In case you didn’t notice I got married last year in February, so we are less than a month away from celebrating our first anniversary! I thank God for having brought us thus far and I’m very excited for what is to come for us!
And those who know me personally know that I am a wedding junky! I remember in my early teenage years being hooked to shows like Whose wedding is it anyway, A Wedding Story, My Fair Wedding with David Tutera, Four Weddings, and the list goes on! Let’s not even start about wedding movies, Father of the Bride 1 is still my favorite *heart eyes*!!
Wedding planning from the very beginning was so fascinating to me. I would google how to become a wedding planner and even applied to a university just because they had wedding/event planning minor. Maybe that’s what I should’ve careered in? That’s another lengthy blog post for another time hahaha. Of course, while watching all these shows and movies I wanted to one day become a bride. But I was really hooked up on the aspect of putting together an event that would the first and best day in the life of a couple in starting a new chapter together, especially the bride.
With all of these reasons combined, and because I enjoy giving advice and plan people’s weddings in my head (is that weird? hahahaha) I thought that it would be a great idea to have a series on ElleJoelle where I share how I planned my wedding!
So every Wednesday as #WeddingWenesday, on my social media handles, I will announce which topic(s) I will be covering about wedding planning and my own experience, to give soon-to-be brides, wedding enthusiasts like myself the chance to send me questions about the topic that I will answer throughout the blog post for the next day as a #ThrowbackThursday recalling what it was like planning my wedding.
The series will go on up until our anniversary which is February 18th.
So Today to start things off I’ll be sharing just some general information on what to do when you just get engaged.
#1
Talk Budget!
Trust me, I hated the word “Budget” as much as the next bride! But this is extremely important, in setting the tone on what you guys can expect when searching for vendors and reduce misunderstandings (FIGHTS lol) between you and your significant other. Even if you are not set on a specific number, definitely introduce the conversation early on in order to be proactive and productive on your wedding planning journey. Keep in mind that talking budget doesn’t mean putting barriers, look at it more as an honest convo about what will work best for you guys in creating the best day of your lives. Because when you decide to have a wedding that is sort of an investment (sort of), so money talk definitely needs to be part of the process.
#3
Pick a date!
This goes without saying but if you didn’t know Picking a date early one is a biggy.
A- depending on the date you chose the cost of your wedding might vary. For example if you get married around peak season vendors charge a bit more. Getting married around May, your venue might cost more but if you get married in February your flowers can cost more and be harder to find because it’s valentine’s day season (That was the case for but thank God for my amazing resourceful florist, Yamir, I was A-Okay in getting the flowers I wanted)
So do your research and weigh out the options to find which date will be best for you guys.
B- waiting to long to pick a date is not the best idea because you might lose out on the opportunity on booking one of your favorite vendors and in turn having to choose a less loved vendor, miss out on a sale deadline, or pay more to book another vendor because you are pressed for time. So try to pick a date as soon as you can and STICK WITH IT!
#3
Get a planner!
This will be a lifesaver in staying organized. There are plenty out there and you can definitely make your own, but the one I recommend getting is the Erin Condren Wedding Planner,
From early on I knew that this was going to be the planner to go with. In this wedding planner, you get tips on wedding planning a wedding timeline on what should be done around what time and a bunch of added bonus details that are super helpful.
Take a peek at mine!
For some that might a bit steep but I was fortunate enough to receive it as a gift from my Maid of Honor, so that could be great gift that you could hint to your maid of honor or bridal party (bride squads take notes!) and again going back to your wedding being an investment to a certain extent, getting yourself a great planner will for sure help in staying on task.
That’s all I’ll cover for today, I’m super excited about this series, I’m positive that it can be of help to any bride to be and a great read for any other wedding junkies like myself!
See you all Thursday for more!
In the meantime, leave me comments on the topics you’d like for me to cover!
Here for this!!!!
Author
The bride 😍😍😍
I’m glad you are girl!!!!