Wedding planning tip - organisation is key
According to Google, getting married is in the top 10 of most stressful things you can do in your life, but it doesn't have to be. If you play smart and set expectations early on, wedding planning can be fun and enjoyable.
If I can give you one tip to take away from my own experience, it’s be organised.
Organisation is the key to eliminating any unnecessary stress and arguments that arise during the planning process, but it will also empower you to make good decisions. You won’t be able to stop things going wrong, but if you’re organizsd you can take control if any situation, when it arises.
The biggest organisational saving grace for me was booking my 3rd party supplier dream team as early as possible, which included our photographer, florist, cake designer, hair and makeup artist and musicians. I started booking them maybe a week after I had found and secured my venue which was around 4-6 weeks after we got engaged. If I hadn’t done this, the people I really loved wouldn't have been available when I wanted them, particularly because 2020 is a popular year for weddings because of the 2020 date. I am one of those girls who wanted to get married in 2020 because i’m a bit of a wierdo and like palindromic numbers, but I’m clearly not the only one.
Whilst talking about suppliers, it would be remiss of me not to mention that EVERYONE I have on board for my wedding has done one of my closest friend’s weddings. I did this because 1) I’ve seen their work first hand and know I like what they do 2) If they get on with my best friend, they will most certainly get on with me too. Finding people through word of mouth is the best marketing you will ever get as a wedding creative. Anyway, because I did this, I was able to organise my wedding dream team pretty quickly, thus eliminating the stress of having to go through the tedious ‘finding someone’ process.
Having a shit hot spreadsheet/organisational system is also key to stress free wedding planning. I would love to show you mine because it's truly a work of art. If I didn't have it, I would be a damn mess. To give you one example of my spreadsheet AKA, the Oracle - I have a supplier tab, which contains a list of all the third parties we’re hiring, their prices, the details of their scope of work, and payment deadlines. This spreadsheet has not only been useful in the obvious way, but it's been great to be able to share with family members so they feel in the loop and don't have to ask me so many questions. Another way of avoiding arguments and unnecessary stress.
It is true that everything falls into place once you have the date and the venue (try and secure this early too - some venues even give you a discount for booking more than 18 months in advance!), but try and be as organised as you can be with everything else. Set expectations with family and friends from the get go and be clear in your communication with them. Essentially, don’t leave everything to the last minute.