Where to begin your wedding planning
Congratulations if you’re reading this and you just got engaged!!
My social media (and real life too) has been flooded with so many friend’s engagements and it makes me so happy, I do love a good engagement story! And with all these new engagements, I have seen so many people asking “where do I start with wedding planning?”
I won’t pretend to be a wedding planner, but from many years experience performing at weddings and seeing so many beautiful ceremonies, and knowing and working with so many other wedding suppliers across Northern Ireland and also recently planning my own wedding… I do have some tips and advice for you!
The first thing to do is celebrate your engagement! You’ve got an incredibly exciting, but also sometimes stressful, time ahead of you so don’t forget to take time to really celebrate with your friends and family and get hyped up for planning!
The first step in actually planning your wedding though, is definitely to book your ceremony and reception venue and set a date. Without a date and venue, you won’t really be able to book other suppliers as it will all depend on their availability and whether or not they can travel to your wedding. You might also want to know where your venue is and when before you pick your wedding dress, because a long sleeved ball gown might be stunning in a castle in winter, but it wouldn’t suit a beach wedding in summer. So I’d advise thinking about your budget, your guest list, and take time to search around a few venues, and schedule a few visits to find your perfect venue. I think wedding fairs that are in venues are a fantastic way to see the venue dressed as it would be and you also know that all the suppliers are happy to travel to that venue and also probably have experience working there!
Once you’ve got a date confirmed, after that you can jump in to booking other suppliers! Photographers, seamstresses, musicians, bands, florists…they can all get booked up very quickly so my advice would be to book any supplier you have your heart set on as soon as you can, and work your way through your list. Start with what you feel is most important to you (I made sure I had my ceremony music sorted! And also my dress!)
Don’t forget about ceremony music - if you are getting married in a church, they might provide musicians but they might not, so you’ll need to check. If you’re getting married in a hotel or other venue, you’ll need to book a musician.
You’ll maybe also want a musician to entertain guests at your pre-drinks reception or maybe during your evening meal to add a special touch!
And after the meal you should consider booking a live band to get the party started, and a DJ to keep the night going!
If you’re stuck getting started with wedding planning, or if you’re finding it all too stressful (and trust me, it can get stressful!) then check out The Wedding Shop. You can choose from 75+ suppliers from across Northern Ireland and Ireland and book it all in the one place! It’s a great way actually to keep track of your spending and stick to your budget, which can often get forgotten about when you get carried away with the overwhelm of planning.
In my upcoming posts, I’ll share my advice on how to find the perfect musician for your day and how to begin choosing music for your ceremony!
If this was helpful, let me know! And what other topics would you like me to discuss on this blog
Happy planning!
Lisa
Photo by Becca McIlroy Photography
