Whether you have been engaged for 2 days or 6 months you have probably been planning the perfect wedding since you were little. Playing dress up with prince charming, dancing at the ball and eating cake at the reception, whatever it may be you have been dreaming of this day for quite some time.

And now that reality has set in, you may be starting to see how much work and stress is actually involved in planning your perfect wedding. It comes as a shock to all of us as we step out of our perfect wedding fantasy and into all the tiny details of making it come true.

Thus, we have made an easy top 10 checklist for you to help you think through some wedding ideas you may or may not have come across yet…

 

The Top 10 Things to Think About When Planning Your Perfect Wedding

# 1. Make a list!

This might seem obvious, but if you haven’t started to write the details down yet, start right now. We have had too many brides come to us and sob over all the little details they just couldn’t handle or keep up with.

Making a list will do several things for you.

• It will help you see all that needs to be taken care of.
• It will allow you to delegate certain responsibilities to others and you will have peace of mind knowing they are being taken care of.
• Even the process will relieve SO MUCH of your stress.

 

Trust us, as soon as you get these things out of your mind and in front of you on paper or your laptop, you will immediately feel relieved. Try it! Let us know if it helped!

 

# 2. Call a friend or family member that has recently planned their perfect wedding!

Not sure if it’s pride or fear, but something keeps people from reaching out to others for help.

Now we may not all want mom or dad’s input, but for most of us a close friend, relative or at least someone we know has recently gone through the same process you’re about to go through and you will save yourself a lot of headaches by learning from their mistakes instead of your own.

They will be able to tell you things to watch out for. They will be able to tell you funny stories about things that went wrong at their wedding. They will have the hindsight to help you see ahead to what a bride’s wedding day is really like.

And if you have absolutely no one you think will be able to share some thoughtful advice, you can always keep searching the web!

 

# 3. Create a vision board!

Now, this is a fun one! We personally recommend using Pinterest. It has so many options and it’s easy to find décor and colors you love and instantly grab and save them to your board. If you are a more hands-on person, go grab a poster board from the store and start collaging!

Vision boarding is a fantastic way to get a sense of your own style and keep it locked away for memory sake. Instead of seeing something you love and forgetting where you found it or exactly what it looks like, you have a permanent visual memory right in front of you.

Knowing the names of your colors and being able to see your style will help you head in the same direction with all your décor.

Do you know how awful it is to order 1000 plates only to find out they don’t perfectly match your 1000 napkins? What a headache! Easily avoidable with a good vision board.

# 4. Limit your options!

This might sound like odd advice. When would you ever want to limit your options for your perfect wedding? Well, let us tell you something. There are soooo many options out there that if you’re not careful you will find yourself paralyzed by the number of options. Don’t go there. Instead, find what you really love and start going in that direction.

Limit yourself to certain colors, décor, and styles and then stick to it. Don’t get distracted by other “shiny objects” that will get you rabbit trailing in the wrong direction.

You will save yourself turmoil by limiting your options as you start to find what you really love.

For photograph options go here: Capture your Organic Moments

 

# 5. Work together with your fiancé!

Did you forget? You’re not really planning this wedding by yourself, are you? No, the love of your life is right there beside you. Both of you may have jitters and excitement about this day but from different vantage points. This can be extremely helpful when looking to get a different perspective.

When we were going through our wedding plans, my husband (fiancé at the time), had some sage wisdom we were grateful for. He had seen many of his friends go through wedding planning and almost lose their minds because they took it all upon themselves to do everything.

He said right at the start: if you have extra things to be done outside of what the wedding planner is handling for you, find friends and family that are willing to help and delegate some tasks so that it doesn’t all fall on your shoulders. This advice probably saved us countless sleepless nights and some young grey hairs!

 

# 6. Hire a photographer!

You might be thinking, “Of course you would be saying that! You are photographers,” but let us assure you, at the end of the day you are going to want to have the most gorgeous photos of your perfect wedding, and you DO NOT want to leave it up to iPhones and Auntie Susan to make sure they all come out great.

We don’t care how expensive anyone’s camera is, if they don’t know how to use it and then the editing process…just trust us, you will want a professional doing it and it doesn’t even have to be us.

We just cringe when we hear anyone tell us “No, we didn’t hire a photographer. We thought we’d just have everyone Instagram their guest photos and we’d be good.” In our heads, all we can see is a sobbing bride looking through Instagram in regret to see the random stuff she got and that they missed the most breathtaking moments.

As we have said, even if we don’t end up being your go-to photographers, you can ask us any questions here: Ask Erica and Josh

# 7. Get a wedding planning book!

Wait, isn’t that cheating on your wedding planner? Nope, for your perfect wedding you want to be as prepared and in the know, as possible.

Wedding planning books are chalked full of expert advice and tips. They are also kind of fun to go through! Do yourself a favor and at least stop over at Barnes and Noble and check some out. No harm in a coffee or tea and some fun wedding reading, right? You could even ask your bestie to go with!

 

# 8. Make a Checklist!

The first thing you want to do is make a list of all the details you are coming up with. When it comes to your mind just go ahead and write it down, but as time moves forward you are going to want to also refine a Master checklist. This will help you stay on track and keep deadlines.

Nothing like a checklist staring you in the face every day to keep up the motivation!

 

# 9. Don’t rush into any decisions!

It may be enticing to hire the first photographer or wedding planner you meet with but trust us, you will want to do your due diligence and make sure that your perfect wedding is in spectacular hands. Ask for references, talk to several different professionals and call around.

Don’t be afraid to sit down with several to weigh out your options before finalizing anything. You can even take a photographer on a small test run by setting up a photo shoot with your fiancé. Call it a date!

Contact us here to start setting up a date!

# 10. Have an “On-Site” Wedding!

Having an “off-site” wedding would be at a beach or park. Although they can be beautiful, there are no bathrooms or kitchen to work with.

Having an “On-Site” wedding would be at a hotel or venue where everything you need is on-site and provided for. By having an on-site wedding you will save yourself a lot of trouble figuring out all the extra details like not having a bathroom or running out of food.

We were at a friend’s wedding. It was at a beautiful park and everything was gorgeous. The only problem was…they ran out of food. They had to run to a nearby pizza shop to bring back 20 pizzas!

“On-Site” would have avoided this dilemma. Even if you want to have the wedding at a park, but the reception on-site, this might still avoid some sticky situations.

 

Although this is not an exhaustive list, we do hope it helps you get started or at least brought some things to mind that you hadn’t thought of yet.

 

Looking for some advice on wedding photography? Organic Moments would love to help with any questions here: Need some help?