Looking for the ultimate guide on how to plan your dream wedding in less than 4 months? Read more here…
You’ll have heard people tell you “You need at least a year to book a wedding!”, but you’re about to prove them all wrong! When planning your wedding, you can be as speedy or as slow as you wish. All that is required from you are some quick decision-making skills and a positive attitude – we’ll help you take care of the rest!
First things first…
With the proposal out of the way, there’s no time to sit on your laurels and ponder what your wedding might look like – I’m afraid if you want to be married within the quarter then you need to get down to business, now!
Alright, you don’t exactly want to treat wedding like a business meeting (that’s hardly romantic now, is it?) but it is incredibly important to sit down together right at the start and set out a realistic budget and a wishful timeline.
You can find plenty of information in our blog section that details the step by step of planning a wedding but, if time is of the essence, then you may have to stride (well, race!) past some stages or skip them altogether.
So, what comes first after “Yes!”?
Get set, GO!
Truth be told, if you are condensing your wedding down to four months, then you need to work four times as hard and as fast. As such, your first job on the list is actually, well, a whole list of first jobs!
The good thing is, you can work on these simultaneously and you’ll see your wedding day plans advance in leaps and bounds within just a few weeks. All that amazing progress will keep you going, believe me!
Venue
You will need something to work towards, so setting a date is the most important thing to focus your attention on.
Coming into your planning at such a speed might mean that some venues are limited on availability but given your desire to make the wedding happen fast then you’ll likely be happy to book a weekday date, which in turn will make it easier to find your wedding space. Saying that, having a last-minute wedding really doesn’t mean you have to settle for the dregs. There are many beautiful venues that are limited to a certain number of weddings per year so may be less occupied, and there’s also the chance to book optimum dates as a result of last-minute cancellations, and at cut down prices!
Venue booked? Tick!
Guest list
As we said previously, you’ve got to be all over your wedding planning right from the off (eat, sleep, plan, repeat) so, in theory, you’ll already have had a guest list in mind when you booked your wedding.
With your venue now in place, you can bear their capacity requirements in mind and finalise your guest list. Close friends and family will do their best but you’ll need to be realistic about whether all your mates will be able to make a wedding at short notice.
Maybe double check that the bride squad and best man are free that day first or else you could find yourself typing on Facebook: Recommendations for Professional Bridesmaids…
Invitations
Of course, with the wedding only a month or two down the line, you will be wanting to get those invitations out pretty sharpish. You may even want to consider going digital for the purpose of speed, to make things easier for our couples we have ready designed wedding stationery to choose from contact the planning department to find out more.
Usually, a deadline is set for RSVPs but in your instance we suggest asking for a response on receipt. Even better, if you can send out a digital wedding invitation that allows guests to email back a quick yes or no for an almost instant confirmation of numbers.
Check, check, check!
Following on from booking your date and inviting your guests, you need to think about feeding, watering and entertaining them! It will feel like everything is coming all at once but stay calm!
Catering and entertainment should be considered at the earliest possible opportunity, caterers will often get booked up quickly, the same being said for excellent entertainers. However, at Warwick House we have it all covered, with our in-house catering and DJ.
When it comes to entertainment, again you might not find a wedding band that has your date free in their diary but there’s no stopping you from looking around for a talented but lesser-known band or group of musicians and invite them to play at your wedding reception! In years to come when they are rich and famous they might thank you for giving them their first professional gig!
Photographer
You don’t necessarily need a professional photographer but it has to be said that you won’t get the same level of quality from photos taken on people’s mobile phones. As good as they are, not even a professional camera in the hands of an amateur will give you that wow factor! Expert photographers are trained to edit the images afterwards using intricate software, making the images look just as magical as the day they were taken on.
Enquire with your venue about wedding photographers on their books. And make use of the power of the online community by asking around for details of photographers – this might just save you enough time to snap up that photographer before he or she gets booked onto their next job!
Party Décor
What’s great about party décor is that you can achieve some the best decorations and displays around in just a short space of time. All you need is imagination and a little (or a lot of) get-go!
You may wish to hire some of the finishing touches on offer at Warwick house, with a comprehensive range found here > https://www.warwickhouse.co.uk/finishing-touches or if you know someone able to create beautiful party décor for you or take on this challenge yourself. Using Pinterest boards, blog posts and your own creativity, you can whip up some truly outstanding centrepieces using nothing but shop-bought items, and all within a strict timeframe. For example, artificial or dried flowers can easily be purchased via Etsy, sometimes already made up into bouquets which are perfect for a little posy, or recycle gin bottles and add flowers, candles or fairy lights. Just check that anything you are ordering is coming from within the UK to reduce the risk of any postage delays.
Now that you’ve got all the basics covered, it’s up to you to add those finishing touches that will make your wedding dream come true. And please, please remember to enjoy every moment of your wedding planning journey as it will all be over so quick!