I know everyone is at home at the moment but if you recently got engaged or especially just before the pandemic and subsequent lockdown hit or even after, (many congratulations! I can certainly understand, life is too precious, to wait!) no doubt you are keen to start your wedding planning but like most of us feel a bit restricted with the lockdown, or you had been planning your wedding but your plans had gone into a bit of a tailspin due to the pandemic, here are 10 wedding planning tasks you can do with your beloved whilst on lockdown:
Decide on location
If you haven’t already, decide on where to get married. I often advise my couples to decide this early as it sets the tone for the rest of your wedding planning. Do you want to get married at home; in the city where you live or somewhere in the country? Or is the call of a destination abroad (when we can travel again) far more appealing? Destinations like here in the UK, Italy, France, Spain etc are all great choices for wedding weekends or multi-day wedding celebrations so decide early on and start to make your plans based on where you’ve decided.
Decide on your wedding style
This is your opportunity to dream and forget about being in quarantine (at least for a while!) Let your minds soar as you imagine the style of wedding you want, how you want your guests to feel throughout the duration of your wedding celebrations and the kind of ambience you want to create for your guests for each day / aspect of your wedding celebrations. I often help my couples decide this when at the early stages of their wedding planning as together with the location it sets the tone for the whole wedding. If you’re stuck for ideas, have a look at how to determine your wedding style to help you.
Draw up your guest list
Ah…this is such an important one! and takes a good amount of time to get right (usually after multiple iterations!) Who can afford to come with you. Who can attend? If you have relatives that have been affected by the virus, bear in mind that contrary to popular view, they might decide to come out to celebrate with you as something different and joyous to look forward to once the pandemic is over or, on the other hand they might not be in the mood at all. You just need to be sensitive to this when drawing up your guest list.
Research wedding planners
We all know that whilst we may have some extra time on our hands now, once the lock down is over, we will be scrambling around for time to get back to our normal lives and most likely won’t have the time for wedding planning with work demands and conflicting schedules, so now is a good time to research wedding planners to find the best fit for you who will help you to bring your dreams to life. I’m always happy to help so do reach out to me.
Research your venues
Thankfully, google is a treasure trove of information. So start researching your venues whether you’re getting married at home or at a destination abroad. This is a service I provide for my clients as part of my wedding planning and design service as google overwhelm is real!. Most venues now have online videos and 3D walkthroughs that will give you a good sense of what they are like so be sure to check out those and see if they meet your requirements. Have a look at how to find your dream wedding venues to help you with questions to ask your venues as you search.
Review options for livestream with your selected venues
Following the above point, if you have had to postpone your wedding, then it’s a good idea to check with your already booked venue(s) on whether they have live stream options that you could potentially use for guests who are unable to attend physically as a result of the after effects of the pandemic.
Review contracts and proposals
I work with my clients and check the fine print for any of the bookings I secure on their behalf. With covid affecting many suppliers and businesses, supplier contracts have been rewritten so going through them to ensure that it is favourable to both parties is certainly an art that I undertake for my clients. Review contracts and proposals from the suppliers you have booked or about to book so you understand what is contained therein and have an idea of what you have signed up to.
Plan your seating
Plan how and where you would seat your guests. If you have booked your reception venues, ask them for a floor plan of the layout of the room (some have it as a 3d animated video) in whatever format it comes, get a copy and use it to plan your seating. I usually like to see the seating plan on a visual tool like visio as it helps when assigning or swapping guests around. Who will seat next to whom and at what table? Do you want to mix up your guests or can certain groups sit together? Now is the time to decide all that.
Choose your wedding songs
It’s a great time to choose your wedding songs. Make your music selections for each aspect of your wedding celebration. Ensure they are consistent and can maintain a nice flow throughout each aspect / day of your wedding celebration. It all helps to give your guests such a great experience at your wedding.
So maybe for your ceremony you want classical music, during the cocktail hour you want a live band or a mix of classical and pop and then for your reception the music for the various acts; entrance, music during dinner, music for dancing etc. You can discuss this with the entertainment specialist you have already booked but having a starting point will help them out a lot.
Create your gift registry
You can set set up your gift registry with the companies that you are aligned with. Thankfully, most places have an online presence so you can set up your accounts online and make your selections whilst on lockdown.
Get inspired
Now is the time to put to good use all those travel and interior design magazines you’ve been collecting but never had time to read to good use. Cut out inspirations that speak to you, things that appeal to you from the images and style you see and start to put a moodboard together that tells the story of your own unique wedding design.
Notice that I didn’t say go to Pinterest or wedding blogs, whilst they can be great sources of inspiration, I much prefer you to draw inspiration from your life, lifestyle choices and the things that matter / appeal to to you as that will ensure that once lockdown is over, we can design a wedding that authentically represents you.
So, you see, given your other responsibilities, there are wedding planning tasks to be getting on with which I hope will keep you busy through this lockdown and give you something positive and uplifting to focus on.
If you need help postponing or rearranging your wedding as a result of this pandemic, then have a look at how to postpone your wedding as a result of the pandemic or see my personal musings on the pandemic called the art of slow living.
Cynthia x