One minute you were celebrating your engagement, and then BAM! Everyone is asking when your date is/what flower arrangements you’ve chosen/ when they’ll receive their invites/ who you’ve booked for hair and makeup. Meanwhile, you’ve barely gotten started on the planning. You’re still on cloud 9 thinking about the proposal and daydreaming about an elaborate day, which, truth be told, you’ve only started organising.
Perhaps that’s not you. Maybe you’re a little further along in the planning stages and you suddenly find yourself bogged down in the decision-making unable to find a way forward or struggling with the organisation of the nitty gritty. It’s tough, this wedding planning business, especially if you’re not naturally the organised type. Fortunately, we know a thing or two about planning a wedding and we’re here to help.
Try apps
There isn’t much you can’t do online these days, and while you can’t enlist the help of Alexa to plan your wedding (unfortunately), you can try apps that will help to make the process easier. Try Bridebook. We’re all busy, and it’s been built with the busy couple in mind – and bonus point, you can rope your other half into the planning too, as the app lets you both plan simultaneously while on the go. It covers all the essentials, including a checklist, to keep on top of all the to-dos, a budget, to plan and manage every expense, a guestlist, to easily track invitations and RSVPs and a shortlist, to contact and book your venue and suppliers. If that’s not your style, feel free to go old school a grab a wedding book or two instead.
Delegate, delegate, delegate
“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.” It was Ronald Regan who said that, and while we’ve no doubt he was discussing matters of congress and not referring to your maid of honour having free reign to organise the hen party, the same wisdom applies. Enlist the help of the people around you – yes, hetero couples, this includes the groom – and delegate according to their skills. Most people close to you will be only delighted to play a part in the wedding, so give them a job to do.
Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis
There is nothing that grinds the productivity train to a halt like indecision and with so much choice out there – and so much pressure to have the best wedding ever – it can be easy to get bogged down in all the options. Whether it’s something small like choosing the right shoe for your bridesmaids or something massive like deciding on a venue. While we can’t make the decisions for you – and neither can your bridal party – there is one surefire way to land on a choice you’re happy with. Give yourself a deadline. Say you’re stuck between peonies or roses in your bouquet. Allow yourself a certain amount of time to think about it – whether that’s one hour, one day or one week – thoroughly consider all the pros and cons and tell yourself that after that time to consider your options you must land on a choice and stick to it. Give yourself a deadline and don’t look back. It’s that simple.
Make a master document
This should include names and contact details of all your suppliers as well as any important notes about what they are offering you, any appointments you need to make with them and their best point of contact should things go wrong. Pass this document around to your bridal party so everyone is on the same page. Remember what we said about delegating? Well this is your party’s cheat sheet to helping you out.
Write a checklist
Is there anything better than the thrill of writing a checklist and ticking each item off as it’s completed? No? Just me? If you aren’t the type to jot things down, now is your time to start. Grab pen and paper and with the help of your aforementioned books and apps starting writing out what you need to do. Once you’ve got a list, you might like to divide your items into a time schedule. What do you need to do 6 months out, 2 months out, and when you’ve only four weeks to go? Once you’ve got all of that straight in your head you’ll feel so much more on top of things.(Psst! You can find our ultimate checklist here.)
Consider a wedding planner
If it all becomes too much, and you just have too many outside commitments to give wedding planning your full focus, you might want to touch base with a wedding planner. Budget won’t stretch that far? Even teeing up a one off session with a wedding consultant can help you with organisation and get you back on track.
Make a space
Find a spot right now, whether it’s an empty drawer or a fancy in-tray, grab all that wedding related paperwork – notes, contact numbers, contracts, the lot – and put it all in that one spot where you can find it. Next, set up a dedicated wedding email address and direct all promotional materials and communication with suppliers into that inbox. A decluttered space equals a decluttered mind and once you have everything in one spot you’ll feel so much more capable of cracking on with the important stuff.
Don’t forget to breathe…
Seriously, everything is going to work out just fine. Suss out what you need to do and work your way through that to-do list one day at a time.
