For most brides, planning their wedding is a marathon-not a sprint. From purchasing attire and booking vendors and venues, to choosing décor, it helps to have a planning checklist to make sure you are contacting specific vendors within an appropriate time and accomplishing everything you need to do at a reasonable pace. Doing a wedding planning checkup can help prevent you from becoming stressed out and overwhelmed. Every now and then, it is a good idea to take a step back to see where you are and what still needs to be finished. Here are 5 steps to help you determine your wedding planning progress.
1. Set or review your wedding planning goals.
You might also include some personal goals, too! Both short-term and long-term goals will help keep you on track. Make them specific: “By the last day of this (month), I will have booked my caterer, photographer, and cake artist.” “I will lose 10 pounds by the 15th of (month).” “I will turn (specific) details over to my coordinator by (month, day), so I can relax leading up to our wedding.” “In two years, we will have $10,000 saved towards a down payment on our first house.” Research which vendors need to be booked early and which ones can be booked closer to the wedding date so you can prioritize your tasks. However, if a specific vendor is important to you, secure them as soon as possible because dates can fill up quickly, especially in May, June, September, and October.
2. Break each goal down into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.
Again, be specific: “I will call our officiant on Tuesday at 10 am.” We will meet with our caterer for a tasting and to choose our menu next Thursday, (day, month) at 6:30 pm.” “We will open a joint savings account specifically for a down payment on our home two months following our wedding, and will put a minimum of $454.55 in it each month for the next 22 months. To do so, we will put aside $15.15 per day or $113.64 each week to put into our house account.” “Exercise, (walking, dancing, or swimming) 5 days each week and portion control daily will be done to ensure losing an average of 2 1/3 pounds each week.” If you bullet journal, this method of logging your tasks can be a very efficient way to help you stay on track.
3. Assess where you are in your planning.
Are you ahead of the schedule you’ve created? If so, you might reward yourself with a “day off”, do something fun, and do no wedding planning. It’s good to have a little break so you can come back to planning rested and with creativity. Are you right on schedule? If so, you’ve found the right pace for you. Good job! Keep going! Do you find yourself behind? There might be a good reason for it. Life happens and throws us curve balls. If so, dust yourself off, review what is left to do, create a new list, and forge ahead. You can do it!
Just starting? The first step is to get organized. Familiarize yourself with the various tasks in planning your wedding. You might enjoy these posts: The Best Way to Start Your Wedding Planning and 5 Things to Consider as You Plan Your Wedding.
4. Determine if you need help to achieve your goals.
Don’t try to do everything yourself. That’s a lonely place to be. Enlist the help of family and friends you can count on. Do you need an exercise buddy? Talk with friends to see if someone will commit to working up a sparkle with you. If classes are more your style, check out local gyms. (Hint: if you want to learn a first dance, you can get some great exercise while on a date night with your honey grooving to the beat.) Do you need to hire help or find someone to give you advice? Turn specific aspects of planning over to professionals in that area. A planner can provide trustworthy vendor recommendations.
5. Decide what you need to do yourself and what you can delegate.
While you and your groom need to make certain decisions to make sure your wedding day is personalized and always yours, there often are people who can assist with some tasks. Ask someone who is artistic to help craft your programs, fans, or favors. Do you have a friend who is a calligrapher and would enjoy addressing your invitations? Do you know someone who can pick up last minute items from the store? Be willing to enlist others who want to be part of your wedding to help in their areas of strength. This will relieve some of the pressure and free you for the important decisions and tasks.
With these five tips in mind, you can review your planning or create a schedule to help keep all your wedding tasks on track. The key is to create reasonable goals that have a step-by-step, specific process in place to achieve them. Not sure what that should look like or how to get started with all the foundational elements of your planning? We’ll be talking about that next. Stay tuned!
Happy Planning!
Cheryl and Kate