Shannon Three months until our Wedding & I’m quite calm. Everyone keeps asking me, how is the planning going? And my response is – good. It’s done. I hope. Haha! Now we just need the day to be here. I’m super excited – It’s slowly all coming together nicely. Realistically, all you need to have a party is – a) venue b) food c) something to wear d) music e) photographer f) make it all look pretty g) someone to marry you! At the end of the day it costs $450 to legally be married, the rest is what you make it. So on that note, I have come up with a little help list, with wee incites along the way. There are seriously hundreds of these online, but this is my take from it all.
To do now:
Tell everyone your getting hitched! – Done. Facebook, hello!
Set the wedding budget – Done. We sat down and looked at the things we HAD to have and couldn’t compromise on. The rest we changed to suit the budget conscious Shannon. (Ah!)
1. Photography is #1 (Investing in your wedding photography isn’t a luxury. You are investing in your life, your memories. Your photos increase in value as time passes. Make sure you get a good photographer for gods sake!)
2. Attire. We both wanted to look badass! Designer dress & suit, why not.
3. Location / Venue. Venue with a view on the Coromandel. It had to be done. With the help of www.theweddingmap.co.nz of course!
Choose your Wedding date – We chose it because it was a long weekend, we wanted our guests to come & holiday with us at the beach. Another deciding factor will be the venue and the photographer. Make sure they are both free on the same date before you even start!
A year to go:
As above — Book the Venue & the photographer at the same time – Thats if you want a good photographer! Many people think it might be a few months prior sort of decision, but let me tell you – the good photographers are booked well in advance. Don’t miss out. Check they are free!
Try and have your Ceremony & Reception at the same place. Makes it so much easier & less fuss with travel etc. Even better would be getting ready at the same place on top too!
Start a pinterest board – But don’t go nuts! Pinterest is nice for “ideas” but do realise most of what you see is heavily staged! So take that into account when you want those sunrise dreamy moments on a bright 3pm harsh sunlight kind of day.
And decide on the theme/colours & what sort of decor you are after.
Choose who you want standing next to you! This is sort of hard, sort of not. Who are your besties. You know who they are. I chose four and then said no I have to have six. They all NEED to be standing next to me. So hey, I did it. So now we are having 6 bridesmaids & 4 groomsmen. Do I care about odd numbers? No. Oh and we have a groomsmaid too. Yes!!!!
Figure out who is invited.
Weddings are expensive. You have an uncle’s cousins son who hopes he’s invited – but you have to stop somewhere. We made the cut by saying if we haven’t spoken to you in the last year, your out. A marriage is such a personal thing, you shouldn’t have to be meeting someone at your own Wedding! Thats my rule anyway.
Lock in your celebrant & remember your Wedding day is for YOU! We took out all religion & made it our own from top to bottom of the Ceremony structure.
Visit bridal boutiques, decide weather you are going to go designer, get it made or what! Shop around too! I tried mine on in London, it was half the price in Sydney. Flew to Sydney & took the tax off as I left Australia – way cheaper!
Book your caterer & try the food! One thing we remember from every single Wedding, is the food. Try it and like it!
Start a wedding website – It’s the future ladies! Help guests with accommodation, let them RSVP online, point people to registries, write blogs about the lead up. Super personal with your engagement photos! Check out our one here: www.shannonandaaron.co.nz
Aaron makes these too 🙂
Make a secret “bridesmaids” group on facebook – A virtual place to chat all together! Because we all know life can get busy! Bridesmaid dresses, makeup & hair – all super easy in this little group. Plus your gals can help you out with ideas on decor etc here.
Six months to go:
Register for gifts or ask for honeymoon contributions!
Envelope (check weather they do this in NZ) & Mildred & Co. are super cool!
Find dresses & suits for Bridesmaids & Groomsmen – I said nude at the start, now its all sorts of shades of pink & all different dresses. I am not sure why on such a big day of our lives we decide hey I’m going to put my best friends all in the same dress? Any other occasion, we all would be scrambling home getting changed if that happened. haha!
Or if your like us, make sure you have the jumpsuit for your groomsmaid! Woo!
Send out save-the-date-cards or just send your bloody invitations early! Specially if it is in the busy season.
Schedule dress fittings or find a fab alterations lady who can tailor the dress & suit to your likings.
Choose wedding accessories – jewellery & shoes. Asos & Windsor Smith anyone?
Choose wedding rings – We got ours made! Everything we saw, had been worn before by previous brides & grooms, so we got our own made!
Book musicians / DJ – We wanted a band but realistically in the middle of nowhere on a long weekend, we knew it was going to be a long shot. Dj’s always keep the party going right with requests etc! Bands are touch and go from what we have seen! If they know how to read a crowd, go for it!
Organise rental equipment (tables, chairs, crockery, glasses) And make sure they have what you are after. Some hire companies literally have the bare minimum. Get in touch with cute boutique places for awesome rental stuff.
Three months to go: (I am at this point now, so excuse the lack of knowledge here!)
Decide on and source venue decorations – Done myself – ee!!
Sort out the marriage license – Shit. I need to do this.
Chase up outstanding RSVPs – There will always be people who say “I’m coming” who don’t. It’s not only you. It’s just the world of Weddings. There will always be one or two, trust me!
Book hair and makeup appointments
Choose and book flowers
Make up seating plan and place cards
One month to go:
Have final dress fitting
Have hens’ night and stag do – Up to your gals & guys!
Finalise ceremony
One week to go
Don’t panic!
I read somewhere to “Give photo wish list to photographer” Um. What? No. You hire the photographer and trust them to get the shots girls. Thats part of the job. Unless they mean family photo list, which is fine. In that case, try and keep it to a max of 10 group shots. Will you hang that photo on the wall? If not, why are you getting it? Takes up too much time ladies!
Ring vendors to confirm date and times
Pick up suits, dresses and accessories
Design and print ceremony program
Have a rehearsal of ceremony with all wedding party present
Make sure you have someone in charge of the small things. Its not so fab when people have to come up to YOU on the Wedding day and ask where the chairs need to go next. Get a bestie on board!
Organise some Champers & snacks for the bridal portrait time away!
Day before the Wedding
Arrange centre pieces and hang decorations at venue
Get a good night’s sleep!
Ensure everyone knows what times they need to arrive & numbers of important people.
Wedding day
Eat a light, healthy breakfast.
Arrive at hair and makeup appointments
EAT lunch! No one wants a hangry Bride, seriously.
And, most importantly, enjoy yourself! You’re getting married! Try not to stress, you will look back and say “Holy shit, the day went so fast!”
Take a moment with your groom, step aside and just talk for a few minutes!
