Wedding planning is a lot isn’t it?!  Soooooo many options and decisions and the wedding magazines don’t really make it any easier with there checklists with like 15 things on it a month!  I was there once and I know it’s craaaaaazy.  It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and make rash decisions so here’s my top 5 wedding planning tips!

 1.  Book your Venues, Photographer & DJ/Band first!  These are the most urgent and honestly most important things.  If you hire a bad DJ, it could kill the dance floor and not in the good way.  Same with a photographer –  when the linens are all picked up and the cake is gone and the dress has been worn, all you really have to remember the day is your photos (or video).  You need to make sure you hire a great photographer.  I really can’t stress this enough.  If you’re going to push your budget somewhere, do it here.

2.  If you’re a super busy person or someone who has a hard time making decisions, hire a planner!  Planners are great, because it’s their job to take care of you and guide you through your day.   They lay out all of the options for you in a fun and simple way so you can really enjoy it.  And not only you and your fiance’, but both of your families too!  If you need one, let me know – I know all of the best planners!

3.   Just do you!  When I got married, I got married in the same style everyone else was, picked a dress that I thought I was supposed to have, and stuck to the traditional stuff.  It was all very beautiful, but a lot of that stuff in retrospect wasn’t me at all (or my Hubs).  It was what we thought a wedding was supposed to look like and that’s just not the case anymore.  If you ask me now, I’d wear a vintage 60’s boho gown and get married in the middle of the forest somewhere and have my 20 guests stay with us in some magical beach house up north or something, haha!

4. Don’t forget why you’re having the “party” :  There are a ton of decisions to make when planning a wedding, but don’t forget why you’re there.  It’s so easy to get caught up in things that ultimately would be trivial.  A certain flower, a particular photo stop, or even as much as it can suck; the weather.  Try to continue focusing on the marriage itself.  It will make it all so much easier if you keep hanging on tight to each other through this crazy ride and not worry too much about the “stuff”.

5. Make a detailed timeline and leave room for running behind.  This one is HUGE.  Like really HUUUUUGE.  If you’re working with a planner, they will make one for you and as a photographer, I know how much time a lot of these things take, so I am very proactive in helping put together a timeline.  When making your timeline and it only takes 6 minutes to get to the venue, round up to 10.  Always round up!  If you have extra time, it’s not.a.problem!  That just means you have some extra time with your friends, more photo time with your significant other or even a quiet moment alone before things get going again.