So you’ve decided to plan your own wedding. Whether it’s something you have always wanted to do, or you and your partner thought it was another great idea to save a bit of cash, it is not an easy task. Luckily, there is no task too big for a bride-to-be.

Planning your big day on your own is no walk in the park. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Prepare a budget

Figuring out a budget is very important, this will help you decide on other things too and this will help to prevent overspending on things that are not unnecessary.

You will figure out the venue, decor, and catering as you go along. You need to know how much you are spending and for how many people are you preparing for. This should not be your task alone, your spouse should also pitch in and help.

Create your own vision board

Whether you cut and paste pictures, or you make it online, you will find it very beneficial and soothing to put together a vision board of your ideas. It visualises your ideas and makes them seem realistic to achieve.

You will be able to see your wedding day at a glance and figure out what works within your theme and what doesn’t.  It also helps with restricting things that are not in your plans.

Stay on track

From the get-go, you and your partner should decide on a realistic timeline and an idea about the kind of wedding you want. If you can prioritize what you want, then you will be able to make decisions faster and get the vendors you really want for the wedding.

You will need to plan your time accordingly, you need a time frame and a breakdown of your goals. Do not decline help from people who volunteer.

Choose the easiest and most convenient tools to help you work. Things like invoices and receipts, keep copies of contracts, track costs need to be kept very safe, look into tools like web-sharing tools such as Google Docs. That way you can access your things anywhere.

Expect challenges

Things can and will go wrong, and you’ll need to prepare as best you can, the best thing you can do is breathe it out and go back to the drawing board. It will most likely be your first time planning a wedding, do not punish yourself for mistakes.

Read any contract carefully before signing 

Before you sign on any legally binding documentation, be sure to closely review every detail, including dates, location, times, deposits, additional fees, and colours. Everything has to be in the contract because if it isn’t, or is written incorrectly, you will not be protected if it’s not executed properly.

Take a closer look at any policy they might have. Many of them are more often than not one-sided and should anything happen, they will leave you out in the cold. Draw up your own contract and find a way to reach an agreement.

Make it fun

Planning a wedding can be very stressful and it will definitely take its toll on you but try and make it a fun task. Do not overthink and stress yourself, you and your partner can make it fun by delegating tasks amongst each other and turn that into a game.

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