A Guide to Planning the Perfect Wedding
Were you one of those lucky people who were proposed to on Valentine’s Day? Or is 2020 the year you finally start putting together your dream wedding? Knowing where to start planning your perfect wedding can be a very exciting yet daunting process, so we have put together this guide to help you.
1. Consider your Budget
Whilst this may sound really boring, and you just want to jump straight into choosing flowers or the colour schemes for your big day, planning a budget is essential. Talking finances is always hard, but you need to be realistic about how much you can afford to splash out on your wedding. Remember your parents may want to help with the financial side too, so try and get a rough figure from them as well.
2. Start a Wedding Mood Board
Pinterest is a great place to start collating wedding inspiration as there are so many ideas to choose from. Alternatively, you can always stick to the more traditional collage from magazine trimmings if you prefer. By putting all of your favourite wedding inspiration together in one place you can get a great picture of how everything will look together. You may have in your head that some silver tableware would look lovely, but placing a picture of this next to your colour scheme could result in a different conclusion! Mood boards are a great way to save you making expensive mistakes that you could end up regretting later.
3. Choose a Date
You may have always had a particular season in mind when it comes to planning your wedding, so choosing a date may come easily to you. However, there are a couple of things to consider here. Firstly, make sure the date doesn’t clash with any major sporting events. Secondly, talk to your family and friends – they may have prior engagements that you aren’t aware of. Thirdly, be flexible around your chosen date. You may want to get married on a date that is special to you and your fiancé, but all the best venues get booked up very quickly, so some degree of flexibility may be needed.
4. Planning Your Wedding Guest List
Before you can start to think about venues, you need to start planning the number of guests who will be attending your wedding. Whilst both you and your partner may have an extensive network of family, friends and work colleagues, you need to be realistic (refer back to your budget if you need to!). Start by collating a list of the ‘definite’ people including close family and family friends. Then widen this out to colleagues, friends and other important people in your life. Don’t forget about plus ones too!
You don’t have to have a set number of guests at this stage, just a ballpark figure is enough to help choose which wedding venue would be suitable for you.
5. Picking Your Dream Venue
Most venues are booked up a year or so in advance, so you need to be fairly quick when it comes to picking your venue. You need to have a sit down with your partner and talk about what you both had in mind. It may be that you both wanted a countryside wedding set in some beautiful gardens like our Buttercross Suite, or you may have had a fairytale castle wedding in mind.
As well as thinking about the venue itself, you also need to think about accessibility for your wedding guests, whether you would like a venue with accommodation, and the size of your wedding party.
Onto the Next Stages
Once you have checked these 5 things off your wedding planning list, you then need to move onto things like choosing your wedding theme, picking your bridesmaids and choosing the all-important wedding dress! The earlier you can get your catering organised and your photographer booked the better too.
If you would like any further help with planning your perfect wedding, here at Stallingborough Grange we can help design your bespoke wedding package to make your big day one to remember for all of your family and friends. Please contact us to find out more.
