This wedding planning template will help you prepare for your wedding by including the items you should cross off your list for the best experience. This comes from over 10 years of wedding officiating experience and participating in numerous wedding parties.
This list assumes that you already have your wedding rings taken care of, are engaged, and may have even thought about your honeymoon destination. Let’s look at the next few things for your wedding planning template.
Wedding Planning Template
Budget
After you’re engaged, take care of your rings and decide on a wedding date. The rest of the budget is at the top of your wedding planning template list. The reason we say the rest of the budget is because you will need to budget for the rings, of course.
Along with buying the rings, you will need a general idea of your overall wedding cost before you take any steps. Knowing how much you can afford will save you from several headaches down the wedding planning road. Start with your overall number and plug in the following needs according to your needs and wants.
Officiant
After your wedding budget is set, the next best thing to do is reserve your officiant. There are several reasons that this should be the very next thing you do after your budget. First, the officiant may be booked farther out than you think. You never know what kind of schedule your preferred person has lined up, so the sooner you know you will be getting married, the sooner you should schedule your officiant.
Second, starting on your pre-marital counseling is recommended, which can also be required depending on your officiant and venue. In some churches, for example, this will be included in the preparation for the wedding. The sooner you communicate with your officiant, the sooner you can get started and complete marriage counseling, with plenty of time before your wedding date. This will lower stress and make you feel more confident and prepared leading up to your wedding.
Venue
The venue is the next item on your list, but not because it’s any less important to reserve. You must reserve your venue as quickly as possible, especially now that many couples have been waiting years for their wedding. Waitlists are as long as ever.
Not only do you want to get your preference reserved as quickly as possible, but you may want to have a much longer list of backups than you usually would because so many have been waiting for so long. You also might consider spending a little more to put deposits down on multiple locations just in case your first choices fall through.
Vendors (music)
Next up, you can start working on your vendors because, similar to your officiant and venue, your vendors also have a long list of events planned. The ripple effect is that the above have longer lines and client lists they are waiting to serve. Be prepared for this by spending more time in these three areas. You will be more prepared and less stressed.
Wedding Vows
The wedding vows are next in your wedding planning template because after you complete the items that depend on other people’s schedules, you will want to get started on your vows. You don’t want to or have to be the person who waits until the very last minute to prepare your vows.
This is a very important part of the wedding planning process, and I would recommend spending a healthy amount of time working on this with your spouse to develop this together. I would go as far as to say that this is one of the most important things you will do with your spouse leading up to the wedding. Check my article here on writing vows together with your spouse.
Wedding Events
Your wedding events are the next item on your wedding planning template now that you have worked on the important items above. It’s time to plan your parties and invite your wedding party according to all your preferences. This is where Wedistry.com specializes. We offer a free app on the App Store called Wedistry for Wedding Parties and a matching Web App where you can plan all your wedding events with just a few clicks. Invite your wedding party to participate in your events in the app. It’s that easy!
Transportation
How will your guests get to the wedding from the airport? How will your wedding party get to the venue from the hotel? How will everyone get home after the reception? There are plenty of details to think about when it comes to transportation for your wedding. Just remember it’s not a good idea to take chances and try to avoid having your wedding party or any core members of your wedding make any unnecessary trips or run errands.
If necessary, yes, the wedding party supports the bride and groom, but you don’t want to be in a position where you’re waiting for someone to return from a trip or picking up something to make it on time for a wedding event.
Wedding Party Invitations
Wedding Party invitations are another area that Wedistry.com specializes in, along with wedding events. Don’t forget to check out our free app to find the best and quickest way to schedule all your wedding events and invite your wedding party to their specific role in your wedding. You won’t be disappointed!
Wedding Guest Invitations
There are many amazing wedding invitation services, but our clear recommendation is Minted.com. They have the best options, services, and processes we know about, and the price is also fair. Check out Minted.com for some of the best wedding guest invitation options.
Attire (Dress, Suit/Tux, Wedding Party Attire, Events)
The final main component of your wedding planning is deciding on your attire. We know. You already have a dress in mind. This is not last because it is the least important. It’s last on the wedding planning template because it will surprisingly take the least time to decide on compared to the other items.
But as we all know, this is one of the most fun parts, along with your overall wedding design.
