Wedding Logistics and Prioritizing... and a Contest!

After you decide on your style as a couple, the next step is to prioritize the different parts of your wedding - venue, entertainment, attire, etc. This will help you decide where to spend the bulk of your attention and how to best divide up your budget.

One thing that really helped me is I would write a list of what I remembered after each wedding I attended while I was in planning mode. It helped me realized what was important to me at a wedding. For example, I always remembered the food, cake, ceremony and entertainment (food being amount of food - I like to eat when I'm drinking!). Although I appreciated decorations, flowers, and bridesmaids dresses, they were never something that stuck in my brain.

An important thing to remember is that there are some behind-the-scenes factors that you might not notice as a guest, and the thing that kinda sucks (I know, I have such classy language for a wedding blog post) is some brides realize what they should have spent more money or time on AFTER the wedding. Please don't be one of those brides - I'd hate to hear anyone say something sad about their wedding day! As someone who has had a wedding and who also has heard some of these regrets, here are two lists - things that NEED your attention and the rest.

Must Haves

1. You MUST HAVE a wedding coordinator. Most people think about wedding coordinators as a "Nice to Have," but you don't necessarily need to hire one for the entire wedding planning process. In fact, I just used mine during the rehearsal and day-of, and I am SO glad I did - there were a lot of things to do the day of and I couldn't be at the venue while getting my hair done, dressing, having portraits taken, etc. For more information, read my friend Christine Marie's latest blog post on the subject.
2. You MUST HAVE a reliable photographer who's style you love. And I'm not just saying this because I'm a photographer - I have talked to far too many brides who HATE their wedding photos. And really, that's all you have left at the end of the day. This isn't something you have to spend a TON of money on either - in fact, spending a lot of money isn't the only thing that guarantees you good photos. Do your research. Check out all the photographers in your area at your price point. See who responds to your request quickly. Meet them. You will be spending 8+ hours with this person, so it's even more important that you like them and are comfortable around them. On top of that, all you need is someone who is organized and responsible with an aesthetic you respond to. It is a big ticket item but remember - a good photographer will make a "budget" wedding look expensive. I mean, everyone thought my wedding looked awesome in pictures :) (Thanks Pat!)
3. You MUST HAVE an officiant that you trust to marry you and your husband. This seems like a no-brainer, but a lot of brides get overwhelmed by the rest of the planning that they can put off planning the most important part - the ceremony. This was really important to me because Jesse is not Catholic but we had a Catholic prayer service. I picked a priest who would make us feel comfortable, and I talked about all the readings with Jesse and explained their meanings so he could be a part in planning the ceremony as well. This is something you and your fiance should talk about in depth, whether you're having a religious service or not. Find people and readings that are really special to you to make the beginning of your marriage even more special. (Oh, and don't forget that you MUST also HAVE a marriage license to get married :P)
4. You MUST HAVE awesome food, and, if you drink, an open (not full) bar. The most important people in your lives have come to celebrate your union, have lavished you with gifts, and you really really want them to feel spoiled. Again, this is another area in which you can do some research to find caterers that are in your budget yet feature some truly delicious options. We ended up going with this local BBQ joint that did a few weddings a year but truly loved doing them. The guests could not have been happier with the Blue Rock menu, and I couldn't not have been more grateful for the effort they put in to making sure that everything was setup on time and that everyone was fed. They even went above and beyond to make sure that everyone had a cupcake in their hand during our "cupcake toast" and had drinks ready as soon as guests arrived (we didn't ask them to do EITHER of those things - thank you so much, Marie!).

I don't want to spend too much time on the rest of the wedding factors. We'll talk about them in more detail in a later post, but what all you have left is flowers, decorations, the groom's attire, the bridal gown, the groomsmen and bridesmaids outfits, entertainment, rings, invitations/stationery, videographer, cake, wedding website, venue, hair/makeup, transportation, honeymoon, registry, favors, and rehearsal dinner. Phew! Ok, I know that's a lot, but like I said - not all of those are necessarily important to you. Again, this is why it's important you come up with your style as a couple - you can pick and choose what you think you need to focus your money and energy on depending on what's important to you. But like I said, we'll talk more about this later...

...so we can get to the contest now! Thanks so much for reading all my ramblings these past few weeks. I've really enjoyed writing them and using this bank of knowledge I've gained from planning my own wedding :) With that said, I'd love to reward my readers with a movie night this weekend! Leave a comment with your email AND also comment on Christine's blog and I'll select one winner at random for a $25 Fandango Certificate! Winners will be selected at noon tomorrow - Like me on Facebook to stay posted and be kept in the loop about future contests :)

(Fine print: Contest is open to US participants only. Promotions are in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated w/ Fandango or Facebook).

And just because I can't get enough of Michelle's shimmies...