{4 tips on starting your wedding planning} by My Wedding Workbook

 

4 tips on starting your wedding planning

Though your engagement is an exciting time, it can quickly become taxing if you don’t stay organized. But, if you work together and stay on task, you’ll breeze through to your wedding day no problem. Here are four initial steps to set you on the right path for your engagement.

1. Set your budget
This might be the most difficult part of wedding planning, but it’s by far one of the most important. Sit down together and set a realistic budget for yourselves. Trust me, if you just go out and start purchasing things, you’ll be sorry. Seemingly small purchases add up quickly, but when you’ve set a master budget, it’s easier to prioritize purchasing.

2. Set up a wedding email
Setting up an email account specifically for wedding email is my favorite tip for newly engaged couples. You’ll be surprised how much this little tip helps to keep you organized throughout your engagement. A free email account is great, just make sure you can organize your emails into specified folders for DJ’s, caterers, etc.

3. Take engagement photo
Engagement photos are an important part of your engagement and are popular among couples everywhere. In addition to being a great keepsake, you’ll probably want to send one to your hometown newspaper. You can also stylize them, send them out as save-the-dates, and display them at your engagement party. More candid engagement photo shoots are becoming popular, and it’s nice to have these laid-back photos in addition to posed wedding photos.

4. Organize your guest list
Though celebrating your wedding is something you probably want to share with everyone, budgets sometimes make that unrealistic. So, when going through your contacts, rank them A through C. "A" guests are people that you absolutely can’t imagine getting married without. "B" guests are people that you’d like to attend, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they didn’t show up, and "C" guests are people with whom you may not have a close personal relationship, but feel that you should probably invite them anyway. This simple ranking system will be immensely helpful when/if you have to cut the guest list.

There’s a lot of planning ahead, so have fun with it! Stay organized and on task, and make the most of this special time together.
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Rosanna Hardin is a writer for My Wedding Workbook, the online wedding planner software for do-it yourself brides, and My Wedding Workbook Pro, the premier wedding planning software for wedding professionals.