Marriage.com Wedding Planning

Once you get engaged, everyone starts asking questions. Have you set a date? Have you picked a venue? Where are you registering? It seems like the minute the ring slips onto your finger, you have to start wedding planning.

One of the first and most important decisions you have to make is whether or not to hire a wedding planner. Unfortunately, services like that are often prohibitively expensive. But thankfully, the Internet is chock-full of solutions for thrifty brides who need some guidance with wedding planning.

Picking a date and venue for the ceremony and reception has to be done ASAP. People plan weddings YEARS in advance in some cases, so if theres a certain church or garden where you absolutely have to have your wedding, contact them right away and find their next available date. And always, always, always have backups prepared. Until youve signed the deposit check, you cant be sure youll get what you wanted.

Next, enlist some help. Ask the ceremony venue how many bridesmaids you can have. This is very important: some churches and other religious places limit the number of people who can be at the altar with you. If youve promised every sister, cousin, roommate and sorority sister that they can be your bridesmaid one day, you may have to write some very gracious notes in the near future.

Even if you cant have all of your friends be in the wedding party, that doesnt mean they cant come to taste cakes, look at dresses, or take shots with you at your bachelorette party. If you have to break the news that she wont be donning a taffeta dress on your big day, do it gently by letting her know shell definitely be involved with pre-wedding events and fun.

Wedding planning should be challenging but fun. Youve got a lot of big decisions to make, so getting the major things out of the way early (venue, date, wedding party members) will leave more time for everything else. Itll also give you a solid answer when you get the inevitable So how is the wedding planning going? question.