Finding Your Wedding Vendors
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT WEDDINGS
The first thing to understand about weddings is that they, along with the details, are constantly evolving. The more things get developed, the more options and choices there are when deciding on where to have your wedding, when to have it, etc.
Then naturally, when you start to realize how many different options there are for your wedding, that's when overwhelm hits. One thing Nikki and Josey agree on is the first thing you should do when you get engaged is to celebrate. Get a manicure, drink some champagne with your friends, take a Pinterest worthy picture of your ring and it show it off on social media. (Preferably on Instagram and then use #undertheveil so I can see it and congratulate you).
Wedding planning should not be overwhelming. It should be so exciting. I mean you get to marry your best friend and spend the rest of your life with them! What could be better? This doesn't mean that you won't get sick of making decisions, because that'll definitely happen.
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT WEDDING PLANNING
The first thing to understand about wedding planning is that it's all about organization. Find a checklist of some sort and determine what your wedding wants are. Pick your top three wants, the things that are most important to you and the things that you value the most. This is where you should budget the most amount of money. Luckily, I created a mini-course that will get you started. Because I know just how lost you can feel once the excitement of being engaged starts to dull.
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT WEDDING VENDORS
Finding vendors who are really good at what they do and be a make or break it moment for your wedding day. The people who respond to your emails in a timely manner, who send you invoices and legally binding contracts, those are the people who are going to show up early on your wedding day, who are going to go above and beyond for you and your guests. Once you find those people... trust them, and LOVE THEM! They want your day to be just as amazing as you do, this is their job after all.
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT ENGAGEMENT PICTURES
While discussing hair and makeup, (no surprise) we ended up veering off into a different direction and talked about engagement pictures. Engagement pictures are essentially a way of sharing and capturing your love story. Having engagement pictures will solidify your wedding day photographer selection.
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT BUDGETING FOR YOUR WEDDING
You should spend as much as you think is necessary, but do some research first. Determining a budget is hard because you have no idea what it is going to cost, Pinterest doesn't have a whole lot of price tags when it comes to this department.
On average, in Minnesota, the cost for a wedding is about $25,000. YIKES. When you start to think about a budget, first figure out who's paying for the wedding. Budgeting is not necessarily the funnest part of wedding planning, but it's definitely important.
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR RECEPTION
Everyone congregates by the bar. Nikki suggest that the bar and the dance floor should be in the same room, so your dance floor isn't completely empty and everyone can be in the same area, instead of all spread out. Josey totally agrees, unless you have a LARGE wedding guest count, this may not be feasible, or a SMALL venue. Josey is wishy washy that way.
THE THING TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY
The wedding day for the bride and the groom is such a whirlwind, sometimes it is hard to remember little details, which is why it is so nice to have a videographer to capture the day. Videography is a great way to document your wedding, because who doesn't want to look back to see cousin Billy doing the limbo??
THE THING TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO TO A WEDDING FAIR
Wedding planning can be overwhelming, but you have to dive in somehow. A wedding fair is a great way to do this. You're exposed to a large handful of vendors, giving you the opportunity to ask questions, to get to know vendors, to get face time. Wedding fairs are a great way to dive into wedding planning, they are fun, and they include freebies.
There is no right or wrong way to get married, but while you're planning your wedding remember to be engaged. ENJOY THE PROCESS but remember why you're going through it in the first place. You want to have fun on your big day and leading up to it is just as important. Make sure you surround yourself with people who know what's important to you. Take planning in bite-sized pieces.
Celebrate your engagement and enjoy being a fiancé before becoming a husband/wife/life partner/next of kin lol.