Planning a wedding can be extremely stressful if you don’t know what you’re doing. Realistically, most of you won’t have ever planned a wedding before! This isn’t the type of thing you do regularly unless you’re a wedding planner. Sure, you may have helped your friends/family plan a wedding, but things are vastly different when it’s your celebration! In effect, it feels like you’re staring into the abyss with no clue what your next steps should be. Do you know what you need? Help, and lots of it!
There’s no sense in planning a wedding without getting help from others. You’ll soon find that lots of people are willing to help you – either for free or a fee. Likewise, you can find loads of useful resources by searching in the right places. You can find help from your wedding linen direct supplier to come up with ideas like getting elegant banquet tablecloths, linens, and chair covers to make your venue more attractive. So, this post will pinpoint how to get help when planning your wedding, and it works for all budgets. If you’ve got cash to splash, there are ideas suited to you. If you want to save as much money as possible, you’ll find some budget-friendly ideas as well. This way, everyone can get as much help as possible when planning their wedding!
Hire a wedding planner
We’ll begin with one of the most obvious decisions: hire a wedding planner. Certain people make a career out of planning weddings, so they know everything you must do. A wedding planner will provide expert guidance that’s tailored to your wants and needs. They also have connections to suppliers and venues, which you can use to your advantage. It could be almost impossible to find a good venue without a wedding planner, but their pull and know-how help you get one of the best around at a discounted price.
That’s one benefit of wedding planners most people don’t think about. The connections they have with suppliers will usually be professional and beneficial. They have special discounts with these suppliers, so you can save a bit of money. It can help to make up for the overall cost of hiring a wedding planner – more on that in a moment! As for the other benefits, the main one is that a planner handles everything for you. They’re a perfect solution for busy people that literally don’t have time to plan a wedding. That can sound upsetting, but it’s true for lots of modern couples. Both of you work full-time jobs, so how can you find the time to plan anything!? Hiring someone to shoulder the responsibilities eases tension and allows you to keep working without worrying about your wedding. If you’re interested in something less formal and more intimate, consider elopement packages.
Yes, the main downside is that wedding planners cost a lot of money. As with all things in life, the precise costs vary based on different factors. The area you live in will be one of the defining factors as some areas are more expensive than others. Of course, the wedding planner’s experience is also taken into account. For some of you, the costs can be too substantial to consider. In which case, don’t worry, there are other ways to get help when organizing your wedding.
Ask your friends/family
What’s the next best thing to a wedding planner? Someone that will help you plan your wedding for no fees whatsoever! Ask your friends or family if they can assist with all the organization. I’m sure loads of people will be very keen to step up and lend a helping hand. Your parents will likely jump at the chance to help you, especially if they have nothing else to do. It’s a big day for you, but it’s also a special day for them! This signifies a huge moment in any parent’s life, so they’re willing to help however they can.
Obviously, your friends will assist you as well. Your married friends are particularly useful as they make recommendations based on experiences. Let’s say two of your friends got married last year, and both used the same flower supplier. They rave about how amazing the flowers were, so it’s a safe bet to go and use them. Who knows, some wedding suppliers offer discounts for friends or previous clients. It works almost like an affiliate program where old clients recommend them and get a little affiliate fee. So, you could get a few discounts without needing a wedding planner.
The only issue is that your friends aren’t professional wedding planners. Realistically, is this that much of a problem?! Who knows, they could have just as much skill as a professional planner, but without the commanding fee. If you’re on a budget and want to avoid hiring a wedding planner, this is the next best thing.
Online inspiration boards
Next, you can get help from the wider community to plan your wedding. The beauty of the internet is that people often get together to provide advice. More than that, you have specific websites or blogs that collect all the advice together in a simple format. A quick search will lead you to a wedding inspiration board for ideas. These boards are so helpful as they basically put together loads of similar themes and styles that you can look at. They’re one of the best ways of getting ideas on how to style and plan your wedding theme. To make things even better, they’re usually provided by wedding planners or former brides that want to share tips.
As a result, you have loads of free information to use as you please. Look through these inspiration boards for tips and guidance on what you could do. You’ll find some that offer advice on weddings abroad, specifically themed weddings and cultural weddings. If you have an inkling of an idea for how your wedding will plan out, inspiration boards help you put the pieces of the puzzle together. At the same time, they’re just as good at providing ideas for someone that doesn’t have a clue where to begin.
Online forums
Continuing with the theme of community, online forums are a fantastic place for brides-to-be. You can find loads of great wedding forums after a quick Google search. Here, you will see different communities and posts from people in the same position as you. Future brides will ask questions that are duly answered by other people. Again, you could see actual wedding planners answering these questions and posting in forums. Or, more likely, it’s people who have been married before and want to share some wisdom.
I like forums for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it lets you know that other people have the same problems as you! If you feel bad for struggling to plan your wedding, you’ll soon notice that everyone else is in the same boat. As a result, you can find questions relating to your struggles that have already been answered. Secondly, forums are the best way to get specific advice about things relating to your wedding. You can ask a very specific question and receive advice from hundreds of people. Also, forums are 100% free, so you don’t have to pay a penny.
Naturally, you will find loads of different online forums. If you’re looking for a good place to start, take a look at the wedding planning subreddit. Reddit is one of the most popular networking/forum sites online, and this subreddit has hundreds of thousands of users. The more users there are, the more chance there is of receiving lots of advice!
Books & magazines
Finally, you can get help from books and magazines. Again, a quick look online will point you towards loads of wedding planning books that can be a huge help. These books are usually written by experienced wedding planners revealing some of their best tips and tricks. It could be a brilliant way of gaining advice from a wedding planner without paying loads of money. Books are relatively cheap and will provide you with lots of useful information. The best thing is, you can buy as many as your budget allows you to. Some people may only want one book, but others could buy two or three to get more advice and different perspectives.
Then, you have wedding magazines. Effectively, these are a lot like wedding inspiration boards, only in print form. They also kind of merge with wedding planning books, only more diluted. In essence, you get loads of images and ideas in the magazines, along with professional tips and interviews. Any shop that sells magazines should have a decent supply of wedding-themed ones. Or, you can order them online for a small fee. Again, it’s another way of getting assistance without breaking the bank.
Hopefully, these ideas have given you some tips on how to get help for your wedding. At the end of the day, wedding planning shouldn’t be stressful. It often is, which casts a dark mood over proceedings. You start to feel bad because this is the best moment of your life, but you’re so stressed and annoyed. This is easily solved by utilizing as much help as you possibly can. As this guide shows, you can easily find assistance, regardless of your budget.
