Congratulations! Getting engaged is a thrilling time filled with anticipation, excitement, and dreaming about what your big day will be like. It can be overwhelming, with all the small details, to think about planning your wedding. That’s why the experts at Beach Weddings Alabama are here to break down the process for you. This blog series is going to take you through two parts of the wedding planning process so you know where to go and what to do every step of the way.
In the beginning, it’s easy to get caught up in dreams. Dreaming is important, don’t get me wrong. Your big day should have everything you dream for it. However, in order to make your dreams a reality, in the beginning there needs to be a balance between dreaming and making a plan.
Steps For Right After Engagement:
1. Celebrate!
This is a time for celebration! It’s easy to wake up three quarters of the way through planning your wedding, full of stress, and forget about the true reason for the occasion. You are getting ready to spend the rest of your life with your best friend! Do not forget to begin your engagement celebrating this big step in your life with the people you love, and to continue celebrating throughout the entire engagement process.
2. Set A Date.
Once you’ve settled down just a bit, the first step post engagement is to decide when the big day will be. You can’t move forward in wedding planning if you don’t know when your wedding is. That is the top question that the venue will ask, the caterer will ask, not to mention your friends and family! The average engagement period is about a year. Many people choose to have at least a year so that they can have more time to plan out their perfect day, and have more time to secure what they want exactly how they want it. For example, most wedding venues book up fairly quickly, so many people wait in order to secure the venue that they feel will be perfect for them.
3. Set A Budget.
After you choose your ideal wedding date, the next practical step is to establish a budget. What goes along with that is who is paying for what. Traditionally, the bride’s family pays for the wedding. However, that’s not every couple’s style, and perhaps you’re one of the many couples who are paying for their own wedding. No matter what your situation, it’s incredibly important to know who is paying for what, and how much you have to spend. Many websites, like The Knot for example, have wedding budget calculators to help with this aspect of wedding planning. Once you have this aspect sorted out, it will greatly help you make wedding purchases moving forward.
4. Create A Timeline.
Now that you have a budget and have set a date (generally), it will help you immensely to lay out all of the tasks involved in planning your wedding, and approximately when they should be booked or finished. A tip from wedding planning experts is to book a venus that is all-inclusive. Securing an all-inclusive wedding venue takes care of all the smaller details, and essentially kills multiple birds in one stone. Plus, booking an all-inclusive wedding package with a venue that perfectly captures your vision for the day makes sure that all the extra elements (catering, photography, etc.) will be exactly as you dream it to be.
5. NOW Dream.
Once you have a budget and a general timeline, dream! Although you probably have been dreaming about your special day for a long time, now is the time to verbalize your thoughts and wishes for your wedding day with your significant other to create a vision for the big day. What do you want the feel of your wedding to be? What are the most important parts of your wedding to you and your significant other? Dreaming is necessary to know what you want in a wedding day, and to create a plan to get there.
6. Set A Guest List.
Setting a guest list can be tricky. Part of your wedding vision should include how many people you want there. Do you want a large wedding or a small wedding? Do you have a wedding venue in mind that has a limit on the number of guests? You may have to consider who is footing the bill and, if it’s not you, you may have to listen to who is. Creating the guest list can be tricky with a set budget because many vendors for your wedding charge on a per-head basis.
7. Book A Venue.
Once you have considered what you want your wedding day to be like, how many people you want there, when it is, and how much you have to spend, it’s time to look for venues that accommodate all of these factors. Securing your wedding venue is a great first step because it can influence everything from your guest list to the menu. It is highly recommended to explore a wedding venue that has all-inclusive wedding packages, especially if you are on a tight budget.
Beach Weddings Alabama is the area’s only all-inclusive wedding provider that works with you to create the perfect wedding day for you. Contact us to schedule a consultation and learn more about how to plan and create your best wedding day, and check back for our part two in this blog series on the next steps of wedding planning! We are your All Inclusive Wedding Specialist.
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