Intentional wedding planning
Planning a wedding can be overwhelming. There are so many details that seems to need YOUR attention and you almost feel like you’re getting lost in all of the decisions.
Here are 5 tips on helping you focus and be intentional when planning THE BEST DAY of your life!
Define your Vision
First and foremost, figure out what you envision your wedding day to be like. Pinterest is a great source of inspiration once you narrow down the vibe you want. A venue can really help set the vibe for the wedding, so be careful in choosing. Some venues are more versatile than others. Think about other weddings you’ve been too. What did or didn’t you like, what really popped out to you? When I was planning my wedding (I got married at an outdoor chapel), I knew I wanted a whimsical and a woodsy forest vibe (since the ceremony was in the woods). So, when searching Pinterest, I looked up not only the season I was getting married in for color palette ideas, but also those words whimsical, organic, woodsy, earthy, etc., to get the inspiration and ideas I needed.
List your non-negotiables and your people
When planning a wedding, there are so many details that are “important” and yet don’t matter. Take an afternoon to sit with your fiancé and list both of your priorities. What are the non-negotiables? There are going to be things on your wedding day that you will be really bummed out on if they didn’t happen. Listing these will also help with your budgeting. A few of mine were a good photographer and an ice cream bar instead of a wedding cake. One of my husband’s was that my dress had to be white. *Rabbit trail: I didn’t know this until I found my dream dress on sale, with only one in my size, but was blush-colored. Before I bought it, I ended up asking him if he would mind if my dress wasn’t white. He couldn’t even imagine me in anything but white. That wasn’t a big deal for me. I could work on finding a similar dress within my budget that was white. For him it was a non-negotiable. After you make that list, make a list of every little detail for the wedding (tedious I know). Find friends to help with this part and give each person a category for the wedding that they can make lists for (e.g. dressing room, reception, ceremony, cake table, party favors…). Speaking of friends, wright down a list of people who you know you can rely on the be in charge of various things that need to be done.
Buy a binder and plan out your to-dos by month
One of the things I did for my wedding that was THE BIGGEST HELP EVER was buying a binder to put all of the lists we just did above in. Also in this binder was a month-by-month calendar leading up to the wedding with an empty column on the side to write down the to-dos for that month. For the week of the wedding, make a day-by-day schedule for things that will still need to be finished. Keep writing til you’ve written down everything. You can always add more later if anything else pops up. It will be so much less stressful if everything is written down, giving you a visual of how to tackle all that you will have going on.
Delegate
Can I make that word a little extra bold? Is that a thing? You know that list of responsible and capable people we made earlier?! Yeah, pull that out and start calling/txting. If you don’t have a wedding planner this is a huuuuuge help! Find the things that you could care less about, but that need to be done and start delegating to people you trust. Having someone in charge of picking up the food for the getting ready room, tying up favors, finding and buying the decorations. Whatever it may be, delegate tasks to people you trust so that no detail is missed.
Let go
Let go of the expectation of perfection. Any time a bride strives for EVERYTHING to be perfect, it ALWAYS creates a lot of stress and pressure. Things never end up being perfect. We are human and there will be a lot of other humans involved (family is no joke). I’ve seen brides spend up to $50,000 for a wedding and things still didn’t turn out “perfect.” Enjoy this season. Don’t burn yourself out. Wedding planning is going to be a lot of work. Why make it worse by adding that unattainable expectation of perfection? Focus on a few things that you want to be spot on, For everything else, just do your best and hold them loosely. I promise your wedding and the planning process will be so much more fun and relaxing when you let go of unrealistic expectations.
I’d love to hear from you! Do you have any tips to make a bride’s planning process to go smoother or be more enjoyable? Feel free to share them in the comments below!