What to do First in Wedding Planning

You’re embarking on the journey of planning your wedding! Congratulations! I know it’s simultaneously exhilarating and overwhelming. I want to give you some tips to get started.

There are 5 main vendors that you need to get booked as soon as possible. These vendors book fast! Even before you find your perfect wedding dress, you should put your energy into finding and booking these Big 5 vendors.

Choosing Your Wedding Venue

First, the venue. There are so many great venues to choose from in Ohio that it can take time to look through them all and decide which one is best for you. The locations, amenities, and packages are all very different, so comparing them can be like comparing apples and oranges. You need to decide what’s most important to you. Do you have to have a certain date and you’re determined to find a venue that has it available? Or do you absolutely want an outdoor barn/farm wedding and you’ll move your date get one? Figure out your priorities and preferences to narrow down your search. I’ll follow up with another blog post on what to consider when choosing a venue.

Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

Next, while you’re looking for a venue be asking around for suggestions for photographers and DJs and reading their reviews online. Then, once you have your venue booked and your date determined, inquire with photographers and DJs. Read the websites. You can learn a lot and save a lot of your time by reading what they put out there. Once you have them narrowed down to 2 or 3, schedule meetings to talk with them. This is a great way to see if you like them and click with them. Photographers and DJs are booking over a year out, so you don’t want to delay getting these taken care of.

We’ve covered three of your Big 5. Now, you need a caterer if it didn’t come with the venue. If it came with the venue, then you get a break on that. Caterers provide tastings, but not until after you book. They provide them so you can choose the menu items you want to have for your wedding. Talk to the venue to see who they recommend, and then read their reviews online and on The Knot.com. This will help you get a feel for who you want to work with. Then, meet them, ask a lot of questions and decide what services and pricing work the best for you.

Wedding Florist

The last vendor to choose is your florist if you plan to have real flowers for your bouquets and/or centerpieces. It takes a lot of work for florists to make all that, so they can only take a limited amount of weddings each day. Use the same suggestions as above and get the plan for this taken care of. You will need to have a basic idea of what you want, but nothing needs finalized at this time. You just want to know that you have a great florist to create your floral vision.

Your planning journey will be much smoother if you get these vendors booked early in your planning process. It’s not that you have to rush, but be intentional. It’s normal to book them 9-15 months out, or more, depending on the length of your engagement. Then, you can enjoy dress shopping, an engagement party, choosing your bridal party and guest list. Happy planning!