First 10 Steps To Planning Your Wedding

By Georgina Clatworthy

He’s proposed, you’ve accepted, now begins the fun part – planning the wedding!  Making the arrangements & perfecting the finer details can seem like a daunting task.  You wedding day will be the most involved & overwhelming celebration you will ever organise.  So before you run off & book the church, read these ten tips to get you started & help the organising process run smoothly.

1. Enjoy The Moment Take some time to enjoy being engaged – just the two of you, before the wedding day rollercoaster gets underway.  Make a journal of your engagement story & together envisage the wonderful things to come.
2. Tell The Parents Make sure you tell them before anyone else! Both of you should tell them together & in person, show them the ring & start making plans for the big day.  After your parents tell you closest friends, especially those you are considering asking to take on roles such as best man, maid of honor etc.
3. Start A Wedding Journal There are lots of purpose writted books deisgned to help brides plan their day, but really any plain notebook will do.  Use like a diary & organiser to record important dates, suppliers addresses, phone numbers, quotes, ideas & decisions.  You can also do your journaling online on sites such as livejournal.com.
4. Announce Your Engagement There are a number of ways to announce your engagement, such as newspapers, sending announcements to family & friends & online by creating your own wedding website.
5. Set The Date This is one of the big decisions – which day to get married on? Do this first as planning all other aspects of  your wedding day will be impossible without it!
6. Decide on The Tone of Your Day Do you want a big white wedding, at a traditional church or a less formal affair with a civil ceremony? Do want a theme? Indoors or outdoors? Discuss together about your ideal wedding day & what you would both like.  Write everything down & use it as a starting point.
7. The Budget Everything will hinge on the amount of money you have to spend on the ceremony, dress, reception & honeymoon.  These days many couples will pay either in whole or in part for their wedding, although the tradition of the brides parents paying for the day still exists.  Decide on where the finances will come from & set your budget accordingly.  Try to avoid going into debt, although  you could consider applying for a new credit card with incentives such as airmiles which could help towards costs.  Budget planners are available online & will help you prioritise portions of your budget to areas such as the reception & catering.
8. Choose Your Attendants Decide on who will be the best man, maid of honor,bridesmaids, flowergirls etc & decide how many attendants you will have.  Get them involved early as their help will be invaluable in the decision making & organising.
9. Choose Venues for The Ceremony & Reception Many venues are booked up well in advance, so start looking early to avoid disappointment.
10. Ask for Help & Support There is a lot of working in organising a wedding & you do not have to do it alone.  Ask for help & support from family & friends or think about hiring a wedding planner who can bring fresh ideas & maybe even save you money.  Visit online forums for stories from real couples who have been there & done it!

With all these big decisions made you can concentrate on the fun stuff such as dresses, favors & flowers!