No Wedding Planner? Follow These Tips
Pulling off a great wedding is no easy feat. Fortunately, professional wedding planners can help you through the process. But, what if you can’t afford a wedding planner? Or, maybe you just prefer to be in full control and handle everything yourself. Whatever the case may be, if you’re committed to planning your wedding on your own, these tips can help.
Tip #1: Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
First things first, give yourself ample time to plan your big day. Many brides and grooms underestimate the time it takes to order flowers, find a venue, and more. Plus, many popular venues get booked weeks, months, or even longer in advance. Thus, if you don’t want your wedding to look thrown together, start planning early.
Ideally, you’ll want to give yourself at least a year of planning time. That might seem like a lot, but, in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not. Remember, your marriage is meant to last a lifetime, so there’s no need to rush the wedding and cause yourself unnecessary stress.
Tip #2: Set Your Budget Right Away
Before you make a single concrete plan, set a reasonable budget for your wedding. Do a little research to see the average cost of weddings in your area. That way, you won’t set your spending too low. As you plan, try and account for every foreseeable expense. Then, for good measure, add in a little wiggle room for any surprises.
If you find that you can’t plan your dream wedding without overspending, give yourself more time to save. Or, scale back your plans just a bit. If the opposite happens and you have more funds than you need, then maybe you can go ahead and hire that wedding planner after all.
Tip #3: Ask for Help
Wedding planners are a huge help for brides-and-grooms-to-be. They often have connections that can make scoring a venue or a great deal possible. Furthermore, they take a lot of the work off your shoulders. However, not hiring a wedding planner doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself.
Ask friends, family members, and others in your circle for assistance. The people who truly care for you will be happy to help. Even better, some of them may have connections of their own that can work to your advantage.
There’s no shame in planning a wedding on your own. But, you do need to be prepared for the hard work ahead. Take your time, ask for help, and be practical and realistic as you plan. If you can do that, then you can pull off a wonderful wedding.
