Girl it's happening! You have an engagement ring, and you're getting married! It's so surreal, yet definitely happening. Like it or not, the weeks following that proposal are guaranteed to be a whirlwind.
There is so much to do and so much to plan. Pinterest boards, bridal magazines, blogs, dress shopping, venue hunting...the list goes on and on. Years of watching wedding movies couldn't have prepared you for what's to come. While the average engagement lasts 1-1.5 year, there are certain things you want to get done immediately—no matter how long you plan on being engaged.
So where to start? There's no strict order to follow as long as you tackle the immediate to-dos. Committing the rest of your life to the love of your life is scary and amazing and the best kind of stress. An experienced wedding planner will help you with advices on which tasks to do first, inspire you and suggest vendors and décor that suits you and your wishes, as well as be that calm voice when you need it.
Insure your ring - not the most romantic action, but could be a life-saver in an unexpected bad situation
Find a wedding date - Most desirable wedding dates (read more here) in early and late summer weekends get booked up many months/year in advance, hence if you have your eye on a special date or a venue, make sure that the first thing you do after engagement is to book your date at the specific venue, or at least decide the date and start looking for venue immediately after. Here you can find some of the most beautiful wedding venues in Lake Garda and Croatian coast for a destination wedding.
Determine the number of wedding guests - Talk to your partner and your family about the wedding size that you have in mind and agree on it. Keep in mind that the guest count is the biggest cost drivers, every guest increases the needed budget for your dream wedding. Maybe that third uncle is not invited after all? Read here about our advice on the wedding guest list.
Discuss the budget for the wedding - Not the most romantic topic, but there is life after the wedding and the car and house will not pay off themselves. See how much money you or your family can put aside for the wedding and talk to your wedding planner about their tips on achieving the look for less.
Hire a wedding planner - You decided the size and budget of the wedding, as well as (approximate) date, but now all the options open and there is so much inspiration online and you have no idea how to realize it and how much all of it costs?? We are here to help you out. We at Aja Weddings make sure to understand what are the most important aspects of the wedding for you and create the budget list together with you, concentrating the biggest parts of budget into those details, and saving on the others. Experienced wedding planner can recommend you cheaper-but-equally-good wedding vendors, transfer the agency-savings that they get from other vendors, as well as give you tips on in-season flowers that are budget-friendlier than others, design a creative wedding mood board for you with different ideas that you might didn't see before, etc. During the wedding planning process, we help you in each step, from creating a theme based on your love story and wishes, recommending the appropriate vendors, creating and tracking the budget, vendor and guest communications, bills and deposits tracking, hotel and transport organizing, everything what a wedding needs and you don't have inspiration or time for. Contact us here!
Choose your wedding venue - The location, style and aesthetic of the wedding venue are crucial in how your wedding planning will develop and look. There is so many things to consider, and especially pitfalls that some venues might bring, and to make it easier for you, we prepared this blog about all the questions that you need to ask the venue before booking it. If you decide to work with planners from Aja Weddings, we will do the research based on the style and location that you imagine and present you with 5 or more recommended options, which we can visit together so that we can help you in sorting out your mind and choosing the perfect one.
Those were the 6 most important steps that are crucial to be done as soon as possible after your engagement. The steps that come after are decided based on your preferences, meaning that if it is super important for you that the food on the wedding is stellar, you will choose the caterer next. If the music is more important, you should concentrate on booking the entertainment musician or DJ, as usually the good ones are booked early on.
Contact us today to help you define the budget, figure out the next steps and plan the party of your life!
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