💍 I’m engaged! Where do I start planning a wedding?!

Did someone put a ring on it?! Congratulations!!! That is sooo exciting.

Okay, so you’re engaged and aren’t sure where to start. Been there… Let me run you through the essential first steps to get you started on planning your dream wedding.

Well, first things first, enjoy this time. Revel in being newly engaged. It’s truly magical and deserves your undivided attention, aside from work and stuff... Taking a month or two, even several, before getting started on planning. It won’t stop you from having the wedding of your dreams, I promise. You will have plenty of time to plan after the initial gloss of being engaged wears off.

After you’ve given yourself time to adjust to being a fiancé and having a fiancé (eee!) then you can think about all things wedding planning. Over the next few posts, I will delve into each topic below in more detail, so be sure to subscribe so you are the first to hear about new blog posts.

Firstly, before making any commitments to what your big day will look like, mostly to avoid disappointment, you need to set a budget. At this stage it doesn’t need to be concrete, just a range will do to get you started. To give you a guide, the “average” wedding in New Zealand is around $35,000 - $40,000. However, you should be comfortable with what you set and this will help you prioritise and compromise.

P.s. You can get a FREE budget template straight to your inbox by subscribing to our email list. We have some other great templates to share too!

Once you’ve set your rough budget, you should determine your and your partner’s wedding priorities. For some people, the venue might be most important. They want to have a certain type of wedding and only a certain venue will fit the brief. For others, the venue might be lower on the list, but as long as it can accommodate a large number of their friends and family, it doesn’t need to be a particular place. Or it could all be about the photos. Getting a top-notch photographer and looking absolutely picture-perfect is essential. You get the idea. Knowing what you want from your wedding day is going to help you allocate the budget you have set to what is most important and separate the nice to haves from the must-haves.

Speaking of must-haves, who are your absolute ✨favourite✨ people that you want to share your day with? We’re talking about making your guest list. And the keywords there are ‘who are YOUR absolute favourite people.’ Not your mum’s or your grandparents’, but yours. Remember, it is your day and if you can accommodate other people’s wishes without blowing the budget or making yourself feel uncomfortable, then by all means. But don’t let other people make you feel guilty for YOUR day! I think that this is such an important topic to cover about setting boundaries with family (and friends) during the planning and the day itself that I will be dedicating a whole post to it, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Okay, you’ve got the key things out of the way. You know your budget. You’ve set your priorities. You have a guest list sorted, or at least the first pass. Now you can start contacting vendors and making enquiries to get some things locked in. The big things to get set first will depend on your priorities. But generally speaking, it will be the vendors that book out the earliest or need time to create what you choose: the venue/s, the dress, the photographer, and the food. The rest will become more important as the wedding date gets closer and it will also depend on what date you want for your wedding day.

For now, that’s more than enough to get you started. There are countless things to be decided on, but you do not need to make those decisions straight away - planning a wedding is like a marathon, not a sprint.

So, to recap you are going to enjoy being engaged before jumping into wedding planning. You are going to set your budget and let your most important priorities help you allocate your budget. You are going to set the guest list. And then you can start making contact with vendors to start ironing out the details from the big things like the venue and the dress, down to table decor and signage. And remember, no wedding is right or wrong if it is true to what you want and you aren’t breaking the bank to achieve it.

Happy wedding planning and be sure to subscribe to be the first to hear about new blog posts and keep your wedding planning on track. Plus, I’ll be dropping some great tips and tricks to make your wedding journey easier and less stressful.

Karla,

The Love Dispensary 

P.s. You’re going to be such a stunning bride! Xx