This is a continuation The Essential Eight two-part seasons about Wedding Planning success. If you haven’t read Part 1, STOP NOW and click the link. You’ll be glad you did.
To recap, the first four of the Essential Eight are:
- Select a two-week time period
- Pick the location
- Come up with a rough budget
- Decide what is important
Now that you’ve read Part 1, let’s continue on with Part 2!
5. Book your top priority wedding professionals IMMEDIATELY
If they are your favorite, most likely they will be someone else’s. Especially if you are closer than 9 months from your wedding date, time is working against you. Make inquiries and pay the appropriate deposits.
THE NEXT THREE ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
6. Hire a wedding coordinator
This may seem odd coming from a Wedding DJ but, trust me, a good wedding coordinator is essential for you as the bride and groom to make your wedding as stress-free as possible. A good wedding coordinator is much like a good realtor. They are invaluable in connecting you with good wedding professionals you will want to work with and may recommend venues you may not have thought of, they will help maintain the bride-to-be’s sanity, and they will help keep you on track with all of the appointments and payments that need to be made.
The final reason to hire a wedding coordinator is, perhaps, a bit self-serving. A good wedding coordinator helps to relieve stress for the other wedding professionals (including the DJ). While I am absolutely capable of managing a wedding reception and ensuring people are where they need to be for moments like the Grand Entrance, Dinner Blessing, Toasts, etc, having a professionally whose attention is devoted to those things allows me to be more “in the moment” myself and ensures my focus is on the present. A good coordinator increases the likelihood that an event will have delays throughout it. Do delays happen? Sure. But they’re more infrequent when a coordinator is part of your event team.
If a full-service coordinator is out of your budget, consider hiring a month-of or day-of coordinator. Some full-service coordinators offer their services for couples as well. The month of the wedding is when things can really get hectic, and having someone dedicated to making everything run smoothly during that time frame can be a sanity saver.
7. Secure the venue
As the setting for your wedding, I feel this suggestion is self explanatory. It is where everything will happen. But it is beyond that. The venue will often encompass rentals, catering, and decor. The venue you select can be a way to help with concerns on your budget because they can help to lower the overall cost because you are going through the venue for your selections.
8. Book your entertainment
You had to guess that this item was going to make it on my list. As far as the day of the wedding, who you hire for entertainment has the highest impact on the overall experience the couple and their guests have. Also, the longer you wait, as with most wedding professionals, the less likely your number one selection is available (see number 5). As far as whether the entertainment should be a live band or a DJ/MC like me, I will leave that for a future blog.
These were the essential eight parts of planning a wedding I feel are the most important to set you as a couple up for success and help prepare you both to have as stress-free of a wedding as possible. It’s not that there will not be any stress. Having decisions to make is going to cause stress. BUT a lot of the worry and discomfort you could feel will be mitigated or relieved by the choices you make at the beginning of the process.