Congratulations
First of all, if you’ve just got engaged, congratulations! You’re about to start planning an incredible event that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. To make sure you and your partner have the wedding of your dreams, it’s a good idea to start thinking about some of the basics as soon as you reasonably can.
Here are a few key points to consider:
Choose a wedding date
Do you see yourself as a summer bride or are you dreaming of a winter celebration with all the trimmings? The season will not only dictate the style of wedding you have, it will also have an effect on what is available. Summer is still the most popular time to get married and some venues are likely to be booked up several years in advance. If you do have a particular place in mind, you might have to be flexible and consider marrying at a different time of year.
Work out the wedding budget
It's very easy to get carried away when planning your dream wedding, and before you know it you've spent a small fortune. Before you commit yourself to anything, sit down with your fiancé and work out what you can afford to spend, what your priorities are and where you could cut costs if necessary. If either set of parents is contributing, it makes sense to involve them in the discussions too.
The average wedding now costs nearly £20,000 but only you know what you can afford. Decide on a budget and then make sure you stick to it. If you over-spend in one area, work out how you can economise somewhere else.
Ceremony
Do you want a religious ceremony in a church/chapel/synagogue, or would you prefer a civil ceremony at either a registry office or licensed premises? And where have you envisaged holding your reception? If your ceremony and reception are both in the same place it will be easier to sort out a date, rather than having to liaise with two different places over availability. (You also won't have to worry about transport between the two.)
The location of your venue – close to where you live or near your parents' home – will also have an impact on guests who may need to find overnight accommodation or make travel arrangements.
Compile a guest list
You don't need to have the names finalised but it does make sense to work out exactly how many friends and family you want to invite. The size of your guest list has a huge impact on where you can marry. If you've set your heart on tying the knot in the local village church near your parents' home but it only holds 50 you're going to have a rethink if a rough totting up of guests is running at 150.
Likewise your choice of reception venue and the type of function you have will be determined by the number of guests – a sit-down do at your favourite hotel might be perfect for 80, but a cocktails-and-canapés party would accommodate 120.
Start looking at wedding dresses
Obviously you don't need to make a final decision on what you're going to wear right now, but it could take you a long time to find the wedding dress of your dreams so it makes sense to start your research early. Look through magazines - You and Your Wedding and Cosmo Bride are a great place to start! - and mark any dresses that catch your eye, then begin to narrow down your choices. Once you've got a better idea of what you want, you can start making appointments to try on different styles. Allow yourself plenty of time to find the right one – you don't want to be rushed into making the wrong decision.
Will you need to compromise your ideas?
Taking a cheque from either set of parents is great. Just be sure they don’t think this means they have a much bigger say in your wedding plans than you want. It’s hard to say you want workmates rather than relatives on the guest list if it’s your parents’ cash you are spending.
Do it yourself
Think carefully about whether you can do some things yourself rather than employing others to do them: check out eBay for wedding bargains – new and ‘once-loved'.
The wedding budget by Brides magazine
Reception, including food and drink - 30%
Venue/ceremony/musicians - 15%
Outfits - 10%
Flowers/entertainment/transport - 10%
Photography/video - 10%
Stationery - 5%
Honeymoon - 15%
Unexpected extras - 5%
