Welcome to KB Photography!
Our multi-lingual team offer professional wedding and event photography covering the UK, Germany and Spain. Many of our couples have enquired about how best to plan for their wedding day and so we pooled our resources together to create this short guide. To get your great 15% discount and complimentary engagement shoot for your wedding event - click here.
You’ve just gotten engaged and may be feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of details involved in arranging your perfect wedding day. It’s worthwhile keeping in mind however the importance in enjoying the feeling of being engaged as well as remembering that your wedding is about sharing this magical experience with your friends and family. Enjoy the experience for what it is – an exciting step into the next chapter of your lives together!
1. Getting organized
Once you have celebrated your engagement you can get down to the nuts and bolts of planning your wedding day. It’s true that the process of planning a wedding is never easy but a little bit of organization in the beginning can save you a lot of trouble down the road. It is highly recommendable to start you wedding planning journey with a wedding folder. This will help you keep all the important details about your wedding together in one place – guest lists, wedding vendors, payment and deposit deadlines – the list goes on and on. By keeping a wedding folder you can rest assured that you will not miss anything while planning your perfect day.
2. Setting the budget
After you’ve laid the groundwork for your wedding organization you should probably have an honest discussion with your partner about your intended budget. It’s true that it’s never easy to talk about money but by setting a budget you can clearly identify what kind of wedding you can afford and how you can best stretch you budget to plan your dream wedding. Viceversa – you won’t be able to set about planning your wedding and selecting your wedding vendors without a clear budget in mind. A great tip is to also check with your parents and family if they are willing to help with your wedding budget. The team of “Here comes the guide” has done a great job of putting together budget in six easy steps.
3. Guest list
When making your guest you may be tempted to invite all of your friends and work colleagues to come and share in your big day. However its worth keeping in mind that more guests equate to a higher budget as well as more planning to ensure that your wedding proceeds without a hitch. Be sure to send out save the date cards as soon as you have a definite guest list to make sure that all of your chosen guests have enough notice to reserve that day for your wedding. Once you have sent out you wedding invitations and received your RSVPs you may also want to think about creating a headcount database, which will help you organize your wedding with your caterer and venue of choice. Free platforms such as the Knot, wedding channels.com also allow you to create your own personal wedding website to keep all of your special guests up to date about changes in your wedding plans.
4. Wedding planner
If you choose to use a wedding planner they can save you a lot of time and money in planning your special day – as their experience allows them to ask questions that you may not know how to ask. This added experience can save you a lot of time organizing down the road and allows you to spend more time enjoying the process of planning your wedding especially if you are planning on hosting a large number of guests. Wedding planners also have a network of vendors that they regularly work with, which means they can guarantee the quality of each vendor as well as using their personal relationships to lower vendor prices and help you stretch you budget even further. Check out this article from the Wedding Wire for a detailed description of how to get the right wedding planner for you!
5. Choosing venue and caterer
According to Alexis Berry choosing the caterer in tandem with your venue can be a game changer and help you simplify the planning process. Finding the right caterer can be key for setting the mood for your wedding day. In order to accomplish you might want to check out the restaurants you already frequent to find out if they offer event catering. Outside of this you can check with friends or other wedding vendors for caterer recommendations. You can also take a look at each caterer profile on instagram to get an idea of the kind of foods each caterer serves. Once you have created a shortlist of your favorite caterers have an interview with several of them before you make your final selection.
6. Selecting wedding photographer
Possible one of the most essential elements of any wedding is your photographer because the album they produce will be how you relive your wedding for years to come. This means that extra care should be taken in finding a photographer that is a good fit for you as a couple. Checking out the photographers Facebook page, Instagram and website should give you a fairly good idea of their style. Above this you should also ask about an engagement shoot as this is a great way to get a real feel if there is good chemistry between you and your photographer.Be sure to book your photographer as early as you can as the best ones normally book out over a year in advance! .
7. Selecting your wedding dress
Your dress is arguably the most important of your entire wedding and definitely one of the centre pieces. If you don’t want to go for an off the shelf dress most are custom designed by the wedding dress shop of you choosing and should be ordered 9 to 12 months before your event to make sure they are ready on time. Be sure to leave time for the 2nd and even 3rd fitting if time allows.
8. Selecting wedding suppliers
Keeping track of your wedding suppliers can be challenging at the best of times, especially if you are planning on having a large guest list. As mentioned above it really helps to keep things organized in a wedding folder to make sure you don’t miss payment deadlines and keep your selected vendors well informed of changes in your wedding planning. Generally vendors such as musicians, DJs, photographers, caterers, celebrants and venues should be organized first as they tend to be the first do be booked out. Florists, make up artists and calligraphers can normally be booked further down the line without the running the risk of not finding anyone for your wedding.
9. Health body healthy mind
A healthy, balanced diet combined with a moderate exercise program can make sure that you look and feel your best for your wedding. Remember not to overdo it though as your partner is marrying you for who you are. Outside of this you may want to consider a trip to the spa the day before you wedding and maybe a full body massage to help relieve any stress.
10. Week before wedding
During the last week of your wedding you can use the time to pick up your wedding dress and break in your shoes before your big day. Don’t forget to send the final guest list to your caterers so that they know exactly how many guests they should expect. You may also want to meet once before your wedding with your wedding photographer to show him/her your favourite locations or photos that you would like to recreate during your wedding. The most important thing is to enjoy the experience though as you approach the last days to your wedding. You made it!
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