You’ve just said ‘I do’ – but how do you organise your wedding?
The initial euphoria quickly gives way to a mental to-do list that grows at a dizzying pace as you organise your wedding. The venue. The caterer. The dress. The flowers. The guests. The music. The paperwork. And all of this at the same time, whilst juggling your work and personal life. If you feel overwhelmed before you’ve even started, you’re not alone… and it’s perfectly normal.
The good news is that there is a good way to organise your wedding: in the right order.
Start by deciding on two things, and two only
Before you look at a single interior design photo on Pinterest, and before you ask anyone for a quote, sit down with your partner and answer two fundamental questions:
How many guests? This figure is the backbone of everything. It determines your budget, the venues available, the type of caterer, the number of tables and the cost of the invitations. Everything stems from this.
What is your overall budget? Not a ‘hoped-for’ budget or a dream budget: a realistic budget – one that you can afford without jeopardising your shared future. Be honest with each other, and with any family members who might contribute.
With these two pieces of information to hand, you can start making your plans. Without them, you risk wasting weeks visiting venues that are not suited to your budget or the number of guests you’re expecting.
The order of priorities that makes all the difference when planning your wedding
Now that we’ve covered the basics, here’s the logical order to follow so you don’t miss anything essential and don’t end up having to start all over again.
1. Choose the date and venue. These two factors are linked. Wedding venues in Provence (and more generally throughout France) are often booked 12 to 18 months in advance, and sometimes even longer for highly sought-after estates. There’s no point in finalising anything else until you’ve signed your venue hire contract.
2. Finalise your guest list. Not a provisional list with ‘maybes’, but a definitive one. This directly determines the catering budget, which generally accounts for between 35 and 45 per cent of the total wedding budget.
3. Choose a caterer. Good caterers in Provence are just as sought-after as the venues themselves. Some have exclusive agreements with estates, whilst others are available to work with anyone. Meet with them early on and compare the services they offer, looking beyond just the price per person.
4. Put together your team of service providers. Photographer, wedding celebrant, band or DJ, florist, hairdresser and make-up artist… in that order of priority, as these are the roles that get booked up the quickest.
5. Sort out the details. Invitations, seating plan, table decorations, ceremony programme, guest gifts, entertainment… All of this can wait until the last 6 to 4 months before the big day.
Things you can delegate right now
One of the most common pitfalls is trying to organise everything yourself to save money, only to end up spending hundreds of hours comparing quotes, chasing up suppliers, dealing with last-minute cancellations and missing out on the joy that this engagement period should bring.
Entrusting the organisation of your wedding to a wedding planner (even if only partially) is not a luxury. It is a strategic choice that allows you to remain the bride and groom-to-be rather than becoming the project managers of your own celebration.
If you’re already feeling overwhelmed, it might be a sign that seeking professional help would be your best investment.
One last piece of advice
Open a document shared with your partner. Write down everything that springs to mind, in no particular order and without judgement. Then sort it out: what needs to be decided now, what can wait, and what is incidental. This simple visual clarification has an immediate effect on your stress levels.
Organising a wedding involves a series of decisions that need to be made in a particular order. If you stick to that order, each step becomes manageable. If you skip steps or try to tackle them all at once, it all becomes a bit of a nightmare.
You don’t have to know all of "it". You just need to start off by the right "it"!
Would you like to entrust the organisation of your wedding to a professional? Book a free 45-minute introductory session.