Congratulations!
So, if you have found your way here, you are more than likely engaged, totally in love and looking forward to your wedding day! This is such a super exciting time in your relationship and I know exactly what you are going through at the moment. Whether it’s the initial excitement that you said yes, or that you are now a couple of months down the line and want to start planning your day and booking key suppliers.
However, it’s super easy to get quickly overwhelmed by it all – but remember to enjoy the process and don’t lose sight of why you are getting married and coming together to celebrate such a special occasion. Whatever style of day you’re planning, wherever you might be planning to have it, whatever budget you have to spend, don’t feel you have to rush straight into planning the day after you get engaged.
Take some time to just enjoy it!
I wrote recently about my own engagement that happened back in April 2015 which you can read here. I am so pleased we both took a bit of time first and didn’t rush straight into planning.
All ceremonies are a such magical thing between two people declaring their love for one another and committing their lives together! Whether you are planning an elopement, or a small intimate affair at a local Manor House, or having a big do with all your friends and family, whatever you are planning, work out what is the most important thing to the both of you and go from there.
So if I can give any advice for the early stages of your engagement and the planning process, is the following:
1, Set your budget! This is so important, but setting this out from the get-go, you know then exactly how much you want to spend and what you both feel comfortable with. From here on in you then plan your day around this – no arguments about the overall budget as you have both sat down and spoken about what you are happy with.
We had a dream wedding venue (like dream venue!), but we had already set a budget and when it came to the discussion, it just didn’t fit within the budget and would have meant we totally overspent and would leave very little for the other areas that were important to us. So whilst the venue and location was the highest priority for us, in the grand scheme it is not worth over spending, and in my opinion, we had to just stop thinking about that particular one, otherwise I would have kept comparing and felt down about it. Now, I can safely say we have found our perfect venue, a little further afield, but absolutely perfect for what we were looking for!
With setting your budget, definitely consider your guest list too, as that will help you budget for your catering and drinks. They don’t need to be exact numbers to start with, but if you have a rough idea give or take, that will help for sure!
2, Work out your key suppliers! Some people book their weddings 2 years in advance, some book with only a couple of months to go. But certain suppliers like venues, photographers, florists, caterers get booked up fast and really in advance. So my advice to any couple is work out on the day what is the most important things to you, then write a list and get in touch with those people as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment!
3, Get excited, start brainstorming your ideas and get on Pinterest!! I love Pinterest and it’s such a great place to collect your ideas and pictures of inspiration for your day in one place. But word of warning with this one, use it as a place for inspiration, but don’t get too bogged down with trying to find the exact piece in a picture you found! But its great way to see almost a mood board of ideas and see if your colour schemes work together and if it all fits well. If you want to keep off Pinterest and prefer it the old school way – no problem, head to the shops and buy some wedding magazines and get cutting and sticking. I have a beautiful wedding planner which I am keeping lots of pictures and magazine clippings I come across.
Feel free to keep checking back in here over the coming months as I am posting about my own Wedding Planning process over here, and sharing weddings over the year which you may find something you love and inspire you for your own day.
And lastly, if you are looking for a wedding photographer, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Whilst I am based in Dorset and Hampshire, I am a UK and Europe Wedding Photographer. No location is turned away, I will shoot wherever your wedding location is (I love to travel!) So I would love to hear from you, what you have planned for your day and chat about the photography services I can offer you for your wedding day.
GET IN TOUCH FOR YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER HERE
Much love, Charlotte
