1. BOOK A VENUE & SET A DATE
Booking a venue helps you solidify your vision, your date, your budget, and what exactly you will need for your big day. This is truly the starting point in wedding planning. If you are unsure of where you want your day to be then most of your other plans are at a stand still. Many venues have preferred vendor lists that help you solidify those details, some may even have decor you can use and others may have you rent everything you'll need through different companies. Once you know where you'll have your wedding and what your venue offers you'll be able to decide exactly how much help you'll need (& which A Lovely Occasion package will benefit you the most).
2. BOOK A PHOTOGRAPHER
A photographer is one of the most important pieces of your wedding day. You are spending an overwhelming amount of money, time, and energy to plan this special day, make sure that it is captured in a way that truly reflects its beauty. Be sure to choose a photographer that has a style that you want. If you like bright and airy don't choose a photographer that has more moody lighting. Compare a few different photographers and think about what you want your pictures to look like on your walls and in photo albums. There are three things that you shouldn't skimp on for a wedding and an important one is the photographer (the other two are the venue and the wedding planner).The pictures let you relive your day over and over again. They are always worth it.
3. CREATE A PINTEREST BOARD
You may already have a Pinterest board made (most of us have an old school wedding board from when we were younger), but now that the time has come to actually need one it's important to start fresh. Create a new board and pin down your vision. This will help you choose an aesthetic and can help clarify many pieces of your wedding day. With cake decor, bouquets, centerpieces, arbors, lighting, and pose ideas, Pinterest is about to be your bff for the foreseeable future.
4. SET A BUDGET
Budgets are key to wedding planning. You truly need a general budget in mind before you start anything, but finding the venue is going to help really lock it in. After you know your set budget you'll be able to decide things like buffet or plated, open bar or cash, DJ or band, real flowers or faux, all of these decisions can make or break a budget. There are a million choices you're going to have to make with wedding planning, having a set budget is going to help you make them. It's also a good idea to be reasonable with your budget and not try to skimp on the important things that you will appreciate in the long run (the three items I mentioned above). You want to be strict with your budget, but I would say that if you ask most people they'll say they went over their original goal a bit, so be sure to add a little bit of a cushion just in case you decide you want to splurge on something special.
5. HIRE A PLANNER
Last but most certainly not least, hire a planner! This may be your very first step or one of your last ones depending on what you are needing for your big day. You may be thinking about all of the things to do and are completely in a whirlwind, let us help! With our partial planning package or full service package we will be able to work with you to bring your wedding vision to life. We can help with decor, vendors, song lists, solidifying table charts and venue layouts, and a million other things. We will walk through the venue with you, work as a team, meet regularly, and make sure you don't feel like you're lost in the jungle of wedding planning stress and to-do lists. If you are already sure of your wedding plans and everything is booked and decorations are set, but you feel like you just need a little help bringing it all together the coordination package will help with that. It's a package that starts three months out and just ties your wedding up in a nice neat bow and takes away not only a day of stress, but also a lot of week of stress. The thought and planning of this wedding will be your life from your engagement until the day of. It is going to take energy, time, work, and money to get you to this day. Don't wish away your day because you were overwhelmed by the planning. A Lovely Occasion is here to help, because we truly feel that you deserve to love your day.