1. Decide on a date - Your date is your key to planning success! Everywhere you go they will ask for your date and while it's ok to say you don't have one yet at first, after a while you're just going to have to commit! You're getting married so I assume you aren't afraid of commitment ;)
2. Ask the bridal party - Once you have a date you need to make sure your peeps are free! Let them know the date asap so they can get it on the calendar.
3. Pick the venues - Popular places can book out over a year in advance, and if your date is a popular one (like Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve) those get booked quickly too. Picking out the venues will also help you start to get a vision for the rest of your wedding. Even your dress! You want it to all be cohesive, so if your venue is a ballroom, you might go for the more Cinderella dress. But if you'll be in a more beachy or outdoor setting you might want something with a more vintage or garden vibe.
4. Choose your color scheme - Once you've seen your venue and know your date (aka season) you can start thinking about a color scheme. I think a color scheme should be relatively simple (1 main color and 1 main neutral - I had gold and white). A wedding is a classy event and you don't want it looking like a 12 year old's birthday party when people walk in the reception room.
5. Start looking at vendors - See #3, just like venues, vendors can book up quickly. So if you have particular ones you really want to use, then book em! I think the most important venue you have is your photographer/videographer, so make sure you get the one you want. Next would be catering (which in some cases, including mine, is part of your venue) but good food is important. Don't forget about the DJ! Make SURE you get someone who is willing to work with you - not push their style onto your wedding (unless of course you like their style!). But they should definitely do what you tell them to - you are paying them after all. I didn't get flowers and cake worked out until closer to the wedding but again if you're super picky on that you might want to get those set in stone.
Now this is not to say you HAVE to go in this order (obviously... this is a blog not a law book!). Let's say you have to have a certain color scheme, you may want to plan your venue and date/season around that. Maybe you have your heart set on a venue and they only have a certain date. Any order you want to do these in, I recommend doing these things first. Basically get all the big stuff set up then focus on the details. Any questions? Did you do it differently? Comment below!
Don't forget to Sparkle!
XO ~ Katie
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