Wedding Wednesday: First Things First

This past Saturday marked exactly 1 year until our wedding. It feels like just yesterday I was calling all my family & friends to tell them J had proposed. Since we are officially less than a year out I thought it would be the perfect time to start my Wedding Wednesday series. Not sure how often I will post these, but I definitely want to share some insight on planning a wedding. Since this is my first Wedding Wednesday I thought I would share some of the first things you should do. Here are my top 3 things to do at the very beginning of your planning.

1.     Make a budget

I know this doesn’t sounds very fun, but it’s very realistic. Your budget can dictate a lot of aspects about your wedding. It’s also a good time to talk with your fiancé, your family and their family about who is going to pay for what and what everyone is willing to contribute. Things are so different from back in the day when it was the bride’s family who paid for almost everything. Now many couples pay for their own wedding or there is contributions from both families. There is also even a combo where both families contribute what they can, and the couple makes up the rest. Whatever your situation ends up being you will be very happy you had this conversation up front and that it’s out of the way. (Tip: Have these conversations however you two are comfortable. If you want both families to sit down together that’s great. If you think it needs to be a more one on one thing that works too. Do what feels best and the least stressful!)

2.     Guest List

This is important to do next for a couple reasons. First of all, remember that budget? Well more people = more money! I’m not saying you shouldn’t invite the people you want to be there on your special day. Just keep in mind the more people you have the more food, booze, & favors you will need. There are tons of ways to get creative if you do have a larger guest count and don’t have an arm and a leg to spend on said food, booze & favors. The second thing your guest count can have a huge impact on is your venue. I didn’t even think of this until a girl at work mentioned it. If your guest count is going to be 300 people you don’t want to start looking at venues that have a max capacity of 150. You will never get enough regrets or be creative enough with a seating plan to make that work. Nor would you want to. You don’t have to have exact numbers, but a rough estimate will be really helpful.

3.     Venue

In my opinion your venue should be one of this first if not the very first thing you book for your wedding. Your venue is one of the biggest parts of your wedding. It can have an impact on your style. For instance, you don’t want to look at super rustic barns if your vision is a 1920’s glam wedding. Not saying this couldn’t work, but your venue will really help your vision come together. They also book up super fast! True story: I called a venue back in July to tour and the first thing all of them ask is if you have a date in mind. We were thinking January 5^th, 2020 but weren’t married (haha) to the exact date yet. (Mind you January 5^th, 2020 is a Sunday.) When I told her January 2020, she goes “Ok. We have all weekends open except Sunday, January 5^th and Saturday, January 18^th” I remember thinking are you freaking kidding me?? What crazy person already has a Sunday booked a year and a half out?! No offense to anyone that plans really far ahead of time but let that be a lesson that venues (especially popular ones) can book up QUICK!

So, there you have it. My top 3 things you should do first on your wedding planning journey. I am no expert, but just thought I would share what worked for me and some things I encountered and tips I was offered. If you have any other questions I would be more than happy to try and help answer them. Feel free to email me @ fashionablylateblonde@gmail.com. And if you have any wedding tips please feel free to also send those my ways.