Wedding Planning Must Haves (to help keep your sanity)

Wedding planning should be so much fun, you’re getting to plan an amazing party to celebrate the love between you and your significant other while your friends and family are there to watch, cry, dance, drink and celebrate with you both. Planning a wedding gets a bad rep because of all of the decisions that come with it but I’m here to hopefully help the process go a bit smoother for you and make it a time to remember!

Before I got engaged, I wasn't someone that thought about all of the little details that would come along with the wedding planning process. I knew I wanted to plan an epic weekend experience, not just one night, I knew what color scheme I would want and I knew that I would be hiring a wedding planner. Those were literally the only details that seemed important to me at the time. As the planning process started, there were so many things I needed to think about and make decisions on that started getting overwhelming and I could see how easy it could be to get into fights with Mike. I wanted this to be the most enjoyable experience for everyone involved and I hope to give you some guidance on how to make yours the most enjoyable as well!

Wedding Planner! — like I said, I knew this was a must have for me so it was the first step I took before any of the planning began. Wedding planner prices can range from $4,000 - I heard some go up to 10k - for just one day (yikes) or $4,000 for the entire process. You just have to do your research and talk to as many planners as necessary until you find the one that is a perfect fit for you. I interviewed about 3-4 planners before choosing my wonderful planner Stephy Plechas ! I wanted a planner to be with me from Day 1 to the day of the wedding that way she would know all of the ins and outs of what was important to me and how to make sure everything would run smoothly without having to involve me too much on the day of.

Instagram and word of mouth are your biggest allies in finding your perfect match. Making sure their aesthetic fits with what you want is number one. Reach out to the ones that spark your interest and their work excites you and set up phone or in person interviews, this way you can make sure you both vibe IRL.

Once I was set with Stephy, I had her come with me to visit most of the venues on my list. This way she could hear all of the reasons I loved or didn’t love a place + she was versed in the contracts and could help out with important lingo I may have missed on my own.

It’s been amazing having her on board to handle all of the contracts so I can just sign rather than wasting time reading and agonizing over things I really don’t understand. She also brings so many amazing ideas to the table that I might not have thought about, plus she has connections to vendors from working so many weddings. She’s also there to handle any questions that come in from the bridal party or guests so that Mike and I don’t have to get bogged down or stressed answering a million people.

HIGHLY recommend a wedding planner to take some of the stress off of yourself and your significant other so all you two have to do is make executive decisions and enjoy the fun stuff!

For all of my Cali brides, Stephy is based out of Orange County: www.stephysbrideguide.com

Get a Wedding Planner Journal — There are a ton of wedding planner journals out there for you to choose from, the one that I have been using since day 1 is from Maeven Box Bridal. Think of FabFitFun boxes but these are catered specifically for soon to be brides! I did a one time purchase to receive the box that came with so many cute pieces that I’ve used throughout the planning process.

Even though I have my planner Stephy to keep track of everything, I really enjoyed making my own lists to keep myself accountable and make sure nothing slipped through the cracks or was left to last minute. Plus, I really love checking things off and the checklist page of this book is amaaaazing. Since I love planners so much, I made a custom planner for my sister my MOH to use during the process as well! I found this one on Etsy and I’m so happy with the way it came out. It’s also really helping my sister keep track of her duties since this is her first time as MOH and really would have had no idea where to start.

Delegate Tasks with your Partner & Plan Date Nights — Although this might seem like duhhh, this one is suuuuper important. It’s easy to get overwhelmed during the planning and take it out on your partner. “Why aren’t you caring more about the flowers/table arrangements/decor etc” is something I think every bride can relate to saying to their significant other. Here’s the thing, everyone has different strengths and different things that they care about. For instance, I know Mike doesn't care which flowers I choose, he trusts my taste. So instead of getting mad at him and blaming him for not caring about the wedding altogether just because he doesn’t care about flowers, I can recognize that this isn’t top of mind for him, which helps me not get mad at him and enjoy that I get to do it! Mike has other strengths and things that he really cares about so I let those be what he focuses on.

Planning date nights is the second part because it’s SO important to remember why you two are getting married and how special the big day is going to be. It’s a great way to remember that the wedding is supposed to be a fun day/night with your friends and family getting to all be together and celebrate your relationship!

Acceptance — Keeping your cool when things don’t go as planned is key to surviving your wedding planning. The reality is, things aren’t always going to go according to plan when there are a million moving parts. Accepting that and learning how to go with the flow, laugh off the things that go wrong and know that at the end of the day, you probably won’t even remember the things that stressed you out when you look back will make the planning so much more fun and memorable1!

WINE! — Obviouslyyyyyy. But really, call your girls when you’re feeling stressed and grab a bottle of wine & relax. You’re getting married!! Enjoy the process xo

WEDDINGTori