Planning a wedding can be a whirlwind of excitement — and stress. It’s something you only want to do once, and committing yourself to someone and joining your families is a pretty big deal. You probably want every detail to be perfect. You’re looking at dresses, colors, tasting food, looking for decor, the flowers, the rings, places for wedding receptions… it’s enough to make your head spin, but you don’t have to go it alone. There are plenty of resources for you to use to make sure that you find the best ballroom dancing lessons or the best deals on a photographer. Here are three places and people that you should consult with to make your wedding planning go as smoothly — and remain as stress-free — as possible.
Use the internet
More than 90% of brides use the internet to plan their weddings. Since almost every business has a website these days, using the internet is a good way to compare prices, pay for services, and book dates. Furthermore, chances are you can find some things for your wedding second hand (since who needs to keep 200 glass candlestick holders?). People use the internet to hand off goods that they used at their weddings like linens, napkin rings, centerpieces, and other accessories that they don’t need anymore after their big day is over. This is also a good way to cut costs, since you can probably find things much less expensively secondhand than buying or renting them outright.
Consult family and friends
Another good resource for planning your wedding is asking your family and friends. About half of people planning their wedding get recommendations for wedding professionals through their own family and friends. If you have a family member or friend who has gotten married recently, ask them who they went to for this or that service and ask how their experience was. If it was positive, you can typically trust that you’ll have a good experience as well. If you’re looking for places for wedding receptions outside for example, find people who have used outdoor wedding places and get their take on certain venues.
Ask for recommendations from your vendors
Wedding professionals likely know other people in the business, especially if they are from the same area. Many of them have worked the same weddings, so chances are if they don’t know people personally, they will have at least heard of them through word of mouth. Caterers probably know the best places to have a wedding reception in your area, since they attend so many different weddings.
Planning your wedding should be one of the most fun things you ever do. It should be about you and your future spouse, your families, and having a good time, so to help reduce your stress level, use the internet, your family and friends, and the help of your wedding professionals to find the perfect places for wedding receptions, ways to cut costs (to avoid the average $26,951 price tag of weddings), florists, bakers, and more. Good luck!