We got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I am so excited, but wedding planning hit me like a TRUCK. We thought we had a good idea of what we wanted, but we quickly realized that wasn’t the case. Although we ended up making the decision to hire a planner, we had a lot to consider when thinking about our wedding. In this blog post I am going to walk you through the most stressful (but exciting) stage of your life!

Step 1: Consider the options

There are SO many options out there to consider. Walk through these options with your fiance and have an honest conversation about what is most important to you.

• What time of year? If it’s important to have a certain time of year, this will play a role in venue availability, and what your options are. Summer/fall “wedding season” tends to be the most popular, and vendor availability needs to be considered.
• Who will be there? We started making a vague list. For us, the two options were a microwedding or a big wedding. We made a list for both. This was super helpful with comparing pricing and venue availability, as many companies will tell you costs by person, and venues only hold a certain number of people.
• What does your financial situation look like? Weddings quickly add up when it comes to $$. Some couples choose to wait a couple years to save, but if that isn’t something that interests you, you’ll need to make a plan.

We made a pros and cons list of each option so that we could compare

Step 2: Book your venue

Once you decide what you WANT, get going. Most start by looking at venues. Once you book a venue, you’ll have your date, and that will help a ton when booking other vendors.

You can find venues in a variety of ways:

-Recommendations from friends

-Searching on social media – hint: “your state” weddings, “your state” wedding venue are great search terms

-Posting in your local bridal Facebook groups

These tips can be helpful for all vendors!

Step 3: Book your photographer & catering

Photographers can book out 2-3 years in advance, so it’s a good idea to hire one ASAP if that’s important for you. We are currently booking into 2023 for photo and video.

If your venue doesn’t include catering, you’ll also want to hop on that asap!

Step 4: Have fun and stay organized

Once you have your main vendors booked, you can slowly add more vendors and enjoy some of the “fun” parts of wedding planning! Some of our brides find it helpful to create a binder to keep contracts and other info in. It is totally up to what works best for you!

If you haven’t chosen a wedding photographer and/or videographer yet, we would love to be considered. We are a Grand Rapids, MI based team but we also travel all over and would love to chat about your wedding! Use the menu to head to our contact page and start talking with us.