If you're reading this and you just got engaged, huge congratulations to you both!
Remember to take time for you both to simply enjoy being newly engaged, friends and family will be asking you a million questions, that quite frankly you probably won't have the answers to right now, there's no harm in savouring your newly engaged status before starting to make plans.
Once you're ready to start thinking of planning your big day, we've got tonnes of helpful wedding planning tips for you.
Get your Ring Sized and Insured
Least exciting thing to do we know, but trust us you will thank us later. So many brides/grooms-to-be are so excited to show off their sparkler that they that dismiss the fact that it's too big/small or even worse completely forget to insure it.
You can easily add it to your home insurance, and it costs less than you think to do this. Avoid the heartache of damaging or losing your ring by getting it resized as soon as you can. Yes, you can get a replacement but it won't hold that sentimental value so we urge you to make this top of your priority list.
Image: Unsplash
Pin your Dream Day
You may have already secretly started doing this long before the proposal and we don't blame you there is nothing like being organised for one of the most important days of your life! For those of you that haven't started you don't need to figure it all out straight away it's just a great way to get a feel for what you both like and dislike.
Set up Pinterest boards within boards to save the images for colour schemes, tablescapes, flowers etc.. separately, that way you can stay organised and it's so much easier to look back on.
Just remember with Pinterest and any other social media for that matter, most of the photos will be taken from styled photoshoots so they look perfect, don't fixate on this perfection - it's not real life.
Our Pinterest is brimming with ideas and inspiration if you fancy taking a look, visit here.
Decide on your Bridal Party
Maid of honour, bridesmaids, bridesmen and groomsmen are the backbone to your big day. The extra man power will help with those all important decisions, and also provide great ideas. Trust us you you will need a fresh set of eyes and someone who is good at reining you in when you get carried away.
Get a date in the diary when you can all meet up and you can pop the question to them. You could make your maid of honour and bridesmaids feel extra special by creating a proposal box, we've got some really great 'Will You Be My Maid of Honour' confetti pops and 'Will You Be My Bridesmaid' confetti pops.
Research your Venues
Remember you can't book a date until you have booked your venue! However, we would recommend not rushing into anything until you have a clear idea in your head of what you want from the venue. At the end of the day, this will be the base for your day and the backdrop for those all-important wedding photographs. You want loved ones to feel at home, so memories can be created to last a lifetime.
Not sure where to start? Visit websites such as Rock My Wedding, Guides for Brides, Hitched, Love My Dress and Coco Wedding Venues to help you get started, you can search your venue by type (from barns, castles to country homes) and locations. You will also be able to research other reliable and quality suppliers there too!
Top Tip - It's a good idea to have a rough idea of your guest list number before you go exploring venues, there is nothing worse than going to visit your dream venue and then realising they can't accommodate your guest list number.
Share your vision
It's important for you and your partner to sit down together and discuss what you do and don't want from the big day. This could be big parts of the day, like what type of venue, or it could be something smaller, like the music you want playing in the evening.
This could also help you find the ideal time of year to get married, too. If your partner loves the idea of sitting outside on an evening surrounded by guests, and toasting marshmallows around a fire, then a summer wedding would work best. On the other hand, if you have a dream of having a cosy autumn wedding in a castle, then September - November might be the right time to consider.
Agree on the Theme
Are there colours you're both drawn to that you'd like to incorporate into your big day? You might have already found a colour palette through your Pinterest wedding inspiration boards, but if not. You could both go B&Q or Wickes, anywhere you can take colour swatches, and pick your favourite colours, and see them together. Then work together on finding a combination of your choices.
Your partner may completely trust your judgement here, so you might get to choose the entire colour scheme, but having some colour swatches is helpful when planning other aspects of the big day, like when you get to bridesmaid dresses, flowers, and even decor.
TIP - Create a colour palette of 3 colours (or more) that work well together. By having a selection of colours will make it easier to source items for your big day.
If you've got a really bright colour in your palette like orange or yellow, you might want to use this as an accent colour instead of the main event. By having a colour palette at this stage it will also help when you start talking to suppliers on your ideas.
Discuss Budget
Our Pinterest boards don't have a budget and that's great, but the reality is you need to set one in order to avoid disappointment. Then keep to this budget by putting everything onto spreadsheets, this will honestly reduce your stress levels - we promise!
Make a list of all the things/suppliers you think you need. Eg. Photographer, cake maker, dress, catering, flowers, etc. Give yourself a realistic budget for everything and figure out how much you need to create your ideal wedding. There might be somethings you realise you could save money and do yourself, but either way be realistic.
On your spreadsheet make sure to add your suppliers name and contact and due dates for payments, this will save a lot of panicking when you get closer to your big day. Plus it will be really easy to give the contact details to a bridesmaid or member of the bridal squad to iron out any issues on the day.
Book your wedding suppliers
It can be hard to work out what order to book your wedding suppliers in, we recommend starting with your venue above all else. We've got an incredible portfolio of wedding venues that we love working with, right here on our Venues We Love page.
There's so much the revolves around the location and date, eg. if you're looking for your photographer, you need a date to ensure their availability. Or if you're not sure if you need an external caterer, by booking the venue, you'll know if they have catering in-house.
Once you've booked your venue, you can start working through to find the right wedding suppliers. Make sure to share the workload though, and divide up the suppliers to contact if you can, eg. if you love doing the decor, and flowers, let your partner handle food and entertainment. You're a team after all.
Don't forget your Wedding Confetti
We might be biased, but having epic wedding confetti is an absolute must for the perfect wedding. That's why we recommend ordering a sample of our eco-friendly petal confetti delivered to your door for you and your partner to decide which is your favourite. You can order up to 5 colours to help you pick. We recommend taking them our of their little packets and having a good old throw around. It's always fun throwing confetti around.
Once you know what colours you'd like, you can use our easy online Confetti Calculator to work out how much confetti you need. eg. if you've got 100 guests, 5-10 litres of petal confetti is perfect!
If you're wondering when to order your biodegradable petal confetti, you can order months in advance with our Delayed Delivery service and have your petals sent out 1 month before your wedding. Or if your wedding is less than 3 months away you can order for immediate delivery. For more petal advice visit our FAQ's page.
Enjoy, Just the Two of You!
Finally the most important part... whatever you enjoy doing together, bowling, camping, a bike ride, or even a weekend away on the coast, make sure to take time out just you two to reconnect. It is easy to become consumed with the wedding plans and it can get stressful at times, having that time together will be really beneficial and help you remember why you're tying the knot in the first place!
For more wedding related tips and advice explore our blog.
Happy Wedding Planning! Love SP Xx
