Getting started is often the hardest step when you are faced with doing something new – something you’ve never done before. This definitely applies to planning your dream wedding. Perhaps you are asking yourself – how do I get started? Where do I find a reliable resource to guide me through the process? How do I ensure I don’t overlook any details? How do I do – planning task x? 

 

We wrote a post on the first three decisions to make after getting engaged here, but today we want to help you in a different way. We’ve often found couples struggle with establishing a rock solid planning foundation.

 

Most couples just dive right in – head to Pinterest or wedding blogs and just hit go – full steam ahead. But we promise this ends up resulting in so much downstream frustration. Often resulting in compounding errors like:

• overlooking decisions, 
• making decisions out of order,
• wasted time – and most specifically hours spent searching for what to do, how to do it, and when to do (what is often referred to by many couples as a process that has become a second full time job!)  
• wasted money from errors made due to a variety of factors 
• and the worst of all – frustration, overwhelm, and disdain for the planning process. 

 

So how should you actually get started with planning your dream wedding? And how do you best avoid this common planning pitfalls identified above? We’ve got you covered, let’s dive in! 

 

The Getting Started Recipe For Planning Success

The Getting Started Recipe – is made up of three important elements: 

• an organizational system, 
• a reliable resource, 
• and a proven roadmap. 

 

The getting started recipe is where we find couples often get derailed with their wedding planning before it even begins. In the excitement of getting engaged and diving right into event planning, they often skip right over this step. And rightfully so – most resources gloss over this important planning facet and you’re excited! You’ve been dreaming of this day your whole life. 

 

Without ensuring you’ve nailed the three parts of the Getting Started Recipe, it can be easy to miss important elements like: payment reminders, vendor requirements/needs, responses, due dates for ensuring elements of your event go off without a hitch, etc. 

 

This is what causes a couple planning their dream wedding to stress, overwhelm and potentially lose money – that’s right I am looking at you late payment fees.

 

An Organizational System 

 

Let’s start with the organizational system. You need both a system and an approach to effectively manage, keep track of, account for the following things: 

1. Research 
2. Finalized Vendor Details (contact information,   
3. Payments & Spending 
4. Appointments 
5. Guests 
6. What To Do, How To Do It, and When 

 

The system is what you use to physically keep track and order of all the things listed above. It includes things like: 

1. Tools To Record Decisions & Future Needs 
2. Reminder Systems 

 

And the approach is the way in which you use the tools – and not just in the beginning of your event planning but throughout the entire process. The approach includes 

1. How you setup the system 
2. How you update the system 
3. How you use the system 
   1. to keep you on track (or better yet ahead!) 
   2. to keep track of all the important things (and no sticky notes do not count here!) 

 

A Reliable Resource 

 

A reliable resource is critical to your success because if you’ve never planned a wedding before the who/the what/the when and the why can be incredibly overwhelming. 

 

A truly reliable resource is the tool you plan to use to walk with you every step of the way as you plan the event. It will help you to know 

• What important considerations you should use to a make a decision 

• How far in advance you need to make a decision and why 

 

Where couples traditionally struggle is with finding that truly reliable resource. Some go to pinterest, others online, others use magazines, and others purchase a book or a binder. 

 

But here is where things go awry – when the resources end up being confusing or incomplete. And this is usually – most often – okay almost always because they lack an important detail(s) that truly helps you complete a task. 

 

Lets empower your planning with a resource you can truly rely on. Here is what to look for. 

 

A truly reliable resource is one that : 

• Gives you a checklist of tasks that covers at least 12 months – even better if the tasks are a little more heavy in the early months 
  • Vendors book early (sometimes as far as 2 years in advance) and your event deserves being able to build your dream vendor team not settle. 
• Not only tells you what to do but that offers advice and guidance on how to get the task accomplished quickly and efficiently
• Doesn’t require you to search for hours and hours to find an answer to a question – even better if there is a way for you to ask questions and get advice! 

 

A Proven Trustworthy Roadmap 

 

Even better if there is a clear roadmap that shows you the step by step process that will take you from engaged to married! Now you may think this is just the point of checklist but it goes beyond a list of things to do, and instead includes more of the why behind each of those steps and how when taken in that order are going to help support your efforts to plan your wedding. 

 

For an example: each step in your event planning roadmap should encourage decisions to naturally build upon each other. 

 

Your roadmap should start with foundational things like:

• creating a budget, 
• finalizing a guest list, 
• and determining your preferences 

It will then naturally move into: 

• developmental work, 
• design work, 
• production work, 
• coordination work, 
• and execution work. 

 

These natural phases help define the flow of how to successfully produce an event. 

 

If the tools you are using do not provide you with a roadmap that empowers you to see see where you are going – the roadmap is missing a critical feature and will do you a disservice as you get deeper into your planning.  

 

If your resource, checklist, or guide doesn’t help you anticipate items that are coming down the road, you will make decisions without considering important future facets of your planning. 

 

You need a roadmap that anticipates rather than reacts! 

That’s why we created The Modern Wedding Planner! We’ve taken our signature planning approach used with hundreds of clients and channeled it into a comprehensive, step-by-step, results driven resource that empowers you with the tools, the strategy, the industry based secrets, and the assurance/confidence to make your dream wedding a reality! CLICK HERE to watch a lesson completely free, our gift to you!