ready/timings
My tip is to allow plenty of time for getting ready on your wedding day – add in extra time for things like unexpected well wishers popping in and things to take longer than you thought, especially lacing up laces on wedding dresses – this can take 30 minutes you may not have planned for.
Jo, Josephine Gray Photography
Timings
My advice would be to consider logistics and timings of your day before booking your venue(s). If you’re getting ready away from your ceremony venue and the reception is at a different place to your ceremony then factor a lot more time for travel than you think. Moving all your guests will take longer than just the journey time on Google maps.
Rachel, Veiled Productions
And finally…
…my top tip, as always is; do things your way how you want to do them. The only things you have to do on the big day is exchange rings and vows. Everything else can be whatever you want!
A big thank you to all my wedding industry friends for taking the time to provide their tips!