You’re engaged and the excitement of planning your wedding is high. That is, until you really begin planning and the stress of-it-all really begins to set in. Wedding planning can bring on many emotions. Thankfully, we’ve gone before you and have learned a thing or two along the way. Here are a few suggestions to help you create the flawless wedding you’ve always dreamed of.

• Starting the wedding planning before setting a budget

Oh boy. This one is sooo important. If you don’t set your wedding budget, you could run out of money early into the wedding planning. You don’t want to be weeks away from your wedding and unable to pay the catering bill. Or worse, for the officiant. And, let’s not mention the last-minute costs that may spring up out of the blue! Please, sit down with your fiancé and write out a reasonable budget before you start planning anything. Is this the most romantic part of the planning process? No, but setting a budget early on will prevent you from a lot of stress later. And, hopefully, it will prevent you from being broke immediately following your big day.

• Waiting too long to order your wedding dress

Ordering your wedding dress (or whatever you may choose to wear at your wedding) should be done right AFTER choosing your venue. Why after? Because, your dress should not only reflect your personality but also coordinate with your venue space and your theme. Once you’ve selected your dress, it could take a minimum of six months to get it. And then, you must add in the time needed to make any necessary alteration adjustments. Procrastination on your wedding day attire could lead to you having to choose from a limited amount of choices. So, start the search first thing.

• Not having a back-up plan for an outdoor wedding

If you are having your wedding in Florida (or, let’s face it – anywhere outside), you should have a back-up plan in place for increment weather. You never know when the forecast could change. And, here in Florida, that seems to happen… a LOT. Thankfully, most venues will offer an indoor option as a back-up when you sign up. And, if they don’t, that may not be the venue for you. Don’t get stuck on your wedding day without a back-up option. Plan ahead.

• Hiring friends as your wedding vendors

We get it. You want to try and save somewhere AND you don’t like to tell your friends no. However, this isn’t the time to settle. This is your special day we are talking about! And, you deserve to have your special day be everything you’ve ever wanted and more. That means leaving the planning, photography, cake, music etc to the professionals. We can’t even begin to tell you the stories we’ve heard from our fellow wedding friendors. Stories where wedding couples never had the limo show up, the photos got lost (leaving them with no photographic memories of their wedding day) or their cake didn’t make it to the reception hall due to an “accident” during the transport process. And, hey (shameless plug here!), let’s not forget about the all too famous idea of leaving the babysitting of your littlest guests to your grandmother, aunt, uncle, friend etc. The ones who also would like to enjoy the evening and will likely escape their “duties” as babysitter to do so. Thus, leaving children to roam freely through your ceremony/reception. Think before you choose a friend to work your wedding.

• Choosing your wedding party too early

We mentioned not hiring friends as your wedding vendors. So, we felt it necessary to mention that you shouldn’t choose your wedding party too early either. Let’s be honest, friendships don’t always last. Things happen. You should choose friends (& family) who you trust and who you can rely on to be there when you need them the most. Don’t choose friends or family who you don’t know well enough. And, don’t choose those who you’ve been pressured into making a part of your wedding party. You don’t want to make a decision that you’ll likely regret later on down the road.

• Sending out the Save-the-Dates too soon

It may be tempting to tell everyone you know about your wedding date as soon as possible. However, don’t send the save-the-dates until you’ve set a budget & selected your venue space. You want to make sure that you don’t invite more people than you can afford to feed. Or, that the venue space can hold. Save sending the save-the-dates for 8-10 months before your wedding date. And, only send to those guests you’re positive will be invited.

• Forgetting to say THANK YOU

Please, don’t forget the THANK YOU’s. There are several opportunities throughout your special day to show appreciation to your guests and your vendors. For instance, you can have welcome bags sent to the guests who are arriving from out-of-town. You can prepare a small speech to thank everyone for attending. You can purchase a personal gift for the parents of the wedding couple to thank them for their financial contribution and all their love. You can create thank you cards with a little monetary tip inside for each of your vendors. And, don’t forget your wedding party who has invested in your day as well. Your day may be all about you, but there are a lot of people who will help to make sure it is flawless. And, they deserve to be thanked for doing so.

Written by: Marcia