First things first--how formal do you want your wedding to be, how many bridesmaids and groomsmen do you want and how many people do you plan on including on the invitation list. All of these factors will play a big role in your budget. It is better to also decide these issues BEFORE you set the date.



A morning wedding and luncheon reception will definitely cost less than a formal evening wedding with a sit down dinner and open bar following. Since everyone wants to get married on Saturday, you can get a better price for your wedding on any other day of the week.

Even though the bridal party pays for their own attire, there are still the gifts, meals for the rehearsal dinner and bouquets and the boutonniares. The number of people you plan on inviting not only determines the cost of the food and drink but the size of the cake, table linens, center pieces, party favors, the number of invitations, postage, programs, place cards, etc.

Mindfully think about how much you want to spend on your wedding and then come up with a working budget that you won't deviate from. If you want to spend more on one item that you have budgeted for, you will have to spend less on another item to make up for it.

When you have decided what is going to be spent on the individual items, start looking for your wedding services as soon as possible. Putting together a wedding requires an unimaginable amount of time and energy. Explore all your various options before you decide on one. The sooner you begin, the easier it will be to obtain services on the dates you need them.

Attending Bridal Shows, researching on the internet, asking for referrals from your friends that have recently gotten married are all good starting points to find your vendors. Since your wedding is one of the biggest days of your life, you will want to entrust it to reliable wedding professionals so that you won't have to worry about the day going smoothly.

One of the first decisions you should firm up is where the ceremony will be. Contact the church or any other location of your choice and get a confirmed date before you book any other service. Keep in mind the weather conditions if you are planning on an outdoor ceremony or reception and have an alternate venue or plan in mind if the weather does not cooperate.

Now that you have wedding location in place, you can move on to looking for a reception location and your photographer. Locating and securing your photographer early on is important because they typically can only do one or two weddings a day, whereas a florist can handle several weddings. Finding a really good photographer is very important so that you can preserve that special day for years to come in your pictures.

Meet with several vendors for each service keeping in mind their quality and your budget. Ask for referrals and then take the time to call them. You do not want to ruin your special day with someone who is not reliable.

You can then move on to all the other various services you will require to include but not limited to: music, gown, wedding attire, cake, flowers, invitations, wedding favors etc.

Always make sure you get a written contract with each vendor with all the services that will be provided clearly delineated out with prices. Go over all the contracts with your fiancee and make sure you both have no questions. Then, you can plan the best part together--your honeymoon!