Blog Appétit

You guys! Guess what?…

Ok, I’ll tell you;)

This week marks the 100 day countdown until the big day!!! Can you believe it? It feels like yesterday we got engaged and it’s starting to feel like tomorrow we’re getting married (cue the excitement squeals and many happy tears). 

This past weekend Steve’s parents came in town to join us for a few final meetings to square away details for the rehearsal dinner as well as tag along on a fun meeting with our band! It was a weekend of checking off to-dos as well as many pinch me moments as I realized the next time I will see most of these people or be in those spaces will be on the wedding day!!!

After almost two years of planning it’s starting to finally feel real and I can barely wrap my head around it. I know some people hate the over the top cheesy, romantic, fairytale weddings but guys, you should know me by now…I LOVE THAT STUFF!! Bring on all the flowers, personal touches, love letters, million photos to capture every moment, cheesy love songs and so much more!

I won’t say I’m one of those girls that dreamed of my big day since I was in grade school but I will say when you’ve planned over 50 of the biggest wedding events in the city over the past 4 years, you kind of get sucked into picking out what you would do if it was your big day.

You also get a good taste of what you need to know to be prepared for your big day when you don’t have a wedding planner which is why I’m sharing my top things things to know when planning a wedding by yourself.

Things You Need to Know if You Don’t Have a Wedding Planner

How to Ballpark Budget Budgeting for a wedding is one of the biggest parts of wedding planning, especially when you don’t have a planner to turn to ask how much something should be. A few months back, I gave my tips and tricks on how to budget for a wedding but when it comes to knowing how much exactly to budget per vendor it can get tricky as it really depends on where you live and what level you’re looking for. Luckily, WeddingWire created the first ever Wedding Cost Guide that offers couples the ability to search by vendor category and zip code to see roughly how much you should budget for each one. Better yet, it also answers any questions you could probably think of, such as if you should tip that vendor, what that budget includes, when you should book them, etc. It’s seriously a life saver for couples who aren’t using a planner and if only they would have launched it earlier, it would have saved me many sticker shock moments;)

How to Create a Timeline It’s going to sound crazy but it’s nearly impossible to plan a wedding without creating a full day of timeline down to every last detail. My best advice for this is to create it early to help you avoid booking a vendor for longer than needed or not booking one for long enough and then realizing you have to add extra time last minute. If you don’t have a planner this timeline will be your saving grace as well as all your vendor’s. If you have never made a timeline, don’t worry it’s pretty simple. You’ll want to start by asking each vendor what time they plan to arrive and how much time they need (how long will it take your makeup artist to do your wedding party’s makeup, what time do you need to be ready by to get to the ceremony in time, how long does your caterer need for dinner, how long does your officiant need for the ceremony, etc.). Once you collect these details, your timeline will organically fall in place and always feel free to ask your vendors what they recommend as they’ve mostly likely done this 1 or 100 times before. If you’re still not sure where to start, here’s an article by WeddingWire to get you started. 

What Questions to Ask As silly as it sounds, there are many questions you would never think to ask your vendors if you weren’t familiar with wedding planning and these questions are vital to everything running smoothly. Some questions to ask are:

-Are there any hidden fees?

-How many vendor meals will I need to provide you? (keep in mind if you have a band, each band member will need one)

-Is tip included in this price? (some contracts include tip, others don’t)

-Is there a processing fee if I pay with a credit card? 

-When is the payment due and in what form?

-Do you need anything in particular? (power access, chairs, water access, mirrors, lighting, etc.)

-Who will be my day of contact and what is their phone number?

-What time will you arrive and how much time will you need to breakdown?

-(Venue Only) Are tables and chairs included? Is there a bridal suite to store items? What time will vendors have access to the space and how late can they stay to load out? Do you need a Certificate of Insurance from my vendors to load in? What are the venue rules (no confetti, no outside cakes or careering, etc.)

How to Make Sure Everyone is Prepared From doing events daily, I’ve learned the best way to ensure everything runs as planned without you loosing your hair is to make sure your vendors are prepared. Make sure they all have your contact or whomever you would like them to contact the day of (ideally a maid of honor or venue contact), they all have copies of the timeline so they know what to expect and when, that they know what you want/expect from them and that you have answered any questions they had or took care of any special requests they needed. This will ensure that there are no major hiccups the day of and no confusion on what they are expected to do. Your vendors are your bread and butter of the wedding so I can’t express enough how important it is to take good care of them so in return they will take good care of you on your big day:)

Engaged and planning the wedding by yourself? What questions have you come across or things you wish you would have known before?

This post was sponsored by WeddingWire. All opinions and photos are my own. Thank you so much for supporting my favorite brands that help keep Blog Appétit up and running!

Photography: Aimee Mazzenga