I have read many articles online on wedding planning when I started to plan my own wedding. There are many helpful articles out there. While they may be helpful for some, they may not be very helpful for others.
There are three main points that should be figured out first in order to move on.
1) Wedding date. Start with year, then season, then month, then day of the week. Keep in mind that some months and days of the week are going to be cheaper than others. Day of the week will also determine availability of vendors. Pick a few dates, but be flexible about them. Make sure you consider important events, and give yourselves enough time to plan the Big Day.
2) Budget. Use only the money that you currently have. Not what you are going to have, or credit that you might want to take. It's not a good idea to go in dept because of the wedding. It might mean that you will be working with a small budget. But that is when I am hoping this blog will come handy!
3) Guest count. Make a list of the guests you want to invite. Start with closest family and friends, then extended family (who absolutely have to be invited because they are family and there is no way of getting out of not inviting them), then people whom you'd absolutely love to see at the wedding. Stop right there! No, you don't need to invite that girl who invited you to her wedding! Or your co-workers, unless they are your best friends! Go over the list a few times to make sure you have not forgotten anybody, and cross out the names of those that can be not invited (I doubt you are going to have any if you followed the formula above, but as you go through the list you might realize that you are no longer bffs with that girl from high school), before sending the invites. Remember, the guest count is going to drive your budget. Do plan as if everyone is going to show up for your wedding!
It's OK to go back to those three points and make changes as you go. Just remember to be flexible where you can. Flexibility is going to help you stay sane!
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We got engaged in July of 2015, and thought of having a wedding in Spring or Fall time of 2016. Keeping times flexible allowed us to look around for a venue. We based our search on price and size. We knew we wanted to have our wedding on Sunday to keep the costs down and not forcing anyone to take a day off of work. Once we had the venue down, we went with an open date - just asked the venue which Sundays in fall and spring they had open. Spring season kind of fell off, and we went with a date in fall. On a side note, our date was not that flexible as once we had the open dates from the venue, we picked a date that was a lucky date according to Chinese calendar (hubby's family insisted). But it all worked out in the end! ;)
