Banish January Blues & put a dent in your wedding planning.

Avoid last-minute wedding planning nightmares with our easy to follow tips.

Put Together a Wedding Budget Spreadsheet

Whether you’re in the early stages of wedding planning, or you’re part way through organising the big day, it’s easy to feel like you’re losing track of the wedding budget. Which is why it’s a wise idea to create a wedding budget spreadsheet.

Within your spreadsheet, or calculator, you should set your maximum budget, and have a breakdown of categories, such as flowers, catering, venue etc. Then breakdown each category into sub categories relating to the actual suppliers you’re booking. Every time you confirm a supplier, and pay for their services, record that spend on your sheet. This’ll keep you feeling confident and relaxed about every purchase and keep you up to date about how much more can be spent!

Don’t worry if you’re not an avid spreadsheet user as there are some great ready-made templates for Excel available to download online. All you need to do is fill them in!

Finalise Your Guest List

The guest list is known as one of the most stressful tasks when planning a wedding. The pressure to invite almost everybody is immense. From former colleagues to aunts and uncles you haven’t seen since you were in little. To judging the uneven balance of your guests and your partner’s guests, it isn’t difficult to see why this particular task has such a reputation.

Sit down with your partner, prepare some drinks and snacks, and take your time to talk through the guest list properly. Promise yourselves you won’t move onto another task until it’s finalised. That way you’ll get it down.

Create a Wedding Website

Creating a wedding website might sound like a big, daunting task, but thanks to the wide range of companies offering free and straightforward templates, this task is a lot easier than you may think and actually quite fun!

With your very own wedding website, you can provide guests with all the essential information they need for your big day. From times, locations, and RSVPs, to gift list information and local accommodation. It is a brilliant and instant way to communicate with almost all of your guests, and these days, a vital way of giving info to everyone.

Complete Your Seating Plan

Once you have your guest list finalised, and you’ve collected RSVPs through your wedding website (see both above) you can then move on to completing the all important seating plan. This is a task that often takes longer than you’d realise, so don’t delay!

Significant things to remember when creating your seating plan are; ensure that children are seated on the outer edges for easy high chair access (and noise…) and regular toilet trips. Also, make sure your nearest and dearest are close to (and facing) the top table or sweetheart table.

Start your wedding seating plan with a pen and paper, or use an online seating chart maker, as there will be lots of crossing out and alterations to be made as you go. Once you have a finalised a seating plan, email it over to your venue and check everything is ok with them.

Take it from us – Your wedding venue and catering team will love you for getting this over to them in a timely manner!

Get Crafty

Crafting your own save the dates, invites, table favours and even venue décor can be really enjoyable and even relaxing. If this isn’t your idea of a lovely Sunday afternoon, then spend your time researching and contacting local suppliers who can create these elements for you.

If you have thrown yourself into crafting your wedding, then this’ll offer the perfect opportunity to put a personal stamp on your big day!

The main thing to remember when wedding planning is that it’s completely normal and okay to feel a little overwhelmed and stressed. Just remember you’re not alone. Talk to your partner, friends, family and professionals who can help you feel better and plan the best wedding day ever!