15 Tips for Planning Your Dream Wedding
So you’re engaged and starting to plan your wedding… ahh! First off, congrats. What a fun and exciting chapter this is in your life. But also a somewhat nerve wrecking and scary at the same time. This is completely NORMAL, so take a deep breath and enjoy the wild ride that is planning your wedding!
My name is John Foley, a wedding photographer based out of Chicago, IL. After photographing hundreds of weddings over the better part of a decade, I’ve learned quite a few things about what can make or break your wedding day experience. Now every wedding and couple is unique, which is one of the many reasons why I love documenting them, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution or way of going about planning your dream wedding.
However, there are some guidelines that pertain to everyone, which I outline below in this list of 15 wedding planning tips, coming from a professional wedding photographer. I hope you find this information valuable, even if you resonate with just one of the items. Okay, let’s get started!
01 BE HONEST WITH YOUR OPINIONS
When communicating your needs, be as clear as possible. It's important to share what you like AND what you don't like, so a clear and distinctive picture emerges. This holds true for everyone - family, wedding party, and vendors. This is YOUR wedding. Communicate precisely what you want, expect and hope for.
02 FOCUS ON THE CEREMONY
It's easy to focus most of your energy and time on the reception. But without the ceremony, there is no reception. It's always worth putting extra effort into the vows, the actual ceremony, and how to make it unique, personable, and memorable. This is what will set the mood for the whole experience of the wedding day.
03 TRUST YOUR GUT
Do plenty of research and follow your instincts when it comes to choosing vendors. Don't settle. Make sure the people you surround yourself with are looking out for you and your best interests versus just trying to sell you something you don't really need. You will know if it feels right or not. Trust that feeling. Your wedding day is not a day to experiment.
04 APPRECIATE WEDDING PLANNING
A wedding is a micro vision of the larger macro vision of life. The time you spend wedding planning allows you to decide how you want to navigate family traditions, cultures, expectations, and needs as you transition into your new life as a married couple. It's so important to view this time as an adventure, rather than a stressful experience! Embrace all the ups and downs. Before you know it, your wedding will be over and that chapter in your life of planning your wedding will be closed. So you might as well enjoy every minute of it!
05 PRACTICE SELF CARE
Planning a wedding can be an entire year of your life or more, and it can make or break your wedding experience. Practice self-care during your engagement period. Have date nights where you make it off-limits to talk about the wedding. If things get stressful, remember that the wedding comes and goes in a day, then it's over. It's one of the most amazing and precious life moments to have everyone you love in this world under one roof. Relax and enjoy it. Treat your self to that massage, go for a weekend getaway, do whatever it takes to recenter yourself from time to time.
06 KEEP THE DAY PERSONAL
Your wedding should be personal and reflective of you and your fiancé - your stories, shared interests, family backgrounds, personal styles and travels. Versus something built on recycled ideas from other weddings. I encourage you to draw inspiration from the stories of how the two of you met. What did you do on your first date? How did you become engaged? It's easy to find a few details from those stories that naturally translate into fun and unique elements on your wedding day. Your guests will love and appreciate all of the personal touches and it will elevate the emotional significance of your wedding day.
07 PRIORITZE YOUR GUESTS
Keeping the total guest experience in mind is important, especially for those traveling. Be sure to do your homework on what is happening in and around your wedding location. Parades, graduations, events, etc. will impact hotel and transportation rates. Will they need transportation? Is parking available? Etc. Simple, often overlooked details that your guests will have to encounter on your wedding day will have the biggest impact on how they experience your wedding. Be thoughtful, considerate, and they will cherish you for it!
08 SAVE MONEY ON INVITES
Shapes are NOT equal. Choosing rectangular wedding invitations over a square format will save you money on postage. The USPS considers a square envelope an 'odd-size' shape, which results in an additional postage amount. Also, you can save on the return RSVP card by providing an email address for guests to respond to instead. Just an idea if you’re looking for a place to make room in your budget.
09 KEEP MOVING FORWARD
The most stress-free couples I see during the planning process are those who make informed and swift decisions and don't stress over all of the options. Save your sanity, make a decision and move on!
10 IGNORE THE “RULES”
Couples get wrapped up in what they are and are not supposed to do, that they completely forget this is the one day they can do whatever they please. There are NO rules! I'm up for exploring all kinds of nutty ideas, and if it won't work it won't work, but we'll never know until we chat about it. It's your day, do what makes YOU happy. This is key to not just loving your wedding day, but ENJOYING your wedding day. You deserve that.
11 DON’T REDECORATE YOUR VENUE
It might sound simple, but it's important to choose a venue that has existing charm and beautiful interiors and exteriors that fit the style you want for your wedding. You'll then have a strong foundation to base your wedding aesthetic off of, without having to spend a lot of money redecorating. Now if you have the budget to redecorate, then go for it! Again, this is your wedding, do what will make you happy. But if your budget doesn’t allow for redecorating, then it’s vital to choose a venue that fits your vision.
12 RECREATE YOUR FAVORITE WEDDING ELEMENTS
Think about what you enjoy most when you attend someone else's wedding. Is it the dancing? The food? The little details? Keep this in mind when planning your own wedding. Seeing what works and what doesn’t will help you make informed decisions when it comes to planning your wedding.
13 FOLLOW YOUR OWN TRADITIONS
There are no guidelines. If there are certain traditions you want to follow and others you want to pass on, great. We're way past the days of formulaic weddings and I hope that trend continues. Keep the ones you want and drop the ones you don’t. Again, this is your wedding, you do you.
14 PRIORIZE PHOTOGRAPHY
I know I’m a bit biased here, but photography is paramount. It’s the single most important purchase you'll make for your wedding and it’s one you can never redo. Through great photography, you'll be able to relive your wedding day over and over through impactful and emotional images. They'll become priceless, which is why it's an investment - the most important one you'll make. Choose a photographer whose images resonate with you. And make sure you vibe well with them, which is often overlooked. Your photographer will be by your side ALL day on one of the most important days of your life. How you get along with each other will make or break your photographic experience. I can’t stress that enough.
15 ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE
Cherish the journey. So many people focus on the destination and forget that getting there is half the fun. All the meetings, shopping, tastings, choices... Consider it a process of self-discovery, creativity and collaboration. How couples communicate and listen to each other while they're planning is a direct reflection of what their married life will be like. As with any journey, who you travel with and how you travel can be more important than the destination itself.
So… have fun, soak it all in, live in the moment, and enjoy EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!
