Your wedding is supposed to be magical. (Or, at the very least, super fun.) Don’t let something silly like a lack of a rain plan or a totally avoidable makeup faux pas stop you from enjoying it. Here, ten of the most common wedding-planning mistakes — and how to avoid them.Six Wedding Planning Mistakes that people do and learn how you can prevent doing them for your big day.Read about wedding planning mistakes.
6 Wedding Planning Mistakes
1. Ignoring a Budget
How often do you do groceries? While browsing the aisles, do you look at the prices and add them up in your calculator? Or are you the type of shopper to put what looks good in the cart, then find out how much you spent when the cashier asks you how will you be paying? Planning a wedding budget from the get-go is absolutely a must. Be sure to tackle these priorities in order: budget, guest list and then the venue. Nothing is more heart-shattering than making a decision to buy glamorous florals or venue at the expense of cutting your guest list by a third. Budgets prevent this.
How often do you do groceries? While browsing the aisles, do you look at the prices and add them up in your calculator? Or are you the type of shopper to put what looks good in the cart, then find out how much you spent when the cashier asks you how will you be paying? Planning a budget from the get-go is absolutely a must. Be sure to tackle these priorities in order: budget, guest list and then the venue. Nothing is more heart-shattering than making a decision to buy glamorous florals or venue at the expense of cutting your guest list by a third. Budgets prevent this. In addition, some venues offer deals like these Gatlinburg wedding packages which you could use to better understand the amount of money you need to cover the basics like the venue and photography.
2. Buying Fashion First
It’s completely reasonable to wear whatever dress that makes you feel more glamorous and spectacular than Cinderella. But let’s be real: dresses are expensive and buying everyone’s outfits for the day—before even settling on a venue or wedding planner—is a costly mistake.
3. Plan for Rainy Days
There is little else that is more breathtaking than an outdoor wedding. Unfortunately, nobody can control mother nature. There are dozens of horror stories about outdoor weddings that were rained on. If you plan to be outdoors, please stay planned for weather conditions. Putting down deposits for canopy tents and umbrellas will seriously save the day. There is nothing wrong with having a strong plan B, C, D and E.
4. Don’t Do It All
We live in a budget-conscious age. In fact, there’s a certain pride that comes with doing things yourself. Nothing wrong with that. The trouble starts brewing when you start taking on one project after another. This includes finding an event DJ, the venue, guest seating arrangements, lighting, décor, building the altar, etc. There is no shame in doing what you can to cut monetary corners. Just be sure you’re not compromising your energy and efforts.
5. Length
With the exception of social butterflies, hardly anybody enjoys spending more time than they have to at social events. There is no sense in having a pre-vow celebration, a three-hour ceremony, cocktail hour, a two-hour dinner and a three-hour dancing competition at the wedding reception. (Not to mention the after party.) From beginning to finish, try for a five-hour time limit, suggests Calder Clark (a wedding planner featured on Oprah).
6. Hire A Professional Videographer
While you’re mapping out your budget, the topic of hiring a videographer will undoubtedly pop up. Under no circumstances should financial corners be cut. Videographers and photographers are responsible for freezing this monumental day in time. Kodiak cameras purchased at Walmart won’t cut it here, nor will hiring a photographer and telling him/her to “shoot what they think will look good.” Always plan specific shots with your artist; specificity is key here.
Conclusion
In a race to take your perfect day from paper to reality, you will probably rethink and revise every part of your wedding. Tastes change, ideas grow old, it’s understandable. However, think twice about reordering expensive items (such as bridesmaid dresses) and draw up ideas for adding glamorous accessories to make them fit your new idea. Planning a wedding is a marathon; marathoners finish by planning how to train for the marathon – and sticking to that marathon.
