Wow, my friends! Did January kick  your booty like it has mine? It has been a whirlwind these past two weeks with being really ill, then my husband getting ill, and all sorts of other craziness, so this week I’m going to bring you two posts in this series to catch up!

Today’s is all about the first couple of things to do once you’ve enjoyed some time soaking in that you are engaged! I have three key things for you to think about as your first steps, and then one phrase you want to be really comfortable with!

So let’s get started! Assuming that the thought of planning your wedding is a touch overwhelming to you, I’m going to try to simplify the first major steps. First of all, you do not have to have the whole thing planned the first month of being engaged! It is really easy to take a huge task like planning a wedding, and see it as one gigantic puzzle, rather than breaking it up into smaller pieces-but if you break it up, it won’t be as overwhelming!

Now there is no perfect order in which to plan; however, I would suggest starting with these three pieces.

 

1. Decide on a guest list range- One of the first questions you will be asked when you start calling around to different venues is “how many guests” and while it may seem easy to decide a number, it isn’t until you start making an actual guest list that you will have a good sense of what that number will truly be.
2.  A date! Now, this may seem like a no brainer, but it is sometimes more challenging than you may think. You may have a very limited time frame for your date due to weather or your jobs, or any other list of reasons, but my advice would be, be flexible with your date if at all possible. Also, entertain the idea of a Friday wedding- it opens up so many more options and sometimes can save you some money along the way!
3. Once you have a date set, then reach out to your top vendor. Now, I may be a touch biased, but I would strongly recommend reaching out to your photographer first. Dates can fill up quickly, especially if you are getting married in your areas peak season, so don’t hesitate to reach out to your ideal photographer right away-especially because they cannot be in two places at once!

Now, all of these pieces will often require a lot of communication from both sides of the family, especially when it comes to the list. This can sometimes be a very difficult part of planning and where people start to wonder if eloping would just be so much easier (totally felt this way as we made our guest list!) This is why I encourage you to become very comfortable with the following line…

Thank you for your opinion, but ultimately it is our wedding. We will take it into consideration and make the best choice for us. 

Now, I could probably do a whole blog series on how to use that exact line for each potentially difficult scenario that may arise, but to keep it short and sweet, your wedding day is YOUR wedding day. You need to keep that front and center in your mind to keep sane during this process. Whenever you and your fiance start feeling the stress of planning, check in with each other and remind yourselves of why you are getting married and most likely it isn’t so you can have 250 guests come when you only know 150 of them 😉 Overall, keep each other at the center of the planning and work as a team! That way when the stress creeps in, you can look to each other to keep it enjoyable!

 

Check back in a couple days for Part 3, which will be all about how to think about planning the rest of your day once you have the key decisions made!

Missed Part 1? Go read it here!