If you have a wedding planned during the Coronavirus outbreak, you will of course have many questions and worries about how it can impact your day.
However since the lock-down, more than 5,000 couples alone have started planning their big days from scratch, and for recently engaged couples, the lock-down is actually a perfect place to start your planning – with a plethora of suppliers, with very little to do at your fingertips! This is the perfect time to plan your dream wedding whilst you have time on your hands, so here are our tips!
Start planning your wedding as early as possible!
You might have an ideal date as to when you want to have your wedding, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait two years before you start planning. Bear in mind that due to the virus many of the weddings that were booked into this year have been moved to 2021, so you may find limited weekend availability for next year so it would be worth thinking about a date in 2022. The earlier you start, the easier, and less stressed you will feel as the day approaches. Having a clear plan before you start will help you keep on top of everything and ensures that you don’t forget anything vital!
Budget, nail it!
Don’t try to spend anything until you have set a realistic budget which allows you some wiggle room if need be down the line. Excel will be your friend! Be sure to have some spare money for any changes/ inconveniences that might happen; prices might be different now to next year, especially with the amount of couples planning/re-scheduling their weddings. But this may also be to your advantage if you can negotiate discounts with suppliers who need to keep cashflow running into their businesses.
Don’t forget to account for the additional costs for beauty expenses, gifts and dress & suit alternations, this can all add up before you know it, so having that extra bit of money set aside will keep you covered for sure.
Make sure there is a Plan B!
However much you want your wedding preparations to go exactly how you planned, something could go wrong on the day! This can be anything from the change of weather (having a ‘wet weather’ plan is standard), to cake melting, suppliers being late, people getting lost from church to reception….you name it, in events it happens. Thinking through your day and imagining what might possibly go wrong means you’ll feel more prepared if things don’t go quite to plan on the day.
Often issues can be solved with manpower, so have a few key helpful people that you can explain the issue to, if needs be. Ensure you have wedding insurance too, which is a small cost that provides huge peace of mind. Although as with all insurance, check what circumstances are covered under your policy. Take the time that you have right now to make sure that there is a secure, in-depth back-up plan if anything like this was to ever happen again!
The more helping hands you have the better!
Even though it’s your big day, your family and friends will be more than happy to help and will want to be involved however they can with the planning. Set up Zoom calls or Facetime video calls with your friends and family who you trust and are close to brainstorm your potential ideas and delegate tasks. This lock-down is an ideal time to get Aunt May to work on that paisley bunting you’ve always dreamed of!
Create a list of Wedding Day priorities!
Create a list with your partner to determine what the most important aspects of your wedding day would be. Often you may not know what is important to you until you start visiting venues, or looking at tent options. Whatever it may be, whether it is the food & drinks, a particular wedding photographer, ensuring it’s a weekend affair, etc etc.
If you set out these details and prioritise the top ones, you’ll be able to compromise on the rest; and this will most certainly help you stay within your budget as well.
Be organised!
Have checklists, google docs, spreadsheet or a wedding planning app; any of these will work just fine, as long as you are able to gather all of your numbers, thoughts and budget in one place. There is also lots of wedding planning books online for ‘Master Checklist’ of to-dos which are spilt into different months, weeks and days leading to your wedding day.
Talk to Married Couples/other Engaged couples.
Take this lock-down downtime to connect with friends and family who have recently been married or in the throws of planning a wedding, to see what they learnt. One thing we all have right now is time…and everyone will be more than happy to reveal what they’ve learnt during their planning journey, as well as any handy tricks or incredible suppliers that they can share with you.
Matilda Delves