“Efficiency is just smart laziness”. This my favorite saying from my father. So let’s start there. You aren’t really lazy — you are smart and efficient. See don’t you feel better already! You are going to crush this task!
Planning a wedding can be stressful for everyone, but especially the bride. You have limited time, limited cash, maybe a mother, future mother-in-law, or friend who tends to be a tad bit controlling or bossy, maybe you find yourself adding the pressure of losing some weight and growing your hair long, or you have a fiance who just wants to wear an orange hunting tie that you hate with his tux and you are spending too much time on Pinterest picking out impossible projects that will never get done in time.
So STOP…just STOP. Take a deep cleansing breath and let’s talk about being smart and efficient. And let’s start at the beginning. Before you do ANYTHING, get out paper and pen and write down what your dream wedding looks like. Don’t think about money, time, just write out the dream. What do YOU want?
Being Smart and Efficient
Now comes the smart and efficient part — how do you make your dream a reality without breaking the bank or you. And we definitely don’t want to break you.
Start with these 5 smart moves…
- Sit down with your “Dream” wedding description and create a list of the “Must Haves” and “Want, but will be ok if it doesn’t happen” items. An example would be, I must have “Roses” at my wedding or I really want “Roses” at my wedding, but I’d be ok with silk flowers or other less expensive options. Others might be a certain location, time of day, type of ceremony. What are your must-haves and what can you live without? I like to do it old school with pen and paper, but you can click here to use a service like WeddingWire.
- Once you have your list, go through it one more time and decide which items you can live without if time, money or other stressors get in the way. If you do it now you won’t be upset and heartbroken later when you need to throw out some plans due to constraints.
- Now that you have a list — this might be a good time to sit down with your fiance, review the list — see if there is anything your fiance needs or wants that will add to your list and you can agree upon.
- It’s time to talk MONEY and creating a budget for your wedding. Everyone hates this part, but know how much you can reasonably spend, where is the money is coming from — savings, parents, other, and when is it most likely going to be needed along the journey of your wedding. Check out this blog with additional tips:
How to Save For Your Wedding Without Going Broke - Because you are smart and efficient take your list and create a spreadsheet or use a template on one of the wedding sites and start putting numbers to your items. This exercise will really have you making some tough decisions. So if you don’t want to look like the couple below please take time to create your list and spreadsheet. Click this link to get a one from WeddingWire.
WHEW!!! THAT WAS A LOT OF WORK!
GO YOU!
Thanks for hanging out with me. I know your future wedding day self will appreciate the things your current smart and efficient self did today. Stop back soon to check out my next post where we will be talking about wedding planners, decorators, all-inclusive options at venues and what you can and should do yourself and what you really should hire someone to do for you to save time, money and stress.
Cheers and Best Wishes,
Mary
Farm Girl Weddings is a rustic farm venue with several different packages ranging from $1750 for a DIY Wedding, $3250 for Value Added and an Inclusive Package that is priced by number of guests. We also provide full Wedding Planning and Wedding Decor services at other locations.