I was engaged in October and married in June because I didn’t want to wait. Other people prefer to have more time and are engaged for a year or longer before their wedding day.

There are so many different decisions to make when it comes to the big day!  Whether you are on a small budget or no limit, the basic decisions are the same. The other big factor in your wedding planning is the amount of time between getting engaged and getting married.

 

Now that you are engaged!!

The key things to think about first:

  • What time of year do you want to get married?
  • How many people do you want in your bridal party?
  • Do you want a big or small wedding?
  • Colors?

Next few key questions:

  • What is your ideal date?
  • Ideal location?
  • Budget?

What time of year is the first question because it has a lot to do with the colors, location, indoors or outdoors, cake, flowers, and attire for the wedding party. The time of year also has a lot to do with the budget. Even though, pretty much year round is wedding season, there are places, flowers, cake, and attire less/more expensive depending on the season. 

Ideal date, location and budget are in the second set of questions because depending on your date and location or if you choose a destination wedding, the budget can change drastically just from those few questions being answered.

If you have a short engagement like I did, you can either skip the save the date in the mail. I actually made my Christmas cards our engagement photo/save the date/ Merry Christmas.

Generally speaking, the venue (location) for the wedding is the first thing you will need to book as soon as you decide on it. The venues fill up fast and you don’t want to miss getting married on the date you want. 

  

I crammed 12+ months worth of planning into 9 months. If you are not an organized person there are different wedding sites and apps or you can do it the old fashion way and print out a checklist. I used theKnot.com for my planning and downloaded the app. Below is a “Snap-Shot” of what theKnot.com helps with: checklist, budget, website, guest list, registry, etc. 

An example of a wedding profile on the knot.comI found the colors, flowers, suits, dresses (even my dress) and cake style pictures all before I ever went and looked anywhere. TheKnot.com allows you to save pictures into your favorites for items you find on their site, and they are linked to shops in your area where you could go look and/or buy what you have selected for your favorites. 

      

Pinterest as we all know is another great place to save a wedding file of pictures for the big day. I am a bargain shopper and generally will shop throughout the year when items are on sale to get what I want for less and just hold onto it until I need it. 

Zulily.com and Etsy.com are great places to get table decorations, place cards, programs, fans, aisle runners, guest party favors, etc.

      

I am a planner, so if you are not a planner, I would say make sure you have a checklist of some sort so you don’t forget something on your wedding day! The wedding day is for you and your groom to enjoy and make memories of the happiest day of your life!