Wedding planning can be both exhilarating and daunting; this book helps brides stay on track by organizing their ideas and monitoring their budget.
Khatira Alina, an Australian luxury wedding dress designer, believes the ideal gown should make you feel completely yourself on your big day! If you want to look your absolute best on that special occasion!
1. Know Your Budget
No doubt weddings can be costly affairs; however, with careful planning and creativity it is possible to organize your dream event while staying within budget.
Consider DIY Projects: Making centerpieces and favors yourself can be an inexpensive way to add personalization and reduce floral costs, while selecting seasonal blooms may save additional costs.
Limiting guest list size can help lower catering and venue costs, with buffet or cocktail-style catering being more cost-effective than plated sit-down dinner. Furthermore, restricting alcohol sales to wine and beer may save even further on expenses.
2. Create a Budget Worksheet
By now, your wedding dream and budget should have begun to match up. If they do not, it may be necessary to review them again and adjust your plan.
Real Simple’s wedding budget worksheet uses a “rocks before pebbles” approach to prioritize your top priorities, helping you and your partner decide which items deserve extra spending vs those on which savings may be possible.
The spreadsheet also features a countdown page, table seating chart, an auto-updating budget pie chart via Tiller and more. Download it here.
3. Create a Guest List
Making an accurate guest list can be challenging. After all, you don’t want to exclude anyone close to you such as family or friends from attending. But other considerations need to be considered such as budget and venue capacity.
At first it may feel uncomfortable to limit who attends your celebration, particularly those from your immediate family or in-laws, but be firm – this will ensure everyone enjoys themselves without going beyond your limit and saves you the guilt of missing someone important out later.
4. Create a Style Guide
Australia is an expansive country replete with breathtaking landscapes that makes for the ideal location to host your dream wedding. No matter whether it be beach ceremonies or vineyard soirees, Australia has venues suitable to every style imaginable – so you are sure to find venues which cater perfectly to your individual wedding experience.
Australian bridal designers specialize in creating ensembles to suit brides with distinct personal styles, be they opting for dramatic sleeves or vibrant embroidery over prim bows. Furthermore, they provide sleek slips crafted of luxurious silk fabric, as well as gowns featuring clean tailoring that can continue being worn even after your big day has come and gone.
5. Schedule a Meeting with Your Vendors
Make sure that the vendors you hire can understand and communicate your vision for the event, ideally face-to-face (especially those you will spend time with such as photographers or coordinators).
Be respectful of their time. Slow responses, defensiveness and lack of follow-through can all be telltale signs that an event coordinator or vendor may not be the right fit for your wedding celebrations. One great way to ascertain this is their attitude in emails and conversations – they should always remain professional!
6. Schedule a Meeting with Your Vendors
Wedding vendors play an essential role in your special day. They’re responsible for realizing your vision on the big day itself.
Be sure to select wedding vendors who match your requirements well, such as asking yourself whether you feel at ease after meeting with them.
If not, don’t panic; simply reschedule another time. Booking vendors early will ensure the best price – such as choosing to hold your wedding on Thursday instead of Saturday to save thousands in costs!
7. Schedule a Meeting with Your Vendors
Australia, commonly referred to as Land of Oz, Down Under or sunburnt country is an idyllic wedding location; however, getting everyone there requires both time and expense on behalf of guests.
To maximize costs savings, hire a stylist connected with an established vendor partner network with optimal quality and pricing. This will enable them to meet your premium styling brief at the best value for you while using their network to help find additional suppliers that keep costs in line. It’s win-win!
8. Schedule a Meeting with Your Vendors
Weddings are life-affirming celebrations that mark the start of new adventures in your lives; however, planning one may be challenging.
Consider hiring a professional planner and stylist to bring your wedding visions to fruition so you can focus on other elements of planning your big day.
No matter where your dream wedding may lie – from intimate gatherings at one of Byron Bay’s boutique estates or an unforgettable elopement in Tasmania – they listen attentively and design an event tailored to reflect your personal taste and vision. When meeting, make sure to bring along ideas or photos as this will help speed things along!
9. Schedule a Meeting with Your Vendors
No matter if it’s beachfront or vineyard-themed wedding you desire, Australia provides plenty of wedding ceremony and reception possibilities. But before embarking on planning for this milestone event, keep weather conditions in Australia in mind when creating your vision.
Kate Tran from White Events recommends selecting a stylist with an extensive network that complements your design brief in order to save both time and money by using vendor partnerships provided by your stylist for optimal quality and pricing.
10. Schedule a Meeting with Your Vendors
Meeting in person with potential vendors to communicate your vision can help ensure you can ask any necessary questions and assess if their operating rhythm matches up with yours.
Keep Australia’s seasonality in mind when planning your wedding there as well. Winter can be cold and grey but breathtakingly beautiful while summer heat can get extremely scorching. When meeting with vendors, bring along pictures that illustrate what you’re after to help them understand exactly what it is you want for your big day – this way there will be no surprises on the big day!