10 Must Knows when Planning your Wedding Day

BLOG UPDATE: '10 Must Knows when Planning your Wedding Day'

Venues Featured on this Blog: Alexander House Hotel, Buckhurst Park, Deans Place Hotel, Great Fosters, Great Ote Hall and St Clere Estate.

Congratulations, you’re engaged!

You are going to embark on an exciting journey together and to help you get started we have put together some wedding planning tips to make sure you stay stress-free in the run-up to your big day…

1. THE WEDDING BUDGET

It sounds rather unromantic and practical, but setting your wedding budget is one of the most important things you will need to do. Set the wedding budget before you book anything and stick to it! It’s easy to let the budget spiral out of control and the last thing you want to do is compromise on the important bits.

The best way to take control of your wedding budget is to list every wedding cost from the big items right down to the little details. Itemise every element and allocate a cost against each.  You will need to create a spreadsheet to do this, make sure you identify all the wedding suppliers from the wedding dress to the wedding cake. Don’t forget to include your wedding venue hire fee, church fee or registrar fee.   

Venue Credit: Alexander House Hotel 

2. SETTING YOUR WEDDING DATE

Wedding venues can get booked up very quickly, sometimes years in advance, so try to build in some flexibility when setting your wedding date.

And if you need to keep your wedding budget down, one way to achieve this when setting the date is to consider a winter wedding rather than a summer one, some wedding venues offer ‘winter wedding packages’ that are a fraction of the price of their summer wedding hire fees. It’s worth thinking about!

Venue Credit: St Clere Estate

3. MANAGING YOUR WEDDING GUEST LIST

Putting the wedding guest list together may prove to be one of the trickiest parts of planning your wedding! Do you invite partners, children, or even people you have never met before? It’s a difficult one, but it’s your day and should reflect who you are as a couple.

To start your wedding guest list, draw up the ‘must be there’ guests first and then have a second list of ‘would really like them’ list, then you will have a realistic idea of really how big your wedding day is going to be and whether your wedding budget is on target.    

Venue Credit: Deans Place Hotel

4. DECIDE ON YOUR LOCATION

You need to both agree on where you want to get married.  If your wedding is going to be held in a separate location to your wedding reception, think about the logistics and timings of getting your wedding party between the two venues.

Once you have an ideal location that you are both happy with, the exciting bit can start…

Venue Credit: Buckhurst Park

Venue Credit: Deans Place Hotel

Venue Credit: Great Ote Hall 

5. FINDING YOUR WEDDING VENUE

Looking online is a great place to start.  You can use our wedding venue search on fabulous wedding venues we have a large collection of hand-picked wedding venues from rural countryside settings to stylish city chic locations, also check out our collection of unusual wedding venues.  You will get a feel for the different types of wedding venues that are available, see their wedding image galleries, read their reviews on social media, and what other couples said about their wedding.

Wedding Fairs and Wedding Open Days are a great way to view a wedding venue in a relaxed manner and to meet local wedding suppliers.  This is a fantastic opportunity for you to talk to the venue’s wedding team and to get some great wedding inspiration and ideas.

If you find your wedding venue by visiting a wedding fair then do make sure you make an appointment to return and have a private viewing. This will be your opportunity to speak to the wedding team without any distractions, ask any questions, discuss your wedding day plans and any unique ideas you may have.  Make sure you take lots of photographs too!

Venue Credit: Great Fosters

6. VISIT YOUR VENUE

Set time aside when you can both go and view wedding venues, it’s a joint decision and you both need to feel that WOW factor.  Make sure you visit a number of wedding venues; it will give you a good idea of the different charges and packages on offer.

Make a list of questions that are important to you for your wedding day and take this with you. This could include enquiring if the venue charges for corkage, what times they are licensed for their evening reception, and whether you can choose your own wedding suppliers.  You don’t want any unwanted surprises on your big day!

Venue Credit: Buckhurst Park

7. BOOKING YOUR WEDDING SUPPLIERS

Ideally, you have confirmed your big three wedding items; the wedding venue, church or registrar and your caterer (if not part of your wedding venue package).

 If you have decided on a marquee wedding then you will have to source a marquee company, wedding venues that accommodate marquee weddings usually have a preferred list of companies that they have worked with before, so that is an ideal place to start.  

Wedding venues will have worked with a lot of local wedding suppliers, so do check out any that they recommend, they will know the venue and will have been already tried and tested! On Fabulous Wedding Venues, we have a selection of wedding suppliers, from wedding cakes, photographers and flowers.

If you choose your own wedding suppliers ensure that they arrange to visit your wedding venue prior to your wedding day, so that they know the venue, its access and any restrictions.  Go along with them if you can and meet the venue co-ordinator so that they are aware of your plans and what deliveries they might expect.

8. SAVE THE DATE

It’s time to put that wedding guest list into action!

Send out Save the Date cards with an RSVP before your official wedding invitations.  Your guests will know in advance of when your wedding day is so that they can make the necessary arrangements to book time off work and make any travel plans.  You will find out just how many guests are likely to attend your wedding.

If you started your wedding planning with too many guests and created two wedding lists, you may be able to move guests from the ‘would really like them’ list onto your main invitee list!

9. CREATE YOUR WEDDING DAY TIMINGS

As your wedding day draws nearer, you will need to confirm your bookings with each of your wedding suppliers. Some suppliers such as caterers may require exact wedding guest numbers, but others such as entertainers and photographers may only require access information and timings.

Put together your wedding day timings.  Make sure you factor in plenty of time for your drinks reception and wedding breakfast. Your caterer will have had lots of experience of how much time to allocate to each part of the day, so don’t be afraid to ask them for their advice.

Once your timings are sorted out you can send out your official wedding invitations to your wedding guests. Don’t forget to include useful information to help them; local maps showing the church and/or wedding venue, details about parking, lists of local hotels, bed and breakfasts.

10. ENJOY YOUR WEDDING DAY!

Create a wedding scrapbook as you go through your wedding journey, it will become your wedding bible and your wedding keepsake of special memories after the big day itself. We love weddings and hope you enjoy planning your wedding!