The Ideal Planning Timeline & Booking Suppliers

First of all, don’t get too caught up in needing to have everything organised and booked straight away. There is time and you want to make sure you book the right supplier/vendor which means you need to shop around and do some research before finalising things.

The first thing I would do is establish your budget. This is incredibly important for you and your partner to understand what style of wedding you can afford and whether or not you need to tweak your dream wedding to make sure it fits into reality. More about Budgeting in my next blog.

The first supplier I would look booking is a Wedding Planner. A Wedding Planner is a great investment and can save you a lot of of stress and worry over the 12-18 months leading up to the wedding. They can understand your vision and help refer you to suppliers/venues that can fit into your budget (hence why establishing your budget is so important). They also will provide you with endless support and assistance along the way, attend any meetings with your vendors if you wish and also communicate with your vendors on your behalf to finalise all details so you don’t have to.

From there, I would book your venue. It’s a great idea to book your venue first and then fit all your other suppliers in around that date. The last thing you would want is to book your photographer and have no venue you like available on that day. All your other suppliers can be booked anytime from 6 months - 18 months out from the wedding, as there is not cookie cutter timeframe for this process. It is also great to understand if your venue has a On The Day Coordinator to make sure everything is running smoothly and decor is set up properly, or if your Wedding Planner is needed to complete set up on the day.

Once you have all your ducks in a row, it is best to get a great understanding from your Wedding Planner as to when all your payments are due to your suppliers and venue. This will help you plan out your money and ensure you are paying everyone on time. Now of course your Wedding Planner is the main person managing this process, but you will still need to know where your money is going and when.

Creating a seating plan is probably one of the hardest things within planning a wedding, right after the guest list. Everyone seems to have a say in who you invite and who can sit next to who, or if these two relatives are going to fight…. It can get exhausting… Setting an expectation with your guests when sending the invitations out is the best thing to do, this could be something like not inviting kids and explaining that on the invites or no plus ones (make sure you ask your Wedding Planner for some advice on how to phrase this on the invites). It is also great to remember that this is your wedding and if people aren’t happy with where/who they’re sitting next to, then they probably shouldn’t be coming to YOUR wedding.

Now with the last 2-4 months leading up to the wedding, make sure you have your final numbers, dietaries, food & beverage selection, floor plan, styling & flowers, distinct order of events for your photographer to follow, timings and any documents confirmed so you are ahead of the game. the last thing you want is scrambling to get things confirmed 2 weeks out from the wedding when you should be relaxing and enjoying the fun.

Once you have done these steps, your suppliers can work their magic and take of everything else for you.

Think Of Photography, As An Investment

When you think of Wedding Photography, you think of having nice photos of your wedding day, but it’s so much more than that. The Photographer you choose will be responsible for capturing the most important day of your life and these photo’s will be the main thing you will have to show for the rest of your life.

On average, a Photographer will cost anywhere from $3,000 - $10,000 and most people only see the cost as the Photographers time on the day of the wedding, but there is so much more that goes into that cost and producing the photos. You are paying for the Photographers experience/expertise, equipment & it’s insurance, all pre-wedding day consultations with the couple, the 8-12 hours on the wedding day, potential second shooter, editing all photos which usually takes around 48 hours & potential photo album editing if you choose to print an album.

Make sure you you do as much research as possible when selecting your Photographer and choose the one that not only produces great photos that aligns with your style, but also a Photographer that has a great connection with you.

Budgeting Your Wedding.

Creating A Budget

Establishing your wedding budget is probably one of the most tricky (but very important) parts of your planning process. This number will influence your decisions on vendors, styling and little things that tend to creep up on you when it comes to the total cost. When trying to figure out your budget, there is no exact answer on how much you should spend, it comes down to each couple and what is important to them. First start with your overhead costs for the venue/food & beverage, which can be anywhere from $160PP-$350PP depending on the venue/caterer. From there, you can allocate a specific amount towards all the extras and how much you think you both can afford.

Once you have your budget established, you can work out how much you want to put towards each item, which will be different for every couple depending on what is more important to you both. If photography is more important to you than flowers, then you add extra money towards the Photography budget.

I have provided a brief guideline below, this may need adjusting which is why speaking to your Wedding Planner is essential for this process:

Venue/Food&Beverage: 31%

Wedding Planner: 15%

Photography/Videography: 15%

Music/Live Performers: 10%

Flowers: 10%

Styling/Professional Stylist: 10%

Attire: 5%

Transportation: 2%

Cake | Favours | Stationary: 2%

For example;

If you are having 150 adult guests (no kids are attending) and your venues Food & Beverage PP cost is $200pp, this would mean your minimum overhead cost is $30,000.00. You would then have $20,700.00 allocated for all other items. It is also best to establish a buffer fund, a buffer fund is an absolute max amount that you can go to. We all know that budgeting is a great idea, but in reality it can be a bit harder and what if a vendor that you absolutely love is slightly over the allocated budget in that category? Are you willing to give up your favourite vendor for a couple extra hundred dollars? That is where the buffer fund comes in, kind of like an emergency fund it will allow you to still have fun selecting your dream suppliers whilst staying within a reason able budget.

Tracking Your Spending

Once you start booking your vendors and finalising details, it is best to track your spending so you know you are on track or if you are blowing out your budget and need to dip into the buffer fund. Creating a spreadsheet or using my free Wedding Budget sheet, will help you keep track of your spending and get back to the fun of creating your dream day.

Create A Pinterest Board

Create a Pinterest board for EVERYTHING!!

I guarantee you, everything supplier will ask to see your inspiration and most of them use Pinterest as the main way to view what you’re envisioning. I think we are all victims of FOMO and changing our minds when it comes to styles and decor, because of this some suppliers even request that you share the boards with their Pinterest account so they can see live updates of what you are liking at that time.

so get scrolling and have fun!