10 Wedding Planning Tips You Need to Know

 Hey, friends! I do apologize for being MIA. Life has been so crazy (especially amid a pandemic). So I wanted to let you know that I got married!! Cameron and I got engaged in June 2020 after months of not knowing when we would be able to travel to see each other again due to the pandemic. As soon as I got back from that trip, I immediately began wedding planning. In the midst of that, I decided to move across the country to be closer to Cameron in August. We got married in early January 2021 and had the best day ever. Here are some of my favorite photos from that day. Big shoutout to Gracie Cobb Photography for capturing the day beautifully! Check out her work here. All the photo credits go to her. 

1. Use a wedding planning site--I know that wedding planning can be super stressful but it doesn't have to be. I highly suggest using the Knot to help you keep everything organized. It helped me keep track of RSVPs, manage our registry, and helped me keep on track with certain wedding planning tasks. 

2. Create a master Excel sheet--Finances are a big part of wedding planning so creating an Excel sheet with your budget, what you need to buy, what you've already bought, and what you've spent will help you tremendously. You can find wedding budget templates on Etsy and Pinterest. 

3. Get vendor recommendations from friends on Facebook--When it comes to vendors, sometimes your choices can seem overwhelming. That's why I  recommend asking your friends and family about vendors in the area you are getting married. I got married where I am from so it made it easier to ask around. If you planning your wedding from a different state, look up reviews of vendors online. 

4. Use Pinterest to narrow down details--If you anything like me, you've had a wedding board on Pinterest since before you even had a boyfriend. I highly suggest creating a new Pinterest wedding board and create sections for things like flowers, food, decorations, invitations, etc. Then start pinning! Create a clear vision of what you want your day to look like. You can check out my wedding board here to see the aesthetic I was going for. 

5. Create a very specific day of timeline--I am so glad I took the time to create such a detailed timeline of my wedding day. It helped keep everyone on track so I could just relax the day of. When making your timeline leave some room in case something runs too long or ends early. You can talk with your photographer more about this to ensure adequate time for photos. 

6. Hire a day-of wedding coordinator--This was such a huge help on the day of my wedding. I hired one of my dad's former students to be my day of coordinator. I basically gave her my day-of timeline, vendor contact information, and told her to ready to help with anything she was asked to do. The person doesn't have to be a wedding coordinator in order to do this job. You just need someone who is extremely organized, can communicate well and is good under pressure. Be sure to also give them a specific list of tasks you may want them to do such as asking the caterer to make 2 to-go dinners for you and your spouse or having them pack up your belongings into your getaway car. 

7. Cater in lunch for you and your bridesmaids as you get ready--This was something that I wish I would have planned a little bit better. I did want to have a light lunch before the ceremony so I wouldn't be starving by the time I got to eat dinner. We ended up just having my dad pick up some food for us from one of my favorite local restaurants. Ideally, I wish we could have planned that out a little more beforehand. 

8. Don't feel as though you have to do a first-look before your ceremony--Some photographers will say that you need to do a first look in order to get the most amount of wedding photos of you and your spouse. I didn't feel like our photos were rushed in any way not doing a first look. I always wanted everyone to see his reaction as I walked down the aisle rather than seeing each other beforehand. We got some great photos from our little photo session after the ceremony so if you are thinking about not having a first look just know it won't affect the number of photos you will have. 

9. Keep your reception fun--After the ceremony, I was so happy and wanted everyone to have a good time. We did do a first dance as well as a combined father-daughter and mother-son dance in order to shorten our reception length. We did not do any speeches, bouquet toss, garter toss, etc. We went from those dances to having dinner to dancing and cake. I highly recommend working with your DJ on creating a playlist for the entire reception, not just the dancing. Think about what music you'd like to enter to, what music will play during dinner, what music you'd like for cake cutting, and what you'd like the last song of the night to be.  

10. Know the things you want and things you don't--Anyone who knows me personally knows that I am the worst at making decisions. However, when it came to my wedding, I had to nail down the things I really cared out and not worry about the small things. For example, I definitely wanted someone to do my hair but didn't care about having someone to do my makeup. I also knew I wanted a certain menu for the night so I made that clear to my caterers but I didn't really care about having wedding favors. Some of the things I definitely focused on most was food, photography, and my attire. However, I didn't focus on the flowers, stationery, and decor. 

I hope my wedding planning tips helped you out. If you are currently planning a wedding, I wish you all the best. Don't stress about the small things. At the end of the day, you and your new spouse is all that matters. Enjoy this time!