You’re engaged! Now what?
It’s that time again! The start of a new year – Hello 2022! – and the beginning of a new wedding planning season. Did you know that 7 out of the 10 most popular days to propose take place in the month of December accounting for over 19% of all proposals!? That’s A LOT of bending knees!
Since a significant amount of proposals take place during the holiday season, it stands to reason that those same couples are just now coming out of the starting gates for their planning – whether a 2022 wedding OR a 2023 wedding.
So, to all the couples reading this …. Congratulations on your engagement! You’re likely feeling all kinds of emotions and maybe a little overwhelmed by the wedding planning ahead of you, as well as the huge, exciting change about to take place in your life. There’s nothing wrong with being a little nervous—in fact, it’s totally normal! It can be daunting to know where to begin once you’ve said yes (or popped the question yourself), so we put together this little guide to help you take things step by step.
1. Celebrate!
Take advantage of all that excitement and start calling your peeps! Notice I said “call”. This is a monumental moment in your life and shouldn’t be relegated to a few lines of text. Call your parents, call your siblings, call your friends. Let those closest to you revel in this moment with you. You’ll likely be asked about a date or even where you are thinking of having your wedding day. To minimize the stress levels at this early juncture, we recommend responding with … “You know – we really aren’t sure yet. We’re just enjoying this moment right now. We’ll start our planning really soon and make sure you have all the details (obvi)!” This helps to ward off any potentially tense conversations about planning and any potential ‘opinions’ about the planning process as well … you know what I mean 😉
2. Take a deep breath
Before you start putting lists together or asking your friends for ideas, take a breath and enjoy this time. You will have PLENTY of time to plan, but only a short time to be engaged. Take advantage of it. Take a weekend get-away somewhere, make a reservation at your fave restaurant, or maybe just stay in with a nice dinner for two and a bottle of wine. Whatever you do, be present and enjoy this time.
3. Have your engagement ring insured
Maybe not the first ‘to do’ on people’s list, but make sure you get your engagement ring insured. It’s always a good idea to get your engagement ring insured, just in case it gets lost or stolen at any point in the future. Insurance is the only way to replace your ring without having to pay for an entirely new one, so you should definitely take the time to make sure your precious new piece of jewelry is covered. The peace of mind you will have is priceless.
4. Your wedding day vision and selecting your date
Naturally, the first question people will ask you after your engagement is When’s the big day? Since selecting your wedding date will dictate every planning decision thereafter, there’s a lot riding on it. To make choosing a wedding date a little easier, we suggest you determine what kind of wedding you want first. We call this your wedding day vision. Do you want a bright, colorful, outdoor summer wedding? A cozy, indoor fall wedding? Big guest list? Small guest list? Somewhere in between? Are you thinking of something more formal? Or maybe a little less formal? Once you have your vision set, your date will be easier to choose because you’ve narrowed it down to a setting and a season/time of year.
6. Securing your wedding venue
Okay. You have a couple of dates in mind – now comes the fun part, choosing your wedding venue! You know the saying “Location, location, location”, right? Well, it’s true for weddings as well. Your wedding venue is the cornerstone of your wedding day vision and will likely be the first decision you make in your planning process. It’s also the one vendor with the least amount of flexibility – there are only so many wedding venues available and most venues can only accommodate one wedding per day. So, choose your venue wisely, early, and quickly! Even if you decide to have a private home wedding, rental companies are in high demand (e.g. tents, tables, chairs, linens, etc.) so you’ll want to reach out to them as quickly as possible.
Once you have your wedding venue and your date reserved, THEN you can start to move down the rest of your wedding vendor list.
7. Selecting your wedding vendors
This is where the proverbial “rubber meets the road”. You could be looking a hiring over 10 different vendors for your day – Venue, Getting Ready Hotel, Planner, Day of Coordinator, Cake, Photographer, Videographer, Caterer, Florist, DJ/Band, Formal Rental, Church, Officiant, Transportation, Hair Stylist, Make-Up Artist, and any other vendor that you might be interested in hiring like dance lessons or a cigar rolling station at your reception or maybe a Food Truck or Pizza Delivery for late-night munchies for your guests. The point is that there are quite a few vendors that you’ll be considering for your big day.
