How To Start Planning

You don’t have a date until you have a venue, so the first thing I would do would be to figure out a comfortable budget, approximate guest list so you know what size venue you need, and start looking at venues.

Before you can do anything else, you need to sit down with your fiancé and get 3 major components squared away and set in stone: your budget of what you are willing and able to spend without assistance, your must have guest list (parents can host their friends and relatives that you are not close to at another time) and your vision where you pick 3-5 areas to focus your money and attention on and cut out the rest you don’t care about. Most couples focus on the guest experience (good food, free drinks and great dj) and memories (great photos and video).


When you get that figured out, then you can look at venues on Eventective.com or Yelp. You don’t have a date until the venue is booked. Many caterers are not contracted with a venue so they will have independent services and offer tastings beforehand so that you can see if you like the food before you sign a contract with them.

Echoing what PP said... the first thing you need to do is decide on a budget and a guest list. That will determine how big your venue needs to be and how much you can spend on it. Next, I would determine your overall vision/vibe of your wedding (ie, modern, rustic, boho, dark/moody, etc.), then research venues in the area that will accommodate your vision. You can start reaching out to venues at that time to schedule tours. I wouldn't purchase/plan anything else until you have your venue set in stone (ie, deposit paid and contract signed). Once that's done, you can move onto choosing the rest of your vendors.

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We have decided on a venue and made the guest list

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You need to for sure have the venue booked before you have the date, so if you're sure of your budget and all of the variables, then do that.

The first thing we did was look for a venue, because that determines your definite date and controls a lot of things. The other thing I did early was shop for my dress, since that can require a lot of lead time for getting it in and having alterations.