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As you plan your wedding, there are a lot of details to take care of. Some things can be taken care of in the weeks before your wedding, but there are a couple of key decisions you need to make well in advance. Having these decisions made will make all other planning much easier.
Pick the Date
One of the first things you will need to do is pick the actual date of your wedding. Having a date will give you something to work toward and you will have an established timeline to work with. You will know how long you have to do everything and you can make sure everything else works with that date. The wedding date you choose can be determined by several factors. You can pick a meaningful date such as an anniversary. You might also want to consider what the weather will be like (ex: winter vs summer weather) as well as when it will be best to travel for a honeymoon.
Find a Good Venue
Your next step will be choosing the location of your wedding. The venue will set the tone for your big day, so you want to make sure you choose the right one. Venues also typically need to be booked months in advance, so you need to make this decision early on. Your venue needs to be able to accommodate all the people you want to celebrate with and it needs to fit other needs you have. For example, having a good sound system may be important. A good wedding venue should have adequate lighting to make the photos come out great. Consider what you want your wedding day to look like and review several venues to find the right one for you.
Determine Your Budget
Weddings can be very expensive and you don’t want to begin spending blindly. Before you begin making any major decisions, you need to know how much money you’re willing to spend and how much you can actually afford. Your budget will determine many other factors of your wedding including the size of the venue, the scope of the decorations, and more. To make a budget, you first need to determine who’s paying for everything. This may be a combination of you, your fiancé, both sets of parents, etc. Once you know this, make a list of all the essentials and work from there.
Planning a wedding can be a little hectic with all the decisions you need to make. However, if you make these decisions first then it can help everything else run a little more smoothly. Prioritize the big decisions.
Check out this honest conversation on wedding pricing!