Make a wedding email

I was that girl that was obsessed with the idea of getting engaged (and getting married) and had already come up with a hashtag for Joe and I (it was #FindingNenow like “Finding Nemo”).

After the first three weeks of daydreaming about our wedding, I finally STARTED planning. I looked at wedding magazines, blogs, Pinterest, etc. I started emailing vendors (I emailed A LOT of vendors).

I started off using my personal email but it got very overwhelming to deal with all of my personal and wedding emails in one place. Plus, I was attending wedding conventions and putting my personal email down for everything and my inbox was getting so clogged up! Then, a friend suggested I create a wedding email and it was the best idea ever. I made a wedding email (findingnenow@gmail.com), created folders for all the different vendors I was in communication with (Photography, Venue, Catering, Planning, Etc) and my life got a LOT easier!

Download some Apps (or order/hire a Wedding Planner!)

I was the first one in my friend group to get engaged so I had absolutely no idea where to start. I turned to The Knot, Wedding Wire, and Southern Weddings frequently to read up on what I should be doing and to come up with a timeline for myself.

The Knot has an app that you can download that will help you track all of your wedding guests and give you deadlines for wedding tasks based on the date you are planning on getting married.

If you’re more of a pen and paper gal, Southern Weddings has a wedding planner that is extremely helpful and focused on helping you plan the wedding of YOUR dreams. You can read more about how I planned our wedding ceremony with the Joyful Wedding Planner here.

Of course the other option you have is to hire a wedding planner. If you’re in the triangle, I have heard amazing things about Stephanie Scholl.

Compile Your Wedding Guest List 
Start making your guest list with your fiance as soon as possible. Having an idea of the number of guests you want at your wedding will help you with making a decision for the venue. You don’t want to look at a venue that will only hold a capacity of 100 people and decide you want a 300 person wedding. If you need to, rank the people on your guest list. My husband and I had to do this with our guest list. We decided that ALL family members and our closest friends were absolutely getting invited. If a certain person hadn’t touched base with us for over a year, we put them on the B list. We also made a rule that we would only include plus one’s for those who had been in a relationship for over a year. This was just how we decided to condense our guest list because we had a budget that we needed to work with. The best way to cut your budget is to cut your guest list!

But, if you decide that you want to be able to have a wedding with all of the guests on your list you absolutely can. The best thing about your wedding day is that you can completely personalize it and make it your own.

Decide on a Budget

Before you go look at that venue that will cost you $12,000 decide on a budget! If your parents will be assisting you, sit down with them and have them give you a number. It’s really important to have an idea of what kind of finances you have to work with because weddings can get very expensive. With a budget, you’ll have a better idea of what things you’re willing to pay for and what things you can simply let go or switch out for more budget friendly options.

Wedding days are extremely important but they are not worth blowing out your entire savings account OR going into debt for. With the right mindset, you CAN have a wedding with the budget that you’re given to work with. You’ll learn very quickly that you will have to compromise a number of things to make your wedding happen.

Determine Where and When You Want to Get Married

The venue is one of the most important parts of your wedding day! There are so many factors to consider for your perfect venue but the most important ones are WHERE it will be and WHEN your wedding will be.

It’s important to stay flexible with these two factors because depending on your dream venue, you may have to choose between getting the venue or going with a different venue for the date you had in mind.

Personally, I wanted to get married in the Fall and in the mountains. We ended up signing a contract for the very first venue we saw which was NOT in the mountains and for a summer date (and then later ended up going with another venue.. I can elaborate on that later on another post..). You should NEVER sign a contract on the day you visit the venue, especially if it’s the first venue you’ve looked at! I did end up getting the mountain wedding of my dreams but it was in the spring rather than in the fall!

You can start looking at venues in your dream location first (it can be your hometown, your fiance’s hometown, a location that is significant for both of you, etc) and then decide a date depending on when the venue has availability. Most couples need 8-12+ months to plan a wedding but it can be done in a shorter time frame as well! (I’ve heard of weddings that were planned in under 3 months!)

Just remember that this is you and your fiance’s wedding! Many people will try to give you opinions but try to stay true to yourself and what you desire for your wedding day, it’s okay to say no to certain things if it’s not what you want!