Start planning your dream wedding with 12 easy steps!!

Oh my gosh, Congratulations!!! You’ve just gotten engaged to the love of your life!!!

It’s FINALLY time to start planning your wedding and you have NO IDEA where to start!!

No worries, friend, here are 12 easy steps to start planning your dream wedding!! As a Florida & Georgia wedding photographer, I’ve had the honor of photographing hundreds of weddings and I’m here to help you get started!!!

Before we dive into how to start planning, I want to offer a simple reminder. 👏

Sweet bride, please remember that your dream wedding is so much more than the details & decor! It’s about you and your Fiance’ and the story God is writing through your love & journey together.

Often, wedding planning brings on waves of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm which all goes against what the wedding celebration is even about!

So, how can you plan your dream wedding, and actually enjoy the process while growing CLOSER together through it?

Here are a few actionable, simple steps to get started!! 

Step 1 – Don’t forget to Enjoy your Engagement! 

• Take some time to enjoy the engagement and talk deeper about what you both want your wedding to be like before diving into the planning process!
• Share the exciting news with your friends and family!
• Celebrate with an engagement party!
• Start pinning ideas to your Pinterest inspiration boards!!

Step 2 – Find a Meaningful Date for Your Wedding 

I have heard so many stories from my couple, of how they chose their wedding date based on a certain dating anniversary, engagement celebration, or even a date honoring a loved one!

There are so many ways to find a wedding date that is both available for your venue (Practical) and also holds a deeper meaning for you both as a couple. (Sentimental)

Step 3 – Discuss & Decide on your Wedding Priorities TOGETHER.

You’re probably obsessing over finding the PERFECT dress, and perhaps your fiancé is super stoked about choosing the most delicious food or epic DJ!! 

Planning your wedding day priorities together is key to making sure your day is everything you’ve both dreamed of! 

When deciding your priorities, it can be helpful to jot down your list of wedding vendors/components. Once you’ve done that, go back and put them in the order of importance to you.

The most important should be at the top of your list and go to the least of importance. 

➡ First, make a list of important vendors & wedding day components

➡ Next, arrange them in order of importance to you!

I encourage my couple to do this process together, but on your own piece of paper to ensure you are both sharing what’s most important to you, then work together to find the perfect compromise! 

See below for an example of a list of priorities!! ⬇

Step 4 – Set your budget according to your list of priorities

Can I offer you some advice?? Don’t do it the other way around, allowing your budget to dictate your priorities. Allowing your priorities to dictate your budget will ensure that your wedding day is focused on what YOU prioritize, not what society TELLS you too!

Step 5 – If you’re going to hire a planner, hire them as early in the process as possible

This is your first time planning your dream wedding, so it can be super beneficial to have a planner step in with counsel, advice, recommendations, and guidance! It’ll help you feel confident in making the best decision for your wedding day! 

Step 6 – Divide and conquer by assigning tasks to willing & available individuals

Your Type-A self CAN and SHOULD delegate duties to your support team! Your friends and family love you and want to help and support you! Avoid trying to do it all yourself, as you will burn out.

Accept the loving assistance, and guide them into what steps they can take to make your burdens a bit lighter.

Step 7 – Keep the bigger picture in mind when making decisions.

Try to remember, the napkin color doesn’t matter on your wedding night – you’ll be dancing the night away making memories with your family and friends!

Your dream wedding day doesn’t revolve around everything going perfectly, but being present in each and every moment!

Step 8 – Go on Dates and DON’T discuss your wedding planning!!  

Growing closer together during your wedding planning journey is extremely important. Difficult and stressful situations often cause a lack of intimacy & closeness, instead of bringing you together as a team to support and encourage each other.

Often marriage counseling, long conversations, and date nights can help you focus on your relationship and grow together before you say “I do”.

Step 9 – Schedule time for wedding planning!

By scheduling a consistent time every week for planning your dream wedding together or separately, you’ll have an expected time to think about wedding decisions & plans and allow yourself to stop worrying about planning 24/7.

Doing this will also cut down on the overwhelm and procrastination! Choose a day or two each week to focus on wedding tasks, so you’ll truly enjoy this time of planning your wedding day!

Step 10 – Create an email specifically for ALL THINGS wedding-related!!

This simple & easy task helps you keep track of important emails, and documents, and not miss any important emails! Planning requires a lot of emails and going back and forth with vendors, so having a separate email will save you many gray hairs!

Step 11 – Take a break from wedding planning and celebrate by capturing your engagement portraits!!

This just might be the most fun task of all while planning your dream wedding!!!

I mean, who DOESN’T want breathtakingly romantic photos to share announcing their engagement?

Planning your engagement session doesn’t have to be stressful!! I personally offer an engagement style guide to all of our clients, walking them through outfit and location planning!

It’s basically like having a date night where you get to cuddle, laugh together, and make some sweet memories! To make it even better, we offer FREE engagement portraits with each of our wedding collections!!

Why?? Because we value getting to know your personalities, hearing your wedding day vision, and ensuring you feel completely comfortable and confident on your wedding day!

Step 12 – Trust your wedding party, planner, vendors, and your marriage.

The most important part of your wedding planning journey is promising forever to the love of your life! Everything else will fall into place! 

Don’t forget to enjoy the journey. Don’t focus so much on planning your perfect wedding day that you miss the fun of planning!

All of the meetings, tastings, shopping, and real-life conversations – it’s all a process of discovering even more about each other and learning to communicate and listen to each other’s hearts and desires!  

Make the planning process & end results a beautiful representation of your Love Story!

Happy Planning, beautiful bride-to-be!!