Planning your wedding is simultaneously a hugely exciting and stressful experience that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
Be sure to read on for advice and a few helpful tips on making the whole process as smooth and as painless as possible.
1) Don’t start planning anything until you’ve settled on a budget
It might be incredibly tempting to jump straight in and immediately book your dream venue once you and your partner have agreed on a date for your big day, but it’s crucial you take a step back and wait till you’ve managed to work out exactly how much you’ve got to spend in each area.
This way, you can identify which specific elements of your wedding you’d really like to splash out on and what you’re happy to scrimp a little bit on, so you can assign more of your budget to what’s really important to you and make your day extra special.
Use whichever method you like to come up with your budget, but we recommend using something like one of the many free online tools which allow you to easily keep track of how much you’ve spent throughout the process.
2) Do make sure you wear your shoes in
You’re going to want to be on your feet making the most of every lovely moment on your special day so you definitely want to make sure your shoes are comfortable!
Try to break them in as much as you can before your wedding by wearing them around the house with a pair of socks to prevent them from rubbing or giving you painful blisters when you’re trying to dance the night away with your new partner.
If you know you’re going to have a particularly busy day or that you’re not going to have time to break your shoes in properly, you should consider buying some inexpensive gel cushioning insoles for a nice extra bit of comfort.
3) Don’t forget to learn your lines
Whether you’ve chosen to write your own beautiful vows or stick with wonderfully traditional ones, rehearsing them beforehand will really help with eliminating some of your nerves.
You don’t have to spend hours learning them by heart as even just familiarizing yourself with the general gist and flow will take away some of the stress of trying to remember them.
If you do unfortunately stumble while you’re standing up there, which is perfectly normal under the circumstances and not something you should worry about, you’ll find it much easier to smoothly regain your footing if you’ve had a little bit of practice first.
4) Do think twice before you decide to go for a DIY wedding
The idea of putting on a DIY wedding might seem like a brilliantly creative way to get the exact kind of day you’re after and a great way to save money, but it’s essential to consider how much work you’ll really have to put in order to properly pull it off.
There so much that needs doing in order for weddings to happen, from hugely essential tasks like selecting a stunning dress to making tiny decisions on what kind of font you’d like on your place cards, that it’s very easy to get completely overwhelmed even if you’ve got a very creative background.
If you’re really set on the idea of a DIY wedding, it’s important to be realistic. Instead of doing the whole wedding yourself, pick a number of smaller tasks which you know you’ll be able to comfortably pull off in plenty of time.
Making your own wedding cake for example, is difficult to get right unless you’re a professional but if you like the idea of making something edible, why not decorate a number of charming mason jars and fill them with your favourite sweets? It’s so much more manageable and is sure to go down a treat with your guests!
5) Don’t forget to enjoy the planning stage!
Planning a wedding is naturally quite a stressful endeavour but always remember to have fun while you’re doing it!
Whether you’re having a girly day shopping for bridesmaid’s dresses with your best friends, scrolling through luxury honeymoon destinations with your partner or choosing your favourite floor fillers for your perfect wedding disco playlist, you’ll be making memories that you’ll cherish forever.
