“The Ultimate Wedding Preparation Checklist: From Engagement to “I Do”.
Planning a wedding can be overwhelming, but with the right preparation, you can ensure your big day goes off without a hitch. In this blog, we will provide you with the ultimate wedding preparation checklist, guiding you from the moment you say, ‘yes’ to the moment you say, ‘I do’.
It’s essential to proceed at your own pace, as marriage is not a race but a personal journey. So, it is important to find the right specialists and professional vendors such as florists, photographers and hair and make-up stylists, which will take the weight off your shoulders and simply guide you in your wedding planning. Thus, assisting you to make the right decisions and choices from the beginning of your wedding journey and will make your dream wedding become a dashing reality.
Timeline for wedding planning
Once you get engaged, wedding planning needs to start as soon as possible. Get a coffee, sit down with your partner to be, and start discussing about a possible timeline of when you would like your wedding to take place.
Remember to take in facts that need to be taken into consideration when discussing a possible wedding timeline such as:
- Job/ work priorities
- Finances
- Family/ friends commitments
- Other commitments
Detailed Engagement Phase
Announce your engagement to friends and family. You might like to do this in a subtle manner such as inviting your friends and family to dinner and announcing it then, inviting them to be a part of your engagement party or you might even like to make a big announcement it on social media and showcasing your beautiful new phase of your life to your friends and family.
Begin discussing the type of wedding you envision. Start creating your vision and mood boards. Go on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and even Google and start scrolling through and researching possible wedding themes that you and your partner like. You can simply start the search from typing the following key words:
- ‘_Insert favourite colour_ wedding themes’.
- ‘Rustic wedding inspiration’
- ‘Beach wedding inspiration’
Complete thorough research about aspects such as wedding theme, colour palette and style of decorations you would like.
Choosing a Date and Venue
When choosing a date and venue for your wedding. Lots of factors need to be thought through. Such as the time you want to set for wedding planning. This can be 6 months or even as long as 2 – 3 years. It is your wedding, it is a special moment, take your time.
Furthermore, decide which location and weather would best suit you, your partner’s likings and keep in mind, if your friends and family would be comfortable to travel to your chosen location with ease and happiness.
Consider factors like season, weather, and availability. Visit potential venues to get a feel for the ambiance. Start by choosing a few locations you and your partner both like and either setting up dates to go and see the location and comparing which location, style and climate will suit best for your wedding theme and time frame.
Setting a Budget
Before confirming any wedding vendors, determine a realistic budget based on your current financial situation. Use research to fund your decisions for the wedding and allocate funds for major categories like venue, catering, dress, attire and florist.
Communication with your partner and even family when discussing wedding vendors to choose for your wedding is highly important when discussing topics such as finances.
Selecting Vendors
Researching vendors is a very important phase. Make sure that all you research, inquire and consult with your vendors properly through concrete consultations. Confirming with proper, trustworthy, and creative vendors which will help create your dream wedding is one of the most important phases of wedding planning.
Furthermore, at Flowers by M Ceylon, that is one of our main aims. To express quality service as soon as you inquire, you’re wedding with us it is our main priority as a professional wedding florist company to assist you to be guided through your whole wedding floral planning experience. Our senior florist will give you many suggestions, advice based on scholarly research and our previous experience as professional florists. She will also complete hand-drawings of your own customised arrangements. Through this, you will be able to gain a better perspective of how your specific arrangement will look like.
Finalising your floral arrangements will also assist you to decide on other design elements for your wedding/ event, so it is our recommendation to get it done at your earliest convenience.
Moreover, after confirming one or two vendors, start researching potential vendors such as photographers, make-up artists and caterers.
Review and negotiate contracts to ensure a clear understanding of services. Make sure the prices match the services being provided to you and most of all, that you and your partner are happy to pay that amount to create your dream wedding!
Dress and Attire Considerations
Finding the Perfect Dress
Finding the perfect dress is every bride’s ultimate dream! We know how much that means to you. So, in that regard, we highly suggest researching potential bridal stores and designer’s months before your wedding, even at least a year before (if possible), as most designer dresses take at least six months to be made. Furthermore, if you are getting a European designer wedding dress, it may even take more time for the dress to get shipped to you.
Make sure you take someone (maybe family members or close friends) with you for a wedding dress fitting as it might be one of the most important days of a female to find the perfect wedding dress.
Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a perfect wedding dress. The perfect wedding dress is a dress that enhances your beauty and you as a person. It is a dress that will make everyone look twice at you and make you feel beautiful, inside, and out.
Moreover, we know it is important to hear your family’s opinion on your wedding dress. However, if those opinions are not the positive comments as you expected, do not deter and simply, go on what you truly feel inside and if you get that bubbly, teary and unbelievable feeling inside, that is when you know that dress is the one.
Make sure to explore different styles that suit your body type and personal taste.
Bridal Party Attire
Make sure to get your wedding dress confirmed and ready before moving on to your bridal party.
When figuring out your who your bridesmaids are, move on to figure out what the colour theme is going to be. Mainly at the start wedding planning, that is when the colour theme is chosen.
The bridesmaid’s attire should always differ to the bride and the bride should be the main aspect in the bridal party. Consider colours that reflect the personality of you and your partner and the wedding theme you are going for. When choosing bridesmaids dresses, complete a lot of research before committing to a dress.
Remember that your bridal party, which is your bridesmaids, groomsmen and even flower girls and page boys must look really good and look a part of the whole picture. If the entire bridal party looks glamorous, so will the entire wedding (and the wedding pictures will turn out amazing!).
Conclusion
By meticulously following this wedding preparation checklist, you and your partner can navigate the planning process with ease, ensuring that every detail aligns seamlessly for a joyous celebration of the union of two loving individuals.
We know wedding planning is really hard, tiring and maybe even frustrating, however, we highly suggest if you follow this checklist, things will be a lot smoother and will make you even more excited to marry the love of your life and create the wedding of your dreams!
Please let us know if you would like any further advice on other topics as well!
Kind regards,
The Team at Flowers by M Sydney