How to Plan Your Dream Wedding: Step-by-Step Guide

In life, you normally only get one shot at your dream wedding. With the help of this step-by-step guide, you can ensure that you have an amazing wedding day and don’t end up with any regrets.  

You’re finally engaged. Congratulations!

Now that you’ve got that out of the way, the hard work truly begins. If you speak to any married couple, they’ll tell you that the process of planning a wedding is stressful at the best of times. However, it’s always worth it in the end, which is the most important thing to remember. 

When it comes to planning the wedding itself, there’s a lot to do (and that’s an understatement). To make life easier for you, this guide has put together a string of steps that will provide you with a nice blueprint to move forward with. So, when you’re ready, grab a glass of wine, get your notepad, and prepare to start planning your dream wedding. 

Step 1: Budget, Budget, Budget 

Depending on your financial circumstances and whether your family will be supporting you, this might be roughly the budget you had in mind. Or, you might comfortably be able to splash more on your wedding – it varies from couple to couple. Whatever budget you decide, make sure to stick with it. It’s a dangerous game to start going over budget (especially early on), so try to remain strict with this. 

Step 2: Choose Your Wedding Venue 

The first and most important step is this: start thinking about your wedding day budgeting. Once you have a general idea of how far you can dig into your pockets, then this will lift a huge weight off your shoulders, as you’ll know exactly what you can and can’t afford. 

Next, you’re going to want to choose your wedding venue. Again, this is entirely personal preference. If you want to push the boat out, an overseas wedding might be perfect. Or, you can keep everything nice and minimal by having a low-key wedding at a small church in your local town. Remember, most popular wedding venues are heavily booked, so you’ll need to potentially book it a year (or further) in advance! 

Step 3: Go Wedding Dress Shopping 

The sooner you go wedding dress shopping, the better you’ll feel. Sometimes, it can take six months to find the wedding dress of your dreams. Take your time, and don’t feel pressured by anyone. Once you find the right dress for you, you’ll know it. 

Step 4: Compare Photographer Rates

There are literally thousands of different wedding photographers to choose from, all of which offer different rates and packages. Keep referring to your budget when comparing photographers, as some of them can make you over budget if you’re not careful. You must look at each photographer’s website to see their portfolio, case studies, and style to understand whether you’d like to trust them with handling the photography on your big day!

Step 5: Decide Your Guest List

The last step, for now, is to decide on your guest list. If you want a quiet wedding, you might have a modest guest list of 10 to 20 people. Or, if you want to go all out and make your wedding a huge party, you might be looking at a guest list of 100+ people. It doesn’t matter how many people you plan to invite; do it beforehand and send invites out with plenty of notice. Remember, you can also send wedding invites on social media. 

Good luck, and have fun!