This article has been commissioned by WeddingBooker who have the biggest database of licensed wedding venues in the UK. They know how stressful planning a wedding is so they make it easy for you to get availability, prices and arrange meetings with venues.
Their website is designed so you don’t have to contact venues directly through various different websites to see if they are even available on your chosen day!
The Venue
The venue you chose for your wedding is one of the most important decisions you need to make. Doing this one first is always a good idea. With WeddingBookers you can check for example wedding venues in Swansea and see what is available. There could well be ideas you had not even considered.
Picking a venue which is perfect for you as a couple is really important. If you do not want a posh do then don’t. It is your day, no one else’s. Jessica is choosing to get married abroad as it means that family members she knows won’t travel will not come which is perfect for them as they didn’t want them there anyway! Of course, though they can still be polite and invite them.
When planning a wedding some people feel the perfect venue for them is abroad as there are other things to do. Emma was in the pool until 3 pm before her 6 pm wedding!
Delegate jobs
If the venue is sorting out certain elements of your day for you then leave them to it, why give yourself extra stress unnecessarily? Laura told me that her venue called her to check if the wedding was still going ahead as they usually have brides pestering them and she hadn’t!
Kelly had her wedding planned in three months with her family paying for her dress and some other bits. Her mother-in-law bought the suits, father in law sorted the meal and they paid for the venue. By delegating it helped them plan quickly and have an amazing day.
Emma delegated most things by getting married abroad and hiring a wedding planner! Jaki had help from her sister and said that was perfect for when she had a bridezilla moment!
Do things yourself
I know this contradicts the above point but there is some sense in this. Some elements you can easily do yourself and save money and time. As a result, this can save stress too. Fiona however advises not to take on too much yourself and says to check out the prices as getting someone else to do it can save stress.
Jaymee and her husband organised most things themselves and did it within 6 weeks as they got a cancellation!
Make lists and Pinterest boards
Laura says this was key for them in having fun and making lots of lists and Pinterest boards. Shel similarly had a wedding bible with all her contacts and plans in. What a great idea I expect there are loads of ones designed specifically.
Michelle planned her wedding a year and a half in advance with her and her husband each having their own lists of responsibilities and agreeing not to pester each other. They just wanted to be married and said, whatever happens, happens. Alternatively, you could be as laid back as Erika who organised her wedding on the back of a napkin in a restaurant, possibly not the best idea she says though as they went on to divorce!
Own your invite list
This is your day and the decision of who to invite is yours! Own the decisions you make and stick to them. Leslie says they hardly invited anyone and it worked for them. Vi suggests writing a list with who is most important to you both and then planning around that adding people only if you already have it planned for those most important to you.
Jennifer only had 4 guests and got married in Austria! Similarly, Tina says they booked their local registry office and asked friends to be witnesses two days before. They then sent everyone a picture message saying “guess what we did”!
Rachel says the key to her perfect wedding was just inviting those they wanted there and ignoring family and friends pushing them to invite everyone. It worked for them and they only had around 20 people there. Sarah agreed and said invite who you want not those you think you should! This has to be the best advice. Why invite and pay for people who you do not actually want there?
Planning a wedding you want
Do not do things just because everyone else thinks you should. Kate says that her biggest fear was dancing so she just arranged that when they got married there would be no dancing involved. It worked for her and to be honest, I like that idea.
Samantha says for her wedding it was the second wedding for both of them so they just planned it all how they wanted it. Sounds perfect to me.
What do you think makes the perfect wedding? Any advice for planning a wedding? I have no intention of getting married again any time soon but maybe some of you readers are.
