First 5 Steps in Wedding Planning After Getting Engaged

Need Wedding Planning Tips? I have you covered with your First 5 Steps in Wedding Planning after getting engaged

Before we get too far into wedding planning, let's celebrate. You are engaged, girl! That means your fiancé and you believe you are soulmates. You guys have gotten close over your relationship and truly want to be together forever. Congrats on love! Before you rush into planning, take some time to enjoy the moment.

**Enjoying the moment**

Ok, now to planning - I am writing this to give you a starting place. I see so many brides to be post on their social media accounts asking, "I am engaged. What do I do now?" I then see a ton of comments from their friends, miscellaneous wedding vendors, and strangers offering them internet advice. I cringe at some of the advice because as a planner, I know what order things should be done to result in the best planning experience for the bride and groom. My hope is this will give you some guidance to the wonderful world of wedding planning. See below for the first 5 steps in wedding planning.

You and your fiancé make "the wedding 3-list." The 3-list is something I thought of to help people just like you. This list will be the outline for your wedding planning. This is how: you and your fiancé to go into separate spaces. Both of you should have a pen and paper. Take some time to think what is important to you in regards to your wedding. Make a list of the top 3 more important areas to you. You both will now have separate top 3 lists. Come together and discuss the top 3. This step is very important. You should discuss your top 3 to learn about what is important to your fiancé and why. Now make that item important to you as well. It's perfectly natural for you to have different items on the list so please don't be alarmed if all 3 are different. You now have your own wedding 3-list.
The second step is talk about budget. This doesn't mean pull out random numbers of what you believe vendors or venues should cost. This means discuss what you can put towards your wedding. Discuss where you are comfortable at and your max. Write these numbers down.
Create your first guest list. This list is going to guide you in a lot of your future planning areas. Make a list of who you want at your wedding. Put a star next to those who you REALLY want at your wedding. Extra points if you make this list in a program like Excel. Total up the amount of guests on the list and the amount of stars. Congrats, you now have a guest list.
Think about what time of the year you'd like to get married. There are pros and cons of each season. Talk it over with your fiancé and figure out what is a season you'd like. It's helpful if you go a step further and choose a month. If you have a wedding date you'd like, that should be noted here. Finding a venue will be easier for you if you're open and flexible on dates. Keep that in mind before you "get married" to the idea of one date - see what I did there?
Take both of your "Wedding 3-Lists," budget, guest count, anticipated wedding month (or date) and find a wedding planner. Please, find your wedding planner before you go into any other planning areas. Planners will learn your vision and your Wedding 3-List and do all we can to help you achieve it. We know of many vendors and venues (and even get discounts with some) and can save you so much time in finding the perfect match for your wedding. Along with your wedding planner by your side, you will go into the next steps of planning which include creation of a color palette, venue selection, and date confirmation. Choose a planner whom you trust, matches your style, and cares about both of your Wedding 3-Lists. To learn if Good Friend Events is the right wedding planner fit for you, view our request a copy of our wedding planning guide here: www.GoodFriendEvents.com/contact. Happy Planning, my friends!