So you’ve recently got engaged? Congratulations! How did your family react to the news? Are you on ‘cloud nine’?
Maybe you’ve kept your feet on the ground. You may feel ready to start planning your wedding. However, you may have no real idea where to begin.
So let’s look at how you might set off on your journey.
Initial Steps
Naturally, each couple will do things their own way, so I can’t be prescriptive. However, these are issues you’ll need to look at very early on:
- How are you going to arrange things? Will you hire a wedding planner, will a friend or relative take this over, or will it be down to you?
- Decide on your budget. Make a list of suppliers you may need and guests you are likely to invite.
- Choose a date. There’s lots to bear in mind. You may have a particular date in mind (a year on from your engagement; your late grandmother’s birthday, for example). But the date may be a Bank Holiday, so it can be more expensive to hire suppliers. It may be the wrong day of the week (some days are more expensive than others)
First suppliers
Assuming you know the month (if not, day) of the wedding, the most important people to contact next are:
- The Register Office
- The wedding venue
- Caterers
The Register Office will need at least a month’s notice (because of the banns) and you need to book the registrars. (You can either go into the Office with two witnesses or the registrars will come to your venue – subject to certain conditions.)
The wedding venue can be a religious building (Anglicans, Jews and Quakers can currently host the whole ceremony (without the need actively to involve the registrars). If your ceremony is in a secular building (a restaurant, hotel, castle etc.), the registrars may come out, or their officiant can be a civil celebrant.
You usually have to book popular venues at least a year in advance.
Likewise with some caterers. So do your homework, and don’t leave it too late to book these particular suppliers.
The second raft
You may need to book the entertainment quite early. The same may apply to other suppliers – you can be looking at photographers, florists, celebrants, as well as limousines, hair and make-up artists, dress and suit-makers, and the like.
So that should be enough to set you on your way.
A great guide (OK, I wrote it!) is “Your Wedding Guide”, available on Amazon. It takes you right through this process in much more detail – and is very reasonably priced!
Image: Robin Higgins, Pixabay