The moment you get engaged, you’re so excited that you can’t wait to plan the most amazing wedding. But hold on, wedding planning is an exciting yet stressful task and when it comes down to executing your plan, a lot of things can go wrong. Before you go, there are some valuable lessons you can learn from past couples. Here’s a list of 5 common wedding planning mistakes so you can avoid them from the very beginning and look back with no regrets.
- Planning before creating a guest list
Some couples take the guest list for granted and hardly know that it determines other elements of your wedding, from the catering to seat arrangement. Definitely you don’t want to put down a non-refundable deposit on a small venue that fits 100 people while your husband-to-be may need to raise the numbers to over 200. Likewise, you may not want to book a venue that can’t hold everyone or pay for lots of unused, empty space. For that reason, before you start to research venues and key suppliers, have a ballpark idea of how many people will be attending your big day and never move forward once you’ve agreed on the guest list with your fiancé and families.
- Doing it all yourself
In the days of Pinterest, you may be fooled into thinking that you can do all aspects of the wedding just by looking at pretty pictures. In fact, wedding planning involves a lot of hard work and demands a considerable amount of time and attention. Don’t try to do everything yourself, otherwise, you will soon get overwhelmed instead of enjoying the fun. Just pick some projects that really excite you and delegate the rest. Chances are that your friends and family will say yes if you asked for help.
- Not hiring a professional to help if you need it
Surely delegating the work to someone you know can take the stress off of your planning. But if one of your friends has a nice camera, it doesn’t make them a photographer. Leave it to professionals. Definitely you don’t want to look back on your big day with less than stellar pictures or regret not investing in the photos that will last forever. You can assign someone you know on some areas. But on things like photos, you’re much better hiring a professional with a portfolio that fits your vision.
- Blowing your budget
Setting a clear budget and stick to it will keep you on track throughout your wedding planning journey. When it comes to wedding, there are so many things to spend such as the venue, the dress, the caterer, the honeymoon and more. So make sure you spend most of your money on items you truly want first and leave the rest for any luxuries at the end. Otherwise, you’ll end up lacking money left over for something important. Besides, there will be some hidden costs that may pop up along the planning, so remember to set up a contingency fund of 5 – 10% of your budget for these unexpected costs and you’re good to go.
- Trying to drop two dress sizes before your final fitting
You’ve found the wedding gown of your dream but it doesn’t fit well your current size. Then your plan is to order the dress two sizes too small and rush into dieting to lose weight, doing whatever it takes to make it fit. It’s a big no-no. Not only does it create unnecessary pressure but it’s also a huge waste of money on a gown that doesn’t fit in case you fail to slim down. It is advised that you should order in your current size, eat healthy and work out then if you really take off weight, the alterations may be taken later.
