- How to create a wedding that reflects your personality
- Is 88 Events the right company to design your wedding?
- Using 88 Events as your wedding designer
- Your free wedding design consultation
- Choosing a wedding venue
- FREE 12 Month Wedding Planner
88 Events - The Event Design Experts
12 Month Wedding Planner
The following is a very rough guide to planning a wedding. Remember there‘s no right or wrong way to do things and everyone will approach things differently but it’s a pretty good starting point for getting your head in the right mindset. Whilst certainly not exhaustive, it should help provide some focus for you at the initial stages of each period before the wedding.
1 Year Before Wedding
Calculate your budget and rank each main area (i.e. reception, honeymoon, dresses, rings etc.) in order of importance to you. For example, you may want a low key ceremony and reception so you can put more money into the honeymoon of a lifetime.
Whatever your preference, working out a budget now and ranking each area will focus your mind on what needs to be done and what ‘level‘ of the proverbial store you can afford to shop at.
10-12 Months Before Wedding
Three things you must do in this period are:
- Decide on the number of guests to be invited (get the parents involved here too if necessary!)
- Based on the number of guests, start short-listing venues you can (a) afford and (b) can accommodate the number of guests you want on your preferred date.
- Book ceremony and reception venues.
(Disclaimer: Some venues may need to be booked more than 1 year in advance!)
You‘ll now have an idea of whether you can get your preferred venue at your preferred time and with your preferred number of guests. Be prepared to tweak if necessary depending on the criteria you established in the previous section.
Consider contracting a wedding planner if you feel it‘s all going to be too much for you to do alone.
8-10 Months Before Wedding
Research time! Start looking into possible themes for the wedding, e.g. colours, styles etc. If you‘ve got your heart set on a certain style of dress or fabric, look into the types of dressmakers or shops that will be able to help you.
Think about bridesmaids, best man, and maid of honour etc. in order to fine tune your budget and allocate funds for these important people.
Start looking into other suppliers such as bands and DJ‘s and photographers – all of whom can get booked up well in advance. Consider the décor style you‘d like at the ceremony and reception and start to research suitable companies and florists who can help you achieve your vision.
Discuss possible food and drink options with your caterer. If you plan on making a statement here, arrange tasting appointments well in advance.
Again, examine your budget to determine how much you can allocate to each area based on how important each area is to you.
6-8 Months Before Wedding
Book transport, take care of grooms outfits, arrange bridesmaids’ dresses and have final consultation with wedding dress maker or supplier to determine the style you will choose. Arrange times for fittings and mark in diary.
Arrange honeymoon and allocate spending budget. Don‘t assume you‘ll make up any shortfall in the budget with cash gifts from wedding guests!
Visit florists and décor companies whom you shortlisted in previous section and ask for proposals with costings based on your budget.
Send save the date cards.
4-6 Months Before Wedding
Start to think of any fitness or beauty regimes you may wish to embark upon. Consult with professionals, e.g. fitness instructor at your local gym, beautician who will do your make up etc.
Investigate all the necessary legal arrangements you‘ll need to make, e.g. notifying banks, DVLA, employers, landlords and any other authorities who will need to know you‘ve changed name. Keep a list and tick each one off as you go after the wedding.
Find out whether you‘ll need any special licenses to marry, whether you‘ll need a visa for your honeymoon and any inoculations if you‘re going to an exotic place that requires this.
Book décor companies based on who you feel can best create what you want within your budget.
Choose stationery for invitations, order of service, thank you cards etc. Start planning hen and stag festivities!
3 Months Before Wedding
If required:
Arrange banns to be read
Confirm ceremony details with appropriate person e.g. religious person/registrar
After discussions with above, book wedding rehearsal and ensure all key people required to attend are notified
2 Months Before Wedding
Send invitations whilst keeping a running total of all replies. Have final dress fitting and arrange fittings for bridesmaids, groomsmen etc.
Take a step back and review everything to date to see whether you‘ve forgotten anything. Chat with people who‘ve been married recently to run over your remaining to-do list as they may suggest something that you hadn‘t even considered.
1-6 Weeks Before Wedding
If you can, try and arrange a relaxing weekend or overnight stay somewhere to help take your mind of everything as you‘re bound to feel a certain amount of stress in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Relax if possible!
Confirm final arrangements with all suppliers, pay any outstanding balances and arrange insurance based on the amount of cover you require. Notify all relevant parties of the number of guests attending, e.g. caterers, transport companies, hotels. Chase up any people who‘ve not RSVP‘d to your invitations.
The Final Week
If work commitments allow, take a few days off before the wedding to relax. By now if you‘ve been organised, you‘ll have dealt with practically everything that needs dealt with so sit back and chill whilst enjoying your last days of single life (sensibly of course!).
Discover what kind of wedding you could have if you choose to work with 88 Events, call us today on 0141 445 2288 or email us with a quick rundown of your wedding vision.
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