Wedding Planning.
It’s a big job.
But with a few simple broken-down steps, it can feel like a breeze… Promise!
So, to help you on your wedding planning way, we have the rather gorgeous Kat from Katrina Otter Weddings & Events making another cameo appearance on the Coco Blog, this time with her guide on this hot subject!
Kat’s given you her run down of where to starts, what to dos and what to considers! Oh and I’ve created a pretty (pinnable!) Cheat Sheet for you to refer back to over your wedding planning journey.
So, shall we…?
A big hello again!
Thanks to Emma for asking me to write another guest post for Coco…
I really am delighted and honoured to have the opportunity to share my wedding planning advice, especially on such a stylish and inspirational blog!
As a wedding planner and stylist I regularly receive emails and calls from couples with various wedding planning queries and dilemmas. In light of this, I post weekly Top Tips over on my Facebook page and have also recently started a regular Wedding Planning Q&A feature over on my own blog.
Additionally, I will be answering the most common wedding planning questions as part of a series of posts on Coco, sharing some helpful tips with you over the coming months with the aim of making your wedding planning journey a little less daunting, far more manageable and, dare I say it, fun!
So where best to start than at the start of your wedding planning journey!
You’re engaged, you have that incredible bit of bling, you’ve celebrated with your family and friends and then the realisation sets in… It’s time to start planning your Big Day! But what do you do next? And where on earth do you start?!
It’s a little-known fact that before the excitement sets in, you need to get past the bewilderment stage! Some couples are so overwhelmed they freeze entirely, whilst others get so caught up in the excitement that they rush to book the first wedding suppliers they see. Neither route is advisable but don’t worry, if you’re still in the dark about how to kick-start your wedding planning journey, I’m here to help!
What kind of wedding do you want?
The venue search is certainly the first step, but before you rush into making this first and very important decision, you need to think about who you are as a couple and what’s important to you about your wedding day.
Do you see yourselves having a casual or formal day, an intimate affair or lavish celebration…?
And what feeling or vibe do you both want for your day… Do you see yourselves having a City Chic wedding or a Classic and Elegant affair…?
If you’re struggling to determine what kind of wedding you want then try gaining inspiration, hit the web, pick up some bridal magazines, fashion magazines and certainly take a peek through the six style categories on Coco Wedding Venues to see which venue vibes you’re feeling!
Determining what you want at this stage of the planning process will ensure that your wedding is a personal reflection of you as a couple and will save you valuable time in the long run.
Work out numbers
Start by drawing up a rough guest list to give you an idea of numbers, capacity can suddenly start to rule out certain venues.
If you’re looking for an intimate ceremony for ten people you don’t want to rattle around in a hall fit for 100. Similarly, if you have your heart set on a big, lavish wedding, you can safely rule out venues that can’t accommodate your guest list.
Draw up a budget
Before you can commit to booking a venue, you need to know how much you can realistically spend.
If anyone has offered to contribute, now is the time to nail down the details!
Make a list of your incomings and outgoings and work out how much you can (and want to) save. Calculate the total projected savings plus any gifts from family, and you have your Big Day budget.
Deciding how much of your budget to allocate to your venue is another dilemma, and will depend on a lot of other factors, so you’ll need to start prioritising early. This will mean sitting down as a couple and making some tough calls – what aspects of your wedding are most important… The food, the location, the venue, the music, the décor, the details…? What’s essential and what’s nice to have…?
List your venue requirements
Coco Wedding Venues has a great list of questions and helpful tips to ask your venues when you’re ready to view, here is a list of questions that I ask my couples to consider before they start to shortlist…
Once you know the answers to the following questions, finding your perfect wedding venue will be that much easier!
Planning your wedding should be a fun and enjoyable experience!
Armed with the above, you will be able to tackle the wedding planning process with confidence! Speaking of confidence, I’m very proud of all of the venues we work with here on Coco and as you will see, a lot of the first steps above, including budget, focus on this very important task.
Take a look through our directory, where new venues are being added each and every day! There’s bound to be something that ticks your boxes, and indeed sparks some Big Day inspiration. Our venues galleries are bursting with beautiful photography!
Thank you so much to my gal Kat for this lovely introduction to wedding planning… Katrina will be back very soon with her helpful tips on another sexy subject!
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