What is really involved in planning a wedding? Here is a guideline for the things you’ll need to handle either on your own or with professional assistance.

Your Budget

This is a must before anything else, since the remaining choices will be determined by your budget.

Guest List

In order to plan anything further, you must determine the size of your event and write your guest list. To do so, you must begin with lists from the following categories:

• Bridal Party (don’t forget the officiant and their spouse)
• Bride’s Friends
• Bride’s Family
• Mother of the Bride’s List
• Father of the Bride’s List
• Groom’s Friends
• Groom’s Family
• Mother of the Groom’s List
• Father of the Groom’s List
• Friends of both the Bride and Groom

Ceremony and Officiant

Will you be married in a church or at the reception site? Who will marry you in either case? The ceremony site and officiant need to be selected.

Reception Site Selection

Depending on your budget and guest list, you must find a reception site that will reflect your personalities and budget. This will involve researching possible venues, visiting them, and negotiating for the date and price that work for you.

Selecting a Date

You must work with your ceremony site, officiant, family, reception site, and calendar to find an open date.

Vendor Selection

Now that you have a budget, guest list, reception site and date, you can begin to research and book the following vendors (sooner rather than later): (Each vendor will need to be researched, interviewed, and in most cases you will need to consider more than one vendor for each service).

• - Florist—for ceremony site decoration, bridal party flowers, flowers for your family, reception site decoration, and table centerpieces.
• - Music—ceremony musicians, a band or DJ for the reception, and possibly other musicians for cocktail hour, etc.
• - Clothing and Accessories—a wedding dress for the bride, plus her shoes, a veil, and accessories; suits or tuxedos for the groom and groomsmen; dresses and accessories for the bridesmaids.
• - Caterer—depending on catering services at the reception site, you may need a caterer.
• - Bakery—if the caterer or reception site do not provide a wedding cake, you will need to find a bakery for the cake.
• - Hair/Make-up—the bride will want to have her hair and make-up done by a professional the day of the wedding.
• - Invitations/Stationery—for the invitations, thank you notes, and possibly programs.
• - Transportation—for the bridal party on the wedding day, and possibly for the rehearsal and/or the rehearsal dinner.
• - Hotels—the block of rooms for out-of-town guest, and the bride and groom’s room the night of the wedding.
• - Gift Registry—at least one store, if not more, for gift suggestions.
• - Photographer
• - Videographer
• - Jeweler-for wedding bands and other jewelry.

Honeymoon

If you are going on a honeymoon, you must make travel arrangements.

Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

You will need to plan a rehearsal for the ceremony and a rehearsal dinner for at least the bridal party and immediate family.

Wedding Brunch

This is optional—you may want to plan a brunch for family and out-of-town guests for the day of or day after the wedding.

Gifts for the Bridal Party

You will need a small gift for everyone in the bridal party, to be presented at the rehearsal dinner.

Out-of-Town Guest Bags

It’s a nice touch to deliver gift bags to the hotel for out-of-town guests.

Program Creation

You will need to put together a program for the ceremony.