In part 1 of this 2 part blog series, I talked about where to begin with planning and covered the nitty gritty of topics such as budgets, why you should start your styling early and how to plan the structure and timings of the wedding day itself. In this part I want to cover how you tackle the actual organisation of the planning itself - how do you plan your perfect wedding without it driving you completely insane?
CREATING A PLANNING TIMELINE
Working backwards from the month of your wedding, create yourself a timeline by month and start populating it with all the things you will need to do, book, decide on between now and then. Keep it simple, a checklist. Don’t worry month by month if things slip or move in terms of priority but having a plan and check list will keep you sane.
PLAN IN SUPPLIER QUOTING, DESIGN & PRODUCTION TIME
Make sure you plan in design and production time for your suppliers. For example, if you want to send save the dates by a certain date, you’ll need to decide on the stationery designer ahead of this and allow them time to quote, design and print the items. You also need to plan in time to get your suppliers the information they will need – in this example, names and addresses from your guest list and the key wording. If you want a band to learn a first dance, ask them the notice time they need. Ask caterers when they need final numbers and menu choices to be made and when they typically hold tastings.
DELEGATE
It is also worth delegating pieces where you feel you can. How can you involve your other half? A mountain will feel less daunting once you’ve broken it down and divvied up the tasks. My client timelines are my wedding bibles and I refer to them at the start of each month to track my progress and share this with the client. If this level of planning isn’t your thing and/or you don’t have capacity to handle another project, or If you simply feel out of your depth, now is the time to invest in a planner. The investment in your sanity and ensuring that you enjoy the whole planning process will be worth it.
SCHEDULE IN DOWNTIME
Finally, planning a wedding will take up extra time in your life and you’ll need to find capacity to do this and give it your attention. I would also advise making sure you block in wedding downtime with yourself. Give yourself, wedmin free days or “holidays” where you take a break from it mentally. When you put together your timeline, balance out the months in line with your personal or professional schedule. I like tapering off the tasks by 2 months out for my clients– making sure this period is as light touch as it can be – paying suppliers, providing final numbers and table planning. Have everything else ticked off so that you go into the wedding celebrations fresh and excited, not exhausted and burnt out.
Planning a wedding can be a wondeful experience but it is a larger task than most people can begin to imagine and there is a reason why professional wedding planners exist We can save you time, money and, most of all, sanity. If you've started planning and find yourself a little stuck, in need of reassurance or just some help on a particular part please contact me! In addition to my full planning service, I offer virtual planning power sessions which you can find out more about here.
Good luck and I hope you've found this piece helpful
Jenna x
Image thanks to Joe Short