Now that my wedding is over and because so many of my close friends have recently gotten engaged, people have been asking me for any tips or helpful hints. So, I compiled this little list of things that I've learned from my experience so far that I wanted to share!
If you like them, book them. There are all these guidelines for when you need to book things and so on. I got in touch with the makeup artist that did my friend Jenna's wedding to see what her availability and pricing were. It was pretty average from what I researched around this area. I emailed her, she said she was available - so I booked her for my September wedding. In January! Even before I booked a DJ or caterer. But you know what, one less thing I have to worry about later!
Everything requires a deposit. If you find someone you like, but you're worried about the deposit to book them, always ask if you can either split up the deposit or set up payment plans. Most of the time, people are pretty flexible if they know you're committed. Some may be stricter, it just depends. We were supposed to put 50% down for our wedding planner, DJ, and photographer, but we could only at the time commit to 25%. So we did 25% when we signed the contract, and then the next 25% 3 months later - so it's not a huge hit on your bank account.
Hire a day of coordinator. Even if you're not planning on getting a wedding planner, I suggest at a minimum hiring a day of coordinator. You need someone there to make sure everything is running smoothly and that all the vendors are where they need to be at the right times. You are going to be doing 1,000 other things that day and I highly, highly recommend hiring someone because it will make your life so much easier!
Print out all of your contracts and save all of your email communications. I have a huuuuuuugeeeeee binder with all of the information of each vendor, contract information, all of their proposals, and any receipts from online payments/check images. Your other vendors will probably ask for information about other vendors, so start compiling a list of all of that information as soon as you start to lock down vendors.
Make a timeline of all your wedding vendor due dates. This was something I did once all of the big vendors were set. I ended up making a table of all the due dates and balances for all items related to the wedding on a per month basis. It was helpful to visualize when things were due, how much we had left to account for, and also made me realize that 70% of remaining balances were due 30 days prior the wedding. August will be a tight-budgeted month!
Do as much as you can, but don't overdo it. Be practical and know what your personal limits are. I have all these great ideas in my head of so many DIY projects I want to do - but thinking about time and money, some of it just won't happen. Don't compare yourself to how far along other people are in their wedding planning - you will eventually get there! And ask family and friends for help on little things you don't mind sliding off your plate. If you know me, you know I am a PERFECTIONIST when it comes to these things. I'd rather do everything on my own - but sometimes, it just doesn't work that way!
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