You nailed it, met your soulmate and now......you are engaged!!! Congratulations and welcome to the “Soon-to-be-Married Club”! Now it's time to plan the your big day! Let the fun begin! However, if you are like my most of my couples, find the right place to start can be overwhelming. If this sounds like you then you are in the right place. Below is my guide for creating an action plan for creating your fabulous wedding!


Set a Date

It's important to start with a date in mind. This can be influenced by multiple factors such as season, holidays, and travel availability of your guests. It's best to have a few dates in mind before you start search for the perfect venue. You may also want to consider booking a day other than Saturday. Some venues give discounts for weddings that take place on Friday or Sunday. You will also find that other vendors have better availability sometimes offer discounted rates.


Think Big Picture

While all of the little details may be important and fun to pick out, you cake flavor and wedding dress for example, it's important to start with the overall picture before picking out the details. Starting with the big picture ensures that all of the elements of your wedding are cohesive and consistent throughout. What style really speaks to you as a couple? What type of atmosphere do you want to create on the day? Are you going to have a theme, such as rustic, country, vintage, etc? What will your color scheme be? I would recommend starting a Pinterest board of all of the wedding styles that speak to you as a couple. This will help narrow down the choices.


Start with a Budget In Place

Don't let your finances get away from you, create a budget right from the start. The last think you need is to start your life together with a massive debt. Set aside a realistic budget before you start planning. Looking up the average cost of each vendor you will want to employ for your wedding will also help you have a more realistic budget. You can then decide where you want to make cuts and where you think your money is best spent.


Draft Your Guest List

You guest list will affect two elements of your wedding planning, your budget and your venue. It doesn't need to be a finalized guest list, but having a rough idea of how many people you would like at your wedding is key. Be sure to discuss your draft with your family. They may have an opinion about who should be added to your guest list. You will want to have that discussion early on in the planning process to avoid added stress and possible hurt feelings later in the process.


Become the Queen of Organization.

The more organized you are, the better your wedding planning experience will be. Keep a digital copy of all of your important documents, contracts and information in one file on your computer (or in the cloud), so that you can easily refer back to them when you need to. If you want to be able to bring important documents along to meetings with vendors, you can always create a wedding binder that contains all of the information you need. Plus it makes for a great backup copy too! Also, set aside one day a week to make your “wedding planning check-in day”. Maybe you have nothing to get done the week, but checking in on your planning at least once a week will ensure that things do not pile up too quickly. Remember, a solid wedding planning foundation is key to designing the wedding of your dreams. So start the planning process off right!