Seven Steps to Simplify Wedding Planning
Wedding planning is not easy. In fact, many people hire someone to plan their special day for them because of how hard it is. Most brides have never planned a wedding before, and there are a million little details that you have to get ironed about before the big day. It is a huge endeavor. However, there are a few strategies for making this overwhelming task much more manageable.
Set a budget
The first step for planning your wedding is to set a budget. Not only will this keep you from blowing your entire budget on your cake before you have even tried on a dress, but a budget will also give you a picture of how the wedding planning process will go. If you have a small budget, you will probably be spending less time making reservations and purchases but probably more time preparing things yourself. If you have a large budget, you will have less work to do yourself, but you will probably have more things to reserve and purchase. Deciding on a budget will help you identify where you are going to spend your money and your time.
Make a task list
There are many many things that need to be done before your big day. Finding a beautiful dress, ordering flowers, reserving a venue, and picking out the perfect cake. The amount of tasks can feel incredibly overwhelming. So before you begin: Make a list! It’s important to create an overall picture of all the things that need to get done before diving in. Take some time to list out all of these tasks. Do not rush through this process, you will want to include every task on this to-do list. Do some research if necessary. Learning from the experiences and mistakes of others can be very helpful when planning a wedding.
Set panic dates
Some tasks need to be completed several months prior to the wedding, such as booking a highly coveted caterer. Other tasks, such as getting a manicure, can wait until almost the last minute. Unfortunately, it can be very easy to panic about each and every task that has not been completed yet. For each task, set a completion date based on how long prior to the wedding it needs to be finished. If you are not positive, give yourself the maximum amount of time prior to the big day that you think will be necessary. It is better to get things done early than to be too late. Once you have these due dates set, you will feel less of a need to panic until a due date approaches.
Worry about your top things
It’s also important to identify the things on your task list that are most important to you about your wedding day. Sometimes we get so caught up in doing all the things on the list that we forget what is most important to us. For example, the vows you decide to use for your ceremony are probably more important than where guests sit for the reception. I suggest using a number system to rank how important each task is. Identify which things on your list are most important to you about your wedding day (lowest number) all the way down to the things that are not important but should still probably get done (highest number).
If you worry about every single thing on your list, you are going to lose your mind. So do not spend any time worrying about any task that does not qualify as your most important things. On the day of your wedding, these top things are going to be the things that you care about. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Prioritize by date and importance
Now that you have due dates and importance levels, prioritize those tasks. Categorize the tasks by due date, and then rank them based on how important they are to you. A prioritized list will give you an order for all of your tasks. Now you can start working through one or two tasks at a time without the need to worry about all the tasks at once. Once you have a plan in place, you can take planning one small step at a time.
Break it down into smaller steps
Once you have an ordered task list, break each of these tasks down into smaller steps. Even these individual tasks, such as “reserve a venue” can feel huge and overwhelming if you have no experience booking venues. Breaking these down into smaller steps will help the task seem more manageable. For example, the first step for reserving a venue might be “look up venues in my area,” which feels much easier to accomplish. This might make your list seem really long, but it will be a more accurate representation of the amount of time your wedding plans will take. When you know exactly what steps you need to take to complete a large task, there is much less reason to worry. All you have to do is complete the next small step.
Outsource low priority tasks
The good news is that you don’t have to do everything yourself. You have people in your life that want your wedding to be as wonderful as you do. These people might include your partner, wedding party, family, and close friends. Find these people, and ask for their help. Have them help you with tedious tasks, such as writing addresses on envelopes, or even with entire tasks that are of low importance to you. Don’t overwhelm them, and be sure to express gratitude, but do no go it alone. You can always find people that want to help.
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