It’s the beginning of January and it’s dawned on you…you’re officially getting married THIS year!

Firstly, don’t panic or stress, this is a good thing! You’ve been waiting for this day.

We all have the best of intentions at the beginning of the year so it’s a great time to get yourself organised, pre-planning what needs doing and when so as you get inevitably busier your Wedmin doesn’t slip.

Here are just a few tips to get you started…

LISTS ARE YOUR FRIENDS
You can never have too many lists (unless you starting writing multiple lists with the duplicated tasks so you think you have double the number of actual to dos). Take some time to write down everything you can think of that you need to do. Look at the list and work out when each of the tasks need to be actioned by. I would breakdown your to dos by month and then have a separate list of things that can be done at any time. On my Etsy page I offer a personalised Wedding Calendar. The Calendar starts from the month you order it right up until the Month of your Wedding (that means if you’re getting married next year instead it’ll last from now right up to your big day). For each month there is a “To Do List” Section for you to update with that Month’s Tasks. It also comes with helpful stickers for key dates to remember i.e. Menu Tasting, Dress Fitting etc that you can stick on the relevant date in the calendar. It’s a great way to remind you of what needs doing and when.
Click here to view…

ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE GET IT DONE
Don’t feel like you have to wait to action things on your to do list. If you have broken your to do list down so you have a list of tasks that can be actioned at any time, crack on with that list as much as possible whenever you get some free time. A lot of “To Do List” templates tell you to wait on certain things till 3 months before the wedding but in reality…those 3 months are going to be BUSY, so if you can do things earlier and get it ticked off the list then why not! i.e. the playlist for the band/DJ, you can do that anytime, it’s not normally requested until closer to the time but it’s a task you could do as soon as you’ve confirmed your band/DJ and then it’s done so you don’t need to think about it.

GET BOOKING
If you have any suppliers left to book, get booking! Simply to avoid disappointment and tick it off the list.

BOOK IN YOUR APPOINTMENTS EARLY
There is no harm in getting appointments into the diary early! In some ways at least you can then plan around them and avoid the hassle of trying to find a time that works for everyone involved when there are limited times available. Just make sure you’ve got them in the diary, on the calendar or set a reminder in your phone. I would just suggest you set yourself a notification a few weeks before to re-confirm with everyone involved. Also remember that as we get into busy Wedding season suppliers will get very busy and their availability might be more limited so if you’re booking in with them early you’ll get first dibs on their appointment availability.

BE PATIENT
Be gentle with your suppliers, if they are a venue, caterer, band etc they will no doubt have had a manic December with all the Christmas Party craziness and in all honestly January, although being quieter for bookings is very intense from an admin point of view. From my past working at a venue I can tell you from experience that my phone and emails were never as busy as in January and I’d be glued to my desk with new enquiries from couples who got engaged over the festive period and from couples who, like you are getting married THIS year and want to get organised. Just be a bit patient if they take a bit of time to come back to you. Remember the more understanding you are the more grateful they will be and it’s never a bad thing to be in a suppliers good books, they may just spread some belated festive spirit in gratitude!

START AN EVENT SHEET
So firstly, let me just clarify what I mean by this in case you aren’t familiar. An event sheet is basically a running order for the day with all of the details i.e. the timings, the set up information, contact details for suppliers, food and drink selected etc. It’s really useful to pull together everything you have been working on into one place that you can share with suppliers and member of your Wedding party. At the very least once you start going through the day piece by piece you might notice things you’ve missed. There are three ways I can help with this…
1. On Etsy I offer an event sheet template for you to purchase, download and complete yourself. Click here to view…
2. I offer a service where I will write the event sheet for you. You can provide me with supplier contracts, email exchanges etc and I will pull the event sheet together. It’s also another pair of eyes to check that everything looks in order and believe me when I say that these eyes have seen A LOT of event sheets!
3. You could book a consultation with me, this is 45 minutes of my time to use as you like. During that time we could run through the event sheet and talk this through together.

MAKE TIME FOR YOU AND YOU PARTNER
It’s so easy to get completely wrapped up in your Wedmin but you do also need some you time. Be sure to allocate time to things not wedding related like pampering yourself or see friends. Put some date nights in the diary with your soon to be wife or husband with the topic of the Wedding banned just for a few hours. Planning a wedding can put a lot of pressure on you both so you deserve some time to have fun together.

LASTLY, THERE’S NO HARM IN ASKING FOR HELP
I’ve talked about a few of the services I offer already but there is lots I can offer and I’m always open to looking at something more bespoke. I’ve created the services I offer so that they can complement what you’re already doing. Forget the stereotypical view of a Wedding Planner who storms in, takes over and runs around with a clip board charging you ungodly amounts of money, that’s not me! I can dip in and out of your planning as needed and my prices are set so they won’t break the bank if you need a bit of help. Just think of me as more of a Fairy Godmother, glitter and all!
Click here to view my services…

Happy Wedmin-ing!

Love Amy x