So you’re planning your wedding during a global pandemic? We admire your bravery and dedication to romance; highly commendable, indeed. But doing so when your schedule is packed with commitments? We doff our wedding hat to you doubly, and with enthusiasm!
Because let’s face it, even at the best, most serene of times, wedding planning can be a stressful business, with face-to-face meetings, tastings, viewings and wedding dress fittings all required of you. Should you still be holding down a job whilst fulfilling your obligations to your future holy matrimony, then you’ll know how tough it can be to manage your time effectively. Tough, we said, but certainly not impossible; here’s how to prepare for your wedding on a busy schedule in 5 IDEAL steps.
MAKE SURE YOUR PARTNER GETS INVOLVED
‘The happy couple’; the clue’s in the billing don’t you think? And although tradition dictates that one half tends to take on more of the planning than the other, the wedding shouldn’t be a one-person effort. Should your partner not be pulling their weight, it speaks volumes about their commitment to everlasting love, don’t you think?
If both of you are ‘all in’ on the wedding planning, then you can manage your time more efficiently, and turn-take on some of the appointment obligations. If you’re unavailable to visit the event venue, for instance, perhaps your partner can go it alone? By ensuring you have the full support of your soon-to-be spouse, you’re effectively doubling the time you have to plan.
BE SMART IN USING YOUR DAY OFF
It’s a certainty that you’ll need to take some days off so you can deal with the finer details of your wedding; suppliers need to be met, bouquets personalised, wedding DJs disciplined into laying off the Duran Duran…and most commonly, they’ll only be available for face-to-face discussion during work hours.
Since the request might feel frivolous to a draconian employer, it’s necessary to pace these days off throughout the year, so you can maximise your potential for precise wedding planning.
Thankfully, there are many things you can do over the weekends and evenings, so you can still make significant progress without having to face your employer asking for more time off. For example, you can design and order your perspex sheet welcome sign, correspond with your photographer, book your honeymoon, and even work on your DIY centrepieces. Though there’s of course plenty to do, there’s always time you can eke out seemingly from nowhere to do it!
HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER
You will most likely have a difficult time dealing with the fine print, bureaucracy and administration of your wedding alone. And let’s face it, if there’s anything to take the romance out of the occasion, it’s endless phone calls and form filling.
Fortunately, wedding planners exist and can take care of some of the precise details, whilst you dictate your overarching vision from a distance. With the average fee for a wedding planner clocking in at least £2000, should you be looking for something more affordable, then take a look at our rundown of the IDEAL month-by-month wedding planning checklist. You can thank us in your speech.
GUESTLIST POLITICS
If your budget is tight, you’ll have to make some sacrifices on the guest list, and it’s better to make these decisions (and the dreaded sharing of them) as early as possible, to avoid wasting time nearer the actual date sorting out guestlist politics. Instead, if everyone is aware of their role well in advance, you’ll have less micromanaging to do nearer the time. Though the dream is to invite everyone and their aunt, realistically, it’s only yours and your fiance’s actual aunt who should be attending.
When devising your guestlist, make two; an A-list and B-list. The all important A-list consists of the VIPS, like your closest friends and family. After you send out invitations and receive the replies, you’ll be able to calculate the exact number of people coming and conclude how many more guests you can squeeze in. And here’s where the B-list comes in handy: you can invite “less important” people from this list.
It can be liberating to settle on a smaller venue and more compact party, and current COVID-19 restrictions make this compulsory for the time being. In terms of planning a wedding on a busy schedule, deciding on a tighter affair will mean it’s not such a stressful slog making the event work for you.
Reassuring words, indeed, and the perfect excuse to downsize.
DON’T RUSH
Your wedding is you and your partner’s special day, and you shouldn’t feel compelled to rush the planning of it just to appease friends and family. There’s no shame in rescheduling or putting back the date if your current work commitments make planning an impossibility.
You don’t want to sacrifice the quality of your wedding because you only had a short time to put it together; instead, a longer wait might benefit the event as a whole. It’s one of the biggest days of your life, and deserves your full attention; good luck and we await our invite in the post!