Wedding planning Archives - Honeyfund Blog by Honeyfund.com, the free honeymoon registry

Select Your Venue

If you don’t know where to start when it comes to planning, get the people involved within the event lined up first! This would be your vendors and your guests. The first vendor to book for your wedding is your venue. They are the one vendor that sets the tone; the location, time, date, theme, you name it! This will allow you to narrow down the other vendors needed to make the day complete, as most venues are booked about 6 months out, if not more. So, email a handful in case some are booked already, but don’t forget to do your research and look at reviews FIRST. Don’t just book someone right off the bat because they were the first ones to reply back saying they are available. So research, research, research, even BEFORE reaching out! Just because you are on a time crunch doesn’t mean you need to settle for just anyone.

Save Your Date

In addition to vendors, the next group of people to reach out to after booking the venue is your guests, including the bridal party. Although you won’t have all the details to send an actual invite so they have all the necessary information, you can send a Save the Date with the location and your wedding website – Yes, have a website! As you get more information about the big day, your guests can get updates as well and plan accordingly.

Choosing Wedding Attire

The attire is next. Being a wardrobe stylist in addition to an event planner for 15 years and also offering it within my planning packages, I can tell you that buying bridesmaid dresses online is becoming more and more popular with my brides, especially the brides that ARE trying to plan a wedding in a short amount of time. Can I also mention that it is easy, too? You can pay a little bit more to have dresses shipped overnight; you can order multiple sizes and return the ones that don’t fit. Again, this is easy for those brides that have a wedding date just around the corner. But what about the guys and their suits? That’s easy peasy! Most guys do not pick out their suits until about 4 months ahead of time anyway, so do not worry.

So you’ve got your vendors, your guests and the attire taken care of, but what about YOUR attire? You can easily buy a dress online from a well-known store although the design will be simpler and not your authentic wedding dress type of look. If you do want that authentic wedding dress style, there are several bridal consignment stores you can visit which are becoming more and more popular or you can buy right off the rack from bridal shops. However, with this option, you need to have patience, especially if you are not a sample size. It is definitely doable though – don’t fret. I’ve had to go that route with brides before and everything was still perfect! Hint: some bridal shops will host sample sales. Photo credit: Tinge Photography

On the other side of things, if there is a little bit of time before the wedding, shops may be able to rush the dress, but it will come with a hefty price tag. In the end though, you will have a brand new dress.

Finalizing Details

Then come all the details. This is where it can get tricky as your schedule will get crazy busy in a short amount of time, but 1) that’s what personal days and PTO are for, 2) you gotta do what you gotta do, and 3) just remember to breathe, stay organized and keep your checklist nearby.

After reading this whole blog, are you feeling overwhelmed or scared? This is where the price of a Day of Coordinator or a Full Planner should not have a price tag. Not only will you save yourself stress and time from researching, especially the day of, but we are professionals and have dealt with this sort of thing before. We will get your wedding planned in no time, but again, just be prepared to be busy with meetings and tastings – but who doesn’t like tastings?

Happy planning, future brides!

Make honeymoon financing easier with a Honeyfund honeymoon registry.

Bio: MH Event Productions & Consulting is an award-winning, full service, event and wedding planning company with 15 years of experience based in the Twin Cities.

This entry is from our Expert Guest series where wedding and honeymoon professionals share their best tips on creating memories that last a lifetime.

Like anything else, using the web and technology to plan your wedding just makes life easier. Wedding planning has always been a daunting activity for most couples. From major elements of the process, like choosing a venue and vendors, to the small things, like picking out decorations and wedding favors, the list of considerations for any couple is always bigger than expected.

While just a few years ago, many people considered handling much of their wedding planning online tacky or non-traditional, now that it is 2019, times have clearly changed. With the recent explosion of wedding-centric apps, websites, and tools, it has never been more convenient or cost-saving to move your entire wedding planning process online. With this in mind, we wanted to run through seven benefits to choose to handle your wedding planning process digitally. Trust us, you’ll thank us later!