So, what is the most efficient way to search for, interview, and ultimately hire your vendors?
There are a few ways to go about this …
- Knot/Wedding Wire
- Referrals from other vendors
- Referrals from your friends/family
I like to call this the ‘at your fingertips’ option. Why? Well, Google is readily available to you right at your fingertips. So, in that respect, it’s a good option because you’ll get a list of vendors right away to start reaching out to. The downside to Google is that your results will largely depend on how up to date each vendor is with their SEO and, if I’m being honest, not all wedding vendor professionals are well-versed in search engine optimization nor do they have the time, as mostly sole proprietors, to keep up with the volume of content required to rank well on Google. So, bottom line, you’ll get a lot of options, but those options may not represent the whole market.
Knot/Wedding Wire
The Knot/Wedding Wire have been the market leader in online wedding vendor advertising for over a decade. The plus side of using the Knot/Wedding Wire is that you’ll have no shortage of listings to research. It’s also nice that you can tailor your search by vendor category and by your geographical location (similar to Google) and read real reviews by real customers. The downside is that there are a TON of vendors listed on Knot/Wedding Wire and sifting through the volume can be overwhelming. Plus, while the reviews can be helpful, should really rely on the opinions of someone you’ve never met?
Referrals
My personal favorite … and what I recommend to all engaged couples. Why take a stranger’s word over a trusted friend’s? Or a trusted vendor that you’re already hired? Referrals (i.e. word of mouth) are hands-down the best and most efficient way to secure your wedding vendors. You don’t have to wade through a bunch of google pages or Knot listings. Instead, you get a targeted, short-list of vendors to contact that have already been vetted by someone that shares similar style and interests as you do.
Which one is better, you ask? A referral from a friend or from another wedding vendor? I like both for different reasons. A referral from a trusted friend is great b/c you get their unadulterated opinion of their first hand experience being a client of that vendor. That’s priceless. A referral from another wedding vendor that you’re already hired (your venue’s preferred vendor list or a referral from your bridal gown shop or from your planner) is also gold because as industry-insiders we have worked with a lot of different vendors across all different categories and can provide our personal recommendations based on experience.
8. The importance of priority setting
As the Rolling Stones so eloquently said “You can’t always get what you want, but, if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” As you begin your planning, it’s very important to determine what your priority areas/vendors are. Is having an amazing band at your reception a ‘must have’? Do you want the top of the line wedding gown? Do you want only the best wedding photographer to capture your wedding day? Knowing (and reminding yourselves) what is most important to you and where you want to prioritize your budget will help when it comes time to choose between competing wants or wishes in the planning process.
9. Pace yourselves and stick to your vision
Wedding planning is a marathon and not a sprint. Decision making can be stressful. If things get too much, then take a step back and do something fun to take your minds off of planning. It’s also important to stick to your vision for your wedding day. Remember, this is your wedding day. I can tell your from experience, the quickest way to wedding planning purgatory, is to try and please everybody around you and their opinions/ideas. Yes, of course, you want your friends and your family and your guests to have a good time at your wedding, but don’t let someone else push you to do something you don’t want. Stick to your guns!
10. Photography last forever
And lastly, a little shameless plug. The flowers wilt, the food gets eaten … so does the cake …, the music ends, and the dress goes into storage. All you have left of your one momentous day is your photographs. With the right photographer, you will have the power to relive your wedding day again and again. So, make sure you hire the very best photographer you can! We like to think we are pretty easy to work with and that our work isn’t half bad either. If you’d like to have a chat with us about photographing your wedding, send us an email at info@jefflundstromphotography.com or fill out our Contact form.
Happy Planning 🙂
