How to plan a wedding yourself: 8 wedding planning tips you need to know!

How to plan a wedding yourself: 8 wedding planning tips you need to know!

If you’re engaged or soon to be engaged and wondering how to plan a wedding yourself then we are here to help! Getting married is an exciting and overwhelming time in any couple’s life and it can be that much more stressful if you’ve decided to go the DIY route. 

So before you jump headfirst into the organizational swirl, take a look at our top 8 tips about how to plan a wedding yourself! They may just save you time, money, and a whole lot of stress!

 

1. Ask for help

It sounds like a cliche but it’s true. People would LOVE to help you plan and execute your wedding and the only thing keeping you so stressed and stretched is the fact you haven’t asked them yet. 

Start a ‘helpers’ page in your personal planner, list the lovely friends and family who have offered assistance, and keep track of what you’ve asked each of them to do, and when!

If you want to know how to plan a wedding without a wedding planner - this is our number one piece of advice! No wedding planner? Ask for help - right now!

2. Start earlier rather than later

Again, it’s the kind of thing our Moms tell us and we dutifully ignore, but this is an incredibly important tip for brides and grooms planning to do all the wedding planning themselves. Start earlier than you think you need to start. And then add a three month buffer on top of that. 

Helping you start your wedding planning on time is where your  personal planner really shines. It’s a place for you to note down long and short term wedding planning goals, action points, lists, vendors, contacts, guest lists and more.

3. Don’t sweat the small stuff

Plan, plan, plan. But at a certain point, you’ve gotta make like Elsa and let it go. One of the smartest things a couple planning a wedding themselves can do is to go BIG on the planning, and SMALL on the stresses of the actual day. That’s going to mean giving up a little bit of the control you’ve built up over your planning period and just going with the flow.

4. Don’t underestimate the stress of DIY

A DIY wedding will save you money, it’s true, but if you’re wondering how to plan a wedding without a wedding planner AND keep the stress levels down, well - the answer is: it’s hard! A Do-It-Yourself wedding may even feel like a full-time job at times and the more seemingly harmless ‘projects’ you take on, the more it will add to your pre-wedding workload. 

Table settings, favor boxes, bunting, bridesmaid gifts, floral arrangements - all these things take more time than you anticipate, and many of them will require your attention the day before or the day of the wedding. The more DIY you do, the busier your wedding week will be. Do yourself a favor and plan these little projects to be completed well in advance of the big day.  A daily or weekly digital planner can be a huge help on this front.

5. Nail that seating plan

Seating plans always always ALWAYS require more work than you think they will. I’ve lost track of the number of friends who tell me they were up in the early hours of their wedding day making last minute changes to their seating plan. Turns out, wedding seating plans are a little bit like Tetris - sometimes they just don’t fit the way you want them to! 

Using your planner to write up a seating plan months in advance and then revisiting it often in the weeks leading up to the wedding is a great way to avoid sitting angry Auntie Amelia next to handsy half-brother Harold!

6. Manage your guests

Your wedding is for you, there’s no doubt about that. But your guests are in the majority at your wedding and it pays to keep them content. To that end, it’s a good idea to incorporate a ‘guest management section’ into your wedding planner. That’s the best place to collate all information both *for* and *about* your guests that will contribute to a successful wedding day. 

From travel information to dietary requirements, accommodation suggestions, and any requests you may have of your guests (think: help with decorations or earmarking potential speechmakers), managing your guests need not be like herding cats with a good planner behind you!

7. Engage your budget brain

Wedding brain is a real thing and when it hits you, you may see all good financial sense fly out the window. Do your future self (and marriage!) a favor and engage your budget brain during the wedding planning process. 

This means picking a  budget planner that works for you, and using it often! A good budget planner will help you stick to your limits, to prioritise the things that really matter, and to find the best deals for your big day.

8. Plan for your marriage too

Last, but definitely not least: our final tip for how to plan a wedding yourself. This is a major one!

A wedding is a wonderful, joyous thing. But it’s just one day of your life. And your marriage will be a much, much bigger journey. Put some time, effort, and planning power into setting your marriage up for success. 

personal planner is the perfect place for some serious (and fun!) marriage planning in the lead up to your wedding and beyond. From marriage ‘annual check-ups’ to date night ideas, your goals as a couple, financial planning, and travel ideas, a marriage plan is bound to set you both up for a long and happy life together. Make sure you get your partner involved too! 

 

How to plan a wedding without a wedding planner?

Organizing your wedding without a wedding planner need not be an impossible undertaking. The key thing is to stay ahead and on-task - your wedding day will sneak up on you sooner than you think and by staying super organized with a  digital or  paper planner, you’re sure to come out of it all alive, unscathed, and - most importantly - married! Good luck!
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