Wedding Planning Advice from the Pros (Part 2/6: Get Organized and Inspired)

Are you looking for some wedding planning advice? We are not surprised! Whether you decide to hire a wedding planner or not, planning your perfect wedding can be time-consuming, stressful, and hard work. But with the right tips, advice, and strategy, it can be much easier and less stressful.

That’s why we’ve searched to find out from recent newlyweds what they wish they would have done differently, and from the wedding planners themselves what expert wedding planning advice and tips they have. We’ve collected all those tips and advice here in this handy six-part guide, organized into categories for easy perusal. If you missed Part 1, be sure to check that out! 

Here is some important wedding planning advice from the pros about getting organized and inspired.

1. Make lists and compile info
2. Create a shared email address
3. Make a wedding website
4. Wedding planning advice to gather inspiration
5. Always have a Plan B
6. Choose only your best girls
7. Wedding planning advice to make your own traditions
8. Wedding planning advice to make it personal 

1. Make lists and compile info

The key to not getting too stressed at any point in the wedding planning process is to get and stay organized. All the wedding planning advice in the world can’t help you if your plans, ideas, documents, and information are scattered everywhere. 

Take time at the beginning of the planning process to sit down with your fiance and make a budget spreadsheet of expected costs and actual costs, as well as a payment schedule of when money is due. Whether you are working with a wedding planner or not, you need to have a checklist of things to do and decisions to make in an order that makes sense. 

Put a binder together to keep track and copies of your correspondences with vendors. Include notes during meetings or of ideas, and printouts or photos from magazines of visual inspiration of what you want for vendors. Include a contact sheet with email addresses and phone numbers of vendors and store this information on your phone. Keep this on hand not only during the planning process but also on your wedding day in case of emergencies. 

2. Shared email

Another great tip of wedding planning advice is to set up a shared email address for you and your fiance for all things wedding-related. This will help keep all of your wedding tasks and correspondences organized and separate from your personal and work-related ones. It can come in handy to have these things separate when you inevitably start getting spam emails from wedding brands that might otherwise clutter up your work inbox. This will also allow both you and your fiance easy access to stay up to date with what’s going on in the planning process. It will also help you to unplug from the stress of wedding planning when you need to take a break. Also, you can then use this shared email address later in your marriage to sign up for a combined Netflix subscription, shared bills, etc. 

3. Make a wedding website

One of the best things to happen to wedding planning this century is the advent of the wedding website. Wedding websites save you a ton of money, time, and hassle by having all of your wedding info available online for your guests. You can update everyone all at once about any changes to dates, times, locations, registries, etc. And this will save you from an endless barrage of emails and texts of questions from guests. Likewise, it makes the RSVP process super simple for guests with a click of a button.

4. Wedding planning advice to gather inspiration

Suppose you took our wedding planning advice to start the planning process early. In that case, it will give you extra time to start gathering inspiration from various sources before you have to make important decisions. Start a wedding Pinterest board and start pinning things that catch your interest or inspire your style. Do the same on your other social media apps such as Instagram and create a collection of saved posts of ideas or themes you like. Keep a folder of magazine tear-outs of pictures of dress styles, flower arrangements, or color schemes that excite you. And do the same online by browsing and subscribing to wedding blogs and bookmarking some of your favorite and most helpful wedding planning posts.

Also, think about what you noticed while attending someone else’s wedding. Don’t hesitate to ask for wedding planning advice from any couples whose past weddings inspire you! They might have some tips of their own to share, or more ideas that they weren’t able to implement.

5. Always have a Plan B

If you’re planning an outdoor wedding and don’t have a Plan B in case of weather, you’re doing it wrong. But another piece of wedding planning advice is even if you’re not planning an outdoor wedding, you should still have a Plan B. Whether you want to admit the possibility or not, some things might not go as planned on the big day. There might be a problem with catering, your photographer might have a family emergency, or your entire wedding band might get food poisoning. Whatever the case, plan alternatives for some possible scenarios so you’re not left panicking on your wedding day if something goes wrong. Having wedding insurance can really come in handy in those scenarios.

6. Choose only your best girls

Your bridesmaids are supposed to be your biggest cheerleaders and strongest supporters throughout the wedding planning process. So some important wedding planning advice is to choose your wedding party carefully. Choose only your best girls who have already loved and supported you in your life through thick and thin, and who you know have your back. Don’t feel obligated to include a new friend you just made who might not even be in your life 5 years from now or a coworker who you’re friends with but isn’t really a part of your personal life. Stick with your sister(s) and/or other relatives and long-term best friends. 

Also, be open to the idea that it’s okay to have an uneven wedding party. It’s also becoming more and more standard to also have some “bridesmen” and “groomsmaids.” It’s all about having your biggest and closest supporters there with you. Accepting early on that this doesn’t have to look traditional will save you a lot of stress.

7. Wedding planning advice to make your own traditions

Speaking of traditional things, another important piece of wedding planning advice is to remember that this is your wedding. It’s more than okay to skip out on any and all wedding events or traditions that don’t represent you and your fiance as a couple, or that you just don’t care for. 

You don’t have to have a weekend long vacation of a bachelor party, or a dirty bachelorette party if that’s not your thing. Do whatever fits you! And you don’t have to buy a new outfit and hairstyle for every wedding event leading up to your big day. It’s totally fine to wear the same dress at your rehearsal dinner that you wore at your engagement party. Or to wear something you already have in your closet for your bridal shower. 

Don’t get wrapped up in what you are and are not “supposed to do” for a wedding. In fact, this is one day as a couple you can do whatever best pleases you. If you’re not a fan of flowers, use bouquet alternatives, or nothing at all. If you don’t like cake, no problem – there are alternatives for that, too. And if you’re not really all that social, you don’t even have to have all those bridal showers, engagement parties, or bachelorette parties everyone else does if you don’t want to. 

In fact, feel free to not only skip out on tratitional events you’re not a fan of, but to create new traditions as a couple all your own.

8. Wedding planning advice to make it personal 

Another important bit of wedding planning advice to consider is not to feel boxed in by past or current wedding trends. Make the details of your wedding personal and representative of you as a couple. Everything should reflect your shared stories, tastes, interests, travels, background, and personality as a couple. Whether you’re more classic, trendy, or creative as a couple, there are plenty of wedding theme ideas out there to get inspiration from, or you can create something unique to you! Don’t feel pressured to have a floral arch, a serving staff with the catering, or alcohol at the wedding just because it’s trendy to do so. With the theme, decor, and details of the wedding, you want your guests thinking, “That’s so them!”

Be sure to stay tuned for Parts 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this guide where we reveal more wedding planning advice from the pros!

Still haven’t found a venue? Give us a call to plan a tour and find out why Jennings Trace could be the perfect wedding venue you’ve been looking for.

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