Quick Start Guide: How to Make Your Way Through Wedding Planning

Have you recently got engaged? Congratulations! This is sure to be a fun and love-filled time for you and your partner as you start planning your dream wedding.

There’s a lot to consider when organising the big day, from the all-important dress to the venue, catering and guest list. 

Here, we give you a quick guide on how to plan your day and prioritise important tasks. Let’s get started!

Step one: create a budget

First things first, you need to decide on a realistic budget for your wedding. This is the most pivotal first step as it will inform all the other decisions you make, from the venue to the catering and entertainment. 

Step two: choose a guest list

Decide how many people you want to invite to the wedding before you start looking at venues. After all, there’s no point spending time looking around places that aren’t big enough to cater for your nearest and dearest. 

Step three: find a venue

Next up, you can start looking at venues! This is a magical and exciting part of the planning process, as you and your significant other can start visualizing how your big day will look. While getting “the feeling” is important, you should also consider practical elements like cost, size, and catering abilities. 

Step four: organise your registrar or religious minister

Found your dream venue? Now’s the time to organise the legal bits. To get married in the UK, you need to have either a religious or civil ceremony. 

If you’re getting hitched in a religious building such as a church, you’ll need an “authorised person”, such as a minister, to attend and sign the marriage schedule. 

If your ceremony won’t be religious, then contact your local registry office to find out their availability, book them for your wedding date, and then give notice that you intend to marry.

Step four: consider your suppliers

When you’ve booked your venue and officiant, your wedding date is secure. Hurrah! That means you can start looking for your suppliers. Some of the key people you will need include:

• Caterers (if food and drink isn’t provided by the venue)
• Florist
• Hair and make-up stylist 
• Photographer and/or videographer
• Cakemaker 
• DJ or band
• Wedding car provider

Step five: send out invitations

When you’ve set your date, you can start sending invitations to your family and friends. There are plenty of ways to do this – so do what feels right for you and suits your budget!

For example, you could choose to have a range of beautiful invitations printed and send them to your loved ones in the post. If you’d rather avoid the hassle of sorting stationary or are keen to cut costs, you could send digital invites instead.

Step six: buy your wedding bands

Do you have a beautiful engagement ring on your finger? Then it’s time to find a wedding band to match! Plan a trip out with your partner to try on a range of wedding bands. It’s worth spending some time looking at different styles, sizes and metals until you find “the one”.

From here, you can start to think about how to make your wedding day unique to you as a couple. Whether that’s creating a special theme or incorporating personal touches throughout the day – the wedding is your oyster!

While it can be stressful planning the big day, try to enjoy the process as much as you can. Take it one step at a time and remember that it’s about the commitment you’re making to one another – that’s the most important thing of all!