Planning A Wedding In 8 Weeks
For most of us, preparing for a wedding can be a tedious and somehow, stressful but exciting experience. On average most of us also need a little more than six months to prepare for the big day. With all the preparations and suppliers we need to contact some may need a year to prepare.
But, if you are one of those couples that would just want to go ahead with your big day in less than six months, then this article would be very helpful to you.
How to Plan a Wedding in Eight Weeks – We Did It!
1. Work out your budget/ priorities: I hate to break it to you but unless you have an army of helpers, a wedding fund Jordan would envy and planning skills army generals specify in their recruitment drives, compromises will inevitably have to be made. Whether food or the dress, there is something that will matter most to you. Work out what it is and exactly what budget you have then make a list for everything else and stick to it.
2. Ask for deals: Yes it is difficult to ask for a best price, but given that our priority was picking an intimate venue that would offer great food at a reasonable price we had to get used to this pretty quickly. It’s easier than you might think. Booking out of season and at short notice meant we got a great deal on a venue we were initially offered for four grand earlier in the year!
3. Guest Planning: Invariably the bit that all married couples I know find tough. Very few people can invite everyone they want. We capped the list at 60 people, making it easier to manage planning and costs (and because our venue wasn’t big enough for any more than that).
We decided on no place settings, letting people sit where they wanted to save the hassle of ‘who sits where’ and we also took children out of the equation for all but our own.
4. Get the outfits sorted and be prepared to change your mind: Be warned that dresses take months to make so you will have to buy off the rack. I was fortunate to find a fantastic team (Hinxworth Bridal) to help me choose the dress, patiently going through styles and not even baulking when they asked which style I liked and got the answer ‘ jeans and a t-shirt’. And the mind change? That came when I tried on the biggest dress in the shop after being absolutely determined that I was only picking something simple. And fell in love with it. Sparkly loo roll holder it was.
5. Ask for help: At about four weeks in everything went wrong. My hairdresser cancelled, I was freaking about the cake, flowers, everything. One post on Facebook later and things were sorted. So many people stepped forward with skills I didn’t even know they had. My flowers for example were made by a school mum friend at cost and I have never seen anything so lovely. My mum took over the cake and my former army sergeant Father spent the morning of my wedding sprinkling glitter around the room with a panache even Laurence Llewellyn Bowen would envy. Job done.
6. Pick great support: Neither my husband nor I could have gotten through without a ton of assistance from our Best Man and Bridesmaids. Never underestimate the help and support a few people who know you best can give you.
7. Stay away from Pinterest: And wedding fairs, bridal magazines and certain handmade websites. Yes those mood boards are amazing, yes those centrepieces look wonderful. No you don’t have the time to ship in a herd of glittering llamas whilst hand making individual plate silver jewellery for all your guests. The money adds up in all the little details and I promise you, after a few glasses of wine no-one will notice if the chair sashes you spent twenty seven hours and a mortgage worth of money on are rosy-peach or pinkie-peach.
And finally celebrate the imperfections. You can plan all you like but invariably things will go wrong and they will also work themselves out. It won’t matter a thing when you get there.