It’s a sad but oh-so-real truth; for some brides, wedding planning takes over their lives for months, if not years. And in some cases, the pressure to be precise with the prep puts a dampener on the day itself.
Weddings are notorious for being complicated, frustrating and expensive to plan, with a fine juggling act required to ensure the day is a success. Only then, it seems, can the happy couple focus on the happily-ever-after bit.
Things rarely go smoothly, that’s for sure, but you can mitigate some of the risks of mishap and misadventure with some savvy planning. Prep smarter not harder, as they say, and with that in mind, here are 7 wedding planning tips that are actually useful.
DO IT AS A TEAM OF TWO
We’ve all heard the warnings about both couples being equally involved in the wedding planning process. It feels inevitable that when this happens, there will be arguments galore.
However, for us, a ‘’tell-me-where-to-show-up’’ kind of partner is a stereotype we’re not on board with. As the saying goes, ‘two heads are better than one’, and this is certainly true for sharing the wedding planning load fairly and amicably.
The guys over at Brides.com have some useful ideas on planning your wedding as a team of two. These great tips include setting up a wedding-specific email account so you can both stay in the loop with what’s going on, and emphasising the importance of planning by numbers – this works by agreeing on specific budgeting figures early on and sticking to them.
Remember that teamwork makes the dream work, after all.
CONSIDER A SMALL WEDDING
The pandemic has certainly made organising nuptials for couples problematic. With the uncertainty and risk involved in planning a wedding, many couples are re-evaluating what was important to them in the first place. For most, that is being married not getting married, and definitely not whether their third cousin removed should sit next to crazy aunt Beverly at the reception.
Indeed, if Covid-19 weddings have taught us anything, it’s that those big, lavish affairs that once felt normal may well now be consigned to the history books.
That’s not to say that if you’ve always dreamed of having a big lavish wedding, you shouldn’t still go for it – everybody loves a big party, after all! What we’re saying is that the global pandemic has perhaps led to an acceptance of greater flexibility regarding wedding dates, the size of the event, the make-up of the guestlist and more.
This lowering of expectations might be a blessing, taking the heavy burden of expectation from the event in favour of fun and frivolity.
Read: 7 top wedding trends we’re going to be seeing this year and beyond
MAKE A SPREADSHEET
However large or small your wedding is, a mental to-do list alone isn’t large enough to remember all the details for your big day. It’s time to dust off those excel spreadsheet skills you learnt in sixth form and make a spreadsheet to collate all the key dates, times, prices and contact details all in one place!
As the guys over at Wired highlight in their article ‘The Hyper Organised World of Wedding Spreadsheets‘, where planning a wedding is less about “I do’, more about ‘to do’, “spreadsheets can be generally helpful, they can also quickly spiral out of control, becoming a bullet-pointed reminder of all the social expectations heaped on people (and especially women) preparing for what they’re conditioned to believe must be a perfect event. “
Having a visual collection of the important information of the day isn’t only incredibly useful, it can also be reassuring simply knowing it’s there.
Read: Wedding planning 101 and the IDEAL elements in the run up to your big day
BE PREPARED FOR THINGS TO GO WRONG
Let’s face it, here; things aren’t going to go 100% to plan.
Depending on the type of wedding you choose, you may need a plan B on various aspects of the day, as a safety net for an inevitable hiccup which could well appear from nowhere.
If you’re planning an outdoor wedding, you need to think about the worst case scenario in terms of the weather. Weather reports can only tell you so much, and let’s face it, a lot of the time they’re inaccurate, which could leave you wet and soggy on your big day. When you’ve spent so much money on your outfit and the ceremony décor, the last thing you want is for the weather to ruin it all.
To avoid this, think about a plan B i.e. an undercover area that you can rush to if things don’t work out. Your chosen venue might have a room that you can use if it rains or is stormy. If not, you’ll need to discuss a contingency idea with the venue so that you’re 100% prepared.
It’s not only the weather that needs a backup plan in place. A few other common, last-minute disasters include
- The wedding car breaking down
- The wedding entertainment not showing up
- Inappropriate, impromptu speeches
- An eleventh hour caterer cancellation
- A damaged dress or suit
- An outbreak of illness in your wedding party
Don’t fret! Rather, have a simple, workable backup plan for such eventualities.
THINGS YOUR GUESTS DON’T CARE ABOUT
The finer details of wedding planning can get so minute, that suddenly you can’t see the wood through the trees.
Save yourself money and stress on these things that your guests really won’t care about:
- Your designer dress – The no-label look is more endearing, anyway.
- Wedding programs – Everyone knows how a wedding service goes down these days. While they can be helpful during the service, they usually just get thrown away after. Opt for a big noticeboard with the timings instead.
- Fancy centerpieces – Let’s face it, there is so much chit chat around the dinner table that no one ever notices the displays in the middle of them.
- Wedding favours – While we do enjoy a wedding favour, we can’t tell you how many times we’ve been drunk at the end of the wedding and left them behind. We’re sure you’re the same?
- How the food is served – Whether it’s a plated meal or a basic buffet spread, since you’re kind enough to provide a meal, guests really won’t care how it’s served as long as they get fed. And watered. They will care about getting watered.
ALWAYS OVER BUDGET
As with, well, everything in life, weddings often end up costing more than you had anticipated. Whilst it’s possible to do a wedding on a budget, you will probably need to have a contingency budget just in case. It could be that there are more guests attending than you’d anticipated, or that the dream dress you’ve picked out is slightly more than you had originally thought. Whatever it is, it pays to have a backup pot.
CARE ABOUT YOUR FRIEND’S FINANCES
In normal times, the average cost of attending a wedding in the UK was nearly £400. Since we’re set to see a boom in nuptials, be aware that all your friends and family will likely be attending lots of other happy couple’s nuptials. So that dream wedding you’re planning abroad that will cost a lot of money for your guests to attend, well – do you really want to be that couple?
THE BOTTOM LINE
We hope you’ve found these tips useful and a little of the stress of planning your wedding has been lifted. Now, can we expect our invite in the post?