It’s wedding season again! That means that you will either be rushing around making last-minute preparations for your big day or around a year or two away from tying the knot. If you’re in the latter category, these tips are for you!
First and foremost, wedding planning is supposed to be FUN and not a source of stress. But for so many couples, with so much to sort and with seemingly so little time, what should be an exciting time can easily become a worry and start to cause tension. Not what you want in the run up to the best day of your life!
So how do you avoid getting stressed out? We’ve put together our top tips for planning a stress-free wedding, so you can enjoy the process and make it so much easier for yourselves!
Image Credit: Leo Sharp Photography
Manage Your Finances
It’s not a secret that weddings don’t come cheap. Managing your finances and making a budget for each element of your wedding is an absolutely must. There’s nothing more stressful than realising at the last minute that you haven’t bought any food and having no money to do so.
Make a spreadsheet and start with how much money you have now. Then work out how much you will realistically be able to save before the wedding. Finally work, out how much of this total you are willing to spend. This should give you a round figure to work with.
After that, categorise what you have to buy. We’re talking venue, entertainment, dress, suits, food, drinks, rings, photographer, flowers, decor, stationery, transport, hair and makeup, registrar/church fees, bridesmaid dresses, accessories, shoes, honeymoon, cake, favours, gifts, the lot. Don’t leave anything out! Once you’ve worked out how much to assign to each item on your checklist, you can start the fun process of planning. Make sure to stick to your budget though, or you’ll end up stressed later down the line.
Image Credit: Sophie TC Photography
Start Early and Plan It Out
It stands to reason that the earlier you start planning, the less stress you’ll have in the long run. If everything’s sorted a long time in advance, you’ll have plenty of time to manage the few things that can only be sorted last minute, like your seating plan for example, thereby eliminating as much stress as possible.
You should prioritise the essential parts of your day first and research how far in advance you need to book each element. As entertainment experts we can confirm that our most popular wedding bands get booked up to two years in advance (sometimes more), so getting your venue and entertainment booked should be top of your list! Use your wedding checklist on your spreadsheet to make a note of when you would like to have everything booked and paid for.
Setting deadlines (and sticking to them) will help make the process of planning your wedding so much smoother. Plus it’s so satisfying to tick things off your checklist once they’re sorted!
Image Credit: Tom Aizenburg
Keep Things Simple
For a stress-free wedding, we would strongly recommend buying everything and hiring professionals wherever possible. Sure, it seems like a great idea to save money by getting your friends and family to set up the decor the night before and make things like favours, place cards, bunting, table plans and flower arrangements yourself. But the reality is, it’s MUCH easier to pay someone else to do it, they’ll most likely do a much better job and it often works out cheaper than buying all the materials yourself too.
When it comes to hiring wedding entertainment, we would always advise booking though an agency. Of course, as an agency ourselves we would say that wouldn’t we? But there are so many reasons why booking with Entertainment Nation can massively reduce your stress levels. Firstly, you can be sure that the band or musician you choose will be of the highest calibre, with loads of professional experience. You’ll have support from your initial enquiry right through to your wedding day, so should any mishaps occur (also much less likely when you book through an agency,) we’ll be there to sort the problem so you can relax and enjoy your day. You’ll receive a secure contract that will ensure everything goes to plan and most excitingly, you can choose from the widest range of quality acts available to hire in the UK!
Tell Guests What They Need To Know Well In Advance
In the run-up to your wedding you can normally expect a barrage of texts, calls and emails from your guests asking about everything from dress codes to accommodation and gifts to taxi ranks. But this can all so easily be avoided with some simple advance planning. Set up a wedding website and provide all the information anyone could possibly ever need to know on it. Most will allow guests to RSVP and let you know any dietary requirements via the website too, making it easy for you to manage guest lists and relay information to the relevant vendors. Put the link on your wedding invitations and you’re good to go.
Give Everyone Set Tasks
The last thing you want to be doing on your wedding day is running round after people and checking that everything is running to plan. That’s mega-stressful and something to be avoided at all costs. This is why you have a wedding party people! Assign tasks to your bridesmaids, ushers and groomsmen so they know exactly what to do and when. This could be anything – ensuring everyone has signed the guestbook, rounding up guests for photos, making sure your veil and train always look the part or being the first on the dance floor and encouraging everyone to dance. You could even make them the first point of call for your wedding co-ordinator and vendors so they can deal with any niggly problems during the day, leaving you to relax and enjoy your day as you should.
Image Credit: Martin Dabek Photography
Think About Hiring A Wedding Planner
If it’s within your budget, this one is a bit of a no-brainer when it comes to planning a stress-free wedding. It’s so much easier when you’ve paid for someone to liaise with vendors, make your bookings for you, source the best and cheapest options and generally take the stress away! You’ll be glad you did, especially in the last few weeks before the wedding, when all the last-minute finalisations need to be sorted at once!
Keep Everything In One Place
We’re back to that all-important spreadsheet again. While you can use it to monitor your budget and what else you need to book and buy, you should also use it to keep track of your guests list and RSVPs, guest addresses for invites, their medical and dietary requirements, a list of your suppliers and their contact numbers and email addresses, your music playlist ideas and so on. With everything in one place it eliminates time when searching for what you need.
Breathe – Focus On What Matters
Don’t forget that this your wedding day and the most important thing is that you and your partner are finally getting to celebrate your love and marriage with your nearest and dearest. The people are FAR more important than the tiny little details, like the colour of your napkins or whether your wedding breakfast starts on time or not. Something will go wrong – it always does, no matter how much time and effort you’ve put into ensuring that everything’s perfect. But it doesn’t matter! By taking a deep breath and going with the flow, you’ll have a much more relaxing day than if you get stressed over every little detail. Spend time enjoying your day rather than running around like a headless chicken, breathe, and take it all in. You’ll only do it once and it will be over before you know it!
Is There Anything Else I Need To Know?
If you’re thinking of booking a wedding band, musician or entertainer, you should book as early as possible to avoid disappointment. During the summer months, especially on Saturdays, our incredible acts get booked up very fast indeed so get in there quick! Head over to our website using the link below to browse through the best wedding entertainment available for hire in the UK and get in contact to start our simple, stress-free booking process now. Good luck with the rest of your wedding planning and we hope you’ll get in contact soon!
