What To Do After You Are Engaged?
WHICH VENDORS SHOULD YOU HIRE FIRST? HOW MUCH DOES A WEDDING COST?
I’ll say this now and I’ll say it again later, enjoy this time!!! Being engaged and planning a wedding can be pretty stressful. So make sure to take your time, but also, make sure to do things in (somewhat) the right order. Read on to learn more about which vendors to book first, how to plan an engagement shoot, and how to come up with a budget for it all.
START WITH THE BUDGET
Even if you’re planning to hire a wedding planner for everything — you should still have at least a rough idea of what you will be able to spend on your wedding day and related activities. If parents or other family members are helping out, bring them all together and have an open discussion about it.
Money can always be a touchy subject, so remember to tread carefully and ask everyone questions about what they are comfortable with.
I’ve seen it happen many times, but unfortunately, some folks will want to have some decision making power if they are contributing money towards your wedding. This is the time to discuss if that will be the case or not — and which decisions they will want to make or have a say in.
After that, you can consider hiring a planner to settle all the details with your budget and guest count.
YOUR WEDDING GUEST COUNT
Shortly after setting your budget comes your guest count. The best way to start is to make groups of people with the total number of folks in each group.
Immediate family, extended family, college friends, and so forth. Ask yourselves if you’re the type of couple who wants everyone there or if you’re into a more intimate gathering.
The more people you invite will usually lower the amount you have to spend on vendors, details, and such. Planners can’t really help with this step too much but it doesn’t hurt to ask if you’ve hired one already.
SET YOUR DATE AND BOOK YOUR FIRST VENDORS
If you haven’t hired anyone yet, don’t worry. You usually have to have a date set anyway, most vendors will want to have a date in order to book. If you’re totally lost, think about the season first and then get down to a few dates that will work best.
Consider a holiday weekend if you’re getting a lot of folks in from out of state, just know that some venues charge a holiday weekend fee. Spring and fall are usually the most popular times for weddings.
If you’re wanting the perfect fall foliage wedding for example, consider booking everything as early as possible. Those dates tend to book up first with all vendors. Once you have 3-4 date options, reach out to venues that you like to see which dates they have available.
Typically, after booking a venue, you should look into the one event per day vendors. This will be photographers, DJs, videographers, and a coordinator (not a full planner) for example. These folks only do one event a day so they’ll get booked faster. A florist or a bakery can handle multiple weddings a day.
ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS
Last but not least, set a date for your engagement photos. Many wedding photographers include engagement sessions in their wedding packages. Just ask if they’re not included in the pre-made packages as photographers can always create a custom package. Engagement photos are perfect for save-the-date cards, your wedding website, and Instagram, of course! They also create a connection between you and your photographer, this will make your wedding day photos go way smoother, trust me!