Firstly, congratulations! This stage in your life is sure to be full of magic and excitement as you begin to think about your wedding in the days, weeks and months after getting engaged. Right now, you might be feeling like you’re in a whirlwind, and you may be starting to think about the overwhelming task of wedding planning.
If you’re unsure where to begin, you can always seek help by using the expertise of a wedding planner in your local area. Incorporate Joi is a luxurious wedding and event planning company based in St Louis, Missouri. We specialize in curating luxurious and unforgettable weddings. Whether you need the help of an experienced wedding coordinator or need assistance planning every last detail, our aim is to create a wedding day experience as loving and unique as your relationship.
Read on to discover the five steps to take to get started with wedding planning after you’ve said yes!
1. Tell Your Friends and Family
The first thing you’ll want to do after getting engaged is tell your friends and family! Make the most of this magical time and show off your beautiful ring, enjoy the moment and even take the time to throw an engagement party to celebrate! Make sure to treat yourself to a manicure so that you can feel comfortable showing off your ring in some aesthetic Instagram photos, or to all of your colleagues at work.
2. Get Organized
The next thing you’ll want to do to kick-start the planning process is to get organized. Having systems in places for contacting vendors, scheduling events and getting inspiration will make the process much easier.
Create a Wedding Email Address
It’s a great idea to have a designated email address to use when contacting vendors and booking services for your wedding day. Not only will this mean that you have everything you need in one place, but it also makes it much easier if you utilize wedding planning services down the line.
At Incorporate Joi we know that wedding planning can sometimes be overwhelming, so having a separate email address helps to keep your wedding planning separate from your everyday work and family life. This means there is less temptation to have a glance at venues while you’re at work, and also means you can shut out the wedding planning temporarily if it all gets a bit much! Make sure both you and your partner have access to the email address so you can both be kept up to speed with what’s going on.
Get Inspired
In addition to creating an email address, you’ll also need to get your inspiration organized. This means creating a Pinterest board for all your wedding-inspo, or a physical vision board that you can have on display in your house. Putting photos and graphics together in this way helps to create a cohesive vision for your big day and is also very helpful if you hire a wedding planner later down the line. Everyone will be on the same page about the style, theme and color scheme of your big day!
Purchase a Wedding Binder
The other key piece that you’re going to need to get organized before your big day is a binder. It’s useful to have a physical place to store booking confirmations, contracts, receipts, swatches and samples in addition to keeping them together in your inbox. Keep this binder somewhere in your house so that, when inspiration strikes, you have somewhere to write everything down! If you hire a wedding coordinator to make sure the day goes as planned, they’ll likely appreciate having everything in one place.
3. Set Your Budget
Setting a budget is a crucial part of the wedding planning process. Work out what you can afford to spend on your special day, and in the months leading up to it. You may also want to include a ‘honeymoon fund’ in this!
Setting a budget means that your spending won’t be determined by all the beautiful things you want for your wedding, but rather a pre-determined amount that is set in stone. Weddings are expensive, and it’s inevitable that costs can run away from you if you don’t have a plan for your budget. Utilizing wedding planning services can help you determine how much you’ll need to spend on each part of your wedding day.
4. Write Down Must-Haves
The next step in the early planning of your wedding day is to write down a list of non-negotiables. You’ll probably have a list of things that you’ve always dreamed of having at your wedding day, and your fiancé might have some too. Get this list down on paper so you know which parts of the day to prioritize, and which parts should have a non-negotiable section of the budget allocated to them.
This list could include small things such as having a three-tiered wedding cake, all the way to a particular wedding venue that means a lot to you. Bigger non-negotiables may come with certain restrictions. For example, a non-negotiable live band, a non-negotiable wedding coordinator or a non-negotiable wedding venue will come with restrictions on the date of the wedding day. You need to know these must-haves before you book any vendors for a particular date.
5. Get Started with the Wedding Planning
Now that you’ve told all your nearest and dearest friends, established a vision and a budget for your day and are organized, you’re ready to start the wedding planning process! You can start to tour venues, attend cake tastings, try on wedding dresses and much more! Here’s the part where you might want to consider utilizing wedding planning services such as the ones that we provide at Incorporate Joi. Whether you want full planning, partial planning or just a wedding coordinator for your special day, get in touch early to find out more and lock us in for this magical occasion.
Good luck, and happy planning!