By Buhlebenkosi Sibanda
If you’re not planning on hiring a wedding planner, here are a few things you should keep in mind to ensure your wedding runs smoothly. Some people think that it’s the only way to ensure a stress-free wedding day, while others believe that they can plan a wedding themselves with no problems
Start planning early and be organised
Planning can be fun and exciting but a lot of work goes into planning a wedding, therefore don’t undervalue how much time you’ll need for preparations. Start planning for your wedding at least six months in advance to avoid planning stress and stay organise. Organization is vital to making sure naught crashes.
Work together and dedicate time weekly to planning.
Planning a wedding should not take over your life. Thus if you’re not going to pay for the planning in money, you’ll most certainly be paying in time to get things done because planning a wedding is a job. Dedicate time, maybe an hour or two a day and/or a hunk of time on the weekend to your wedding. That way, you’re still moving forward, but it won’t devour your life.
You need to choose your vendors carefully and make a close review of contracts
Weddings are a big investment. Most of your vendors require a contract and oftentimes at least a partial deposit in order to secure the goods or service. Thus when you choose which vendors you want to work with, make sure to read all contracts carefully before signing so you know exactly what you’re getting into and that each vendor is available on your wedding date.
Seek out advice from professionals.
Seeking out advice is advisable because “you don’t want to be getting your planning information from other couples” warns Chang. “That’s just the blind leading the blind,” she adds. You can lean on your vendors for their advice, recommendations, and referrals .Couples are only the experts in planning their own weddings, while wedding planners often have tens and hundreds of different types of weddings under their belt therefore you can also resort to reading books on wedding planning or following wedding planner blogs or other vendor’s blogs to get the tips and advice you need.
Expect the unplanned
There’s always going to be something that happens on your wedding day that you didn’t plan for or expect. Once such happens, be flexible to go with the flow and know when to let things go. The best thing you can also do is to take a breath, accept it, and just make the best of it. However, expect to feel some stress because planning can be really overwhelming.
