Wedding planner turn bride

Start with your budget first before anything else. That will determine how many guests and the type of venue. You'll need to figure out how much of the budget will go to food/drinks, dress, floral etc. I would shy away from starting with the small stuff, because you may waste time and money since you don't have the other things in place yet.

Congrats and happy planning!

First: sit down with fiancé and make a list of 3-5 priorities and cut the rest. Typically couples focus on photography for memories and the guest experience: good food, free drinks, great dj.


Second: decide your guest list. You can’t do anything else until that point. Make a list of those people who you cannot imagine the day without. Never ever invite anyone out of obligation to please others whom you don’t want to host. Parents/in laws/siblings/whomever can host them at another time at a family reunion picnic. Better yet, start a tradition of a family reunion picnic so that your wedding is not the only time relatives get together. Make a second list of those who are not on the first list, anyone who would be invited out of obligation or who would be nice to host but not mandatory: these get announcements only after the wedding.
Third: decide how much you can and are willing to spend without asking anyone else for assistance. The minute you ask or accept money from others, it is no longer your wedding. Parents and grandparents come from generations where their parents planned their weddings and the couple was allowed zero input. That is why many parents see it as customary to continue that tradition. If you don’t put a stop to it before the wedding, they will dictate the rest of your lives: where you work, where you live, how your children are raised, where and how you spend holidays and the list goes on. Set and maintain boundaries as a united front with fiancé to get practice in for down the road.

After you have those set in stone, you can start looking for venues.

I think most vendors won't be booking yet for 2024. However, you can start by estimating your budget and drafting a guest list (but that is likely to change, I'm having a 2.5-year engagement and our guest list looks quite different than it did when we first started planning). Don't do anything like sending save-the-dates until a year out or less, once you've actually signed for a venue. Don't ask anyone to be your bridesmaids until 6 months out; your current BFFs may not still be in touch two years from now.

View Quoted Comment

Thank you so much for the advice ! We started with the budget and planning process !