I love the idea of save the date cards. The reason is simple. You and the recipient can both breathe a little bit easier.

For hose sending out the card it provides them with a little bit of piece of mind knowing that they have done what they can to remind people that something is important on the horizon. That would be me in a nutshell.

For the recipient they can have a physical reminder and in some instances a keepsake for your very special day.

I am the type of person that notes everything down on my calender and take careful steps to ensure that I haven't forgotten anything. So it is only natural for me to get excited when I have the opportunity to help others do the same. My best friend says it is annoying. Though I think that she sees the value in it since I have been enlisted to help make sure her wedding is organized properly.

Which thrilled me.

When she first asked me to help with the wedding I thought that it meant that I was going to have to help her pick out a dress and sit around and drink wine while reminiscing. There is a little bit of the latter but I really feel like I am in my element when it comes to organizing and I am the type of person that loves to help so it has presented a lot of chances for me to get my hands dirty. Though I should clarify I am not part of the bridal party, they have other duties and responsibilities.

So what goes into the special date? What does it take to plan a wedding?

Actually it isn't as complicated as I expected. For some reason I thought that wedding planning was some sort of mystical art.

The truth is that it isn't. 🙂

So what I thought I would do today is share a little checklist that I put together for myself.

Get Started

Time is wasting. Don't procrastinate when planning for a wedding. If you have already set a date (which your should have by this point) then you only have a finite amount of time before you start missing deadlines.

So to begin…

Start A Binder

When we got started it became clear that we would need to keep track of a lot of different aspects and many of these

Set a Budget – Plan Accordingly

I found a list of the different categories that eat away at your budget. It wasn't very well laid out, nor can I find it now but I will share my version. I simplified some things and grouped different categories together since not everybody will have the same criteria for their wedding.

You will certainly look at the figures and say they don't add up to a 100%. But remember, they are ranges. Like I said we grouped some of them together, the ones that made sense at any rate, so your number will look different. One thing that I can say is that almost everyone suggest setting 50% of your budget aside for the venue, food and for your beverages.

• 50% on Venue, Food & Beverage
• 8-20% on Photography/ Videography
• 8-10% on Dress and Bridal Party Attire
• 6-16% on Decorations
• 6-10% on Entertainment
• 3-7% on Stationery / Paper Goods
• 2-8% on Miscellaneous
  • This covers such things as: transportation, photo booth, gifts, favors, etc.)
• 2-5% on an Emergency Fund
• 2-3% on Ceremony Specifics

Research

Before you take the above list as a checklist it should be made clear that it is merely a suggestion for spending; make sure that you research your options yourself before working it off. You will be surprised to find that you need to book photographers, entertainment, and florists waa…aay in advance.

The more you put into looking at your what options lay at your disposal the higher likeliness is that you will actually be happy with your choices.

Plan The Honeymoon

The honeymoon is just another aspect of the wedding that needs to be planned. While it doesn't need to be subjected to the same amount of scrutiny as the ceremony and reception it might be in your best interest to spend some time talking about what makes the most sense.

As an example, my friend and her soon to be husband are going to wait a few weeks on the honeymoon so that they will save some on the tickets.

For right now those are the all of the high points that we will be focusing on; the binder will certainly expand in different directions as the big day draws near. I am not sure that the changes will be of any use; as they will be further personalization, that refine the categories that I have listed, not replace them.

All-in-all it is a challenge that seems easy enough to master given enough preparation.

Stay tuned!

Amber