Planning Your Wedding Online

1. You can plan and organize on the go

Using digital calendar, planning, or organization apps isn’t just for your job or school anymore. By using online planning tools, you also guarantee yourself access to your planning needs while on the go. Waiting for the train? Go ahead and review who’s RSVP’d to the event. Sitting at the airport? Create some calendar notifications to remind yourself of important due dates. Your caterer call to ask for some meal preferences while you are on the road? Pull over and access your event planning tool to get back to them ASAP. There is no end to the conveniences of being able to access all of your planning info on the move.

2. You can save a ton of paper

It was almost cliche – the reams of legal pads and notebooks that a couple would need to use while planning out seating charts, creating versions of guest lists, jotting down notes. On top of that, there were the paper invitations, paper RSVPs, Save the Date cards, and thank you notes. And this is before we even get into other things like wedding guest books. So now, with online platforms and apps offering digital methods of handling all of these different things, not only can you avoid losing an important notebook and having your planning process reversed, but you can save the planet by moving your wedding planning online too.

3. You can create checklists, calendars, and reminders that keep you on schedule and let you collaborate

Worried you might forget something? More of a Type B person? Than using digital tools that send you reminders, notifications, or integrate right into your personal or work calendars is benefit #3 of handling wedding planning online. Even better, many digital planning tools let you share your to-do lists and schedules with your wedding planner, friends, or family, which means you can collaborate on your planning even if you are all in different places. The more organized you can be, and the easier you can share info with others and get feedback, the more money you can save in the long run. Speaking of….

4. You can save a ton of cash (and spend it on more fun things instead!)

While everyone wants their dream wedding, couples are often limited by their budgets. So, it’s important for you to make sure you can save money wherever possible, so you can focus on spending it on the wedding things that are the most important to you. Whether it’s all the paper you save from moving your invites and RSVPs online, the budget-friendly digital ideas you can get from all the wedding publications on the web, or the ability to get effective estimates through the web from a variety of vendors and vendor listing sites, you can make sure that your budget is going to the things you really want to spend it on.

5. You can even track your budget and expenditures online!

Budgeting apps and tools that you can integrate with your bank account and set limits and notifications on can be any wedding planning couple’s best friend. Instead of estimating blindly, or finding out too late that you’ve spent all of your money before handling important aspects of the ceremony or reception, a budgeting app can let you have a clear idea of what you have in the bank, what expenses to expect, and can even warn you if you are going over budget in an area to prevent that from happening. Don’t rely on your memory – apps like Mint can do all the hard work for you!

6. You can find all sorts of creative wedding ideas and inspiration

From Pinterest to Etsy, the web has an unbelievable wealth of resources for any couple looking for ideas from designs for table arrangements to cute wedding favors and even DIY flowers and desserts. There are also a plethora of wedding inspiration sites that offer tips, articles, and guides for free that you can use to create your own wedding inspiration idea list. Don’t rely on buying a ton of different magazines – the web has thousands of ideas for whatever part of your ceremony or reception you’d like to bring some creativity to.

7. You can make your wedding day worry-free

Last, but certainly not least, is that using online wedding planning can ensure that on the big day itself, you have nothing left to worry about but enjoying your special day with your friends and family, without any hassles or things going wrong. Whether you are planning an intimate ceremony, or a big event with hundreds of family and friends, by using online wedding planning, you can be sure the only thing you worry about on the day itself is making sure you enjoy it to the fullest!

Help finance your wedding dreams with a honeymoon registry from Honeyfund.

Bio: Adam Hausman is co-creator of RSVPify, the web’s leading online RSVP and event management platform and a one-stop shop for any couple looking to make their wedding planning and guest list management easier. He blogs frequently about wedding tips, event management ideas, and event planning do’s and don’ts around the web, and loves to make the planning process easier for anyone managing their next big event.