Planning your big day the wedding planner way

We can’t think of a better way to delve into the world of wedding planning than hearing from a wedding planner themselves – can you?

We can’t think of a better way to delve into the world of wedding planning than hearing from a wedding planner themselves – can you? We spoke with Twelv Events Alliance wedding planner Tracy Binnie on how she handled planning her own wedding and her tips for couples in the planning stage…

“Being a wedding planner gave me a head start on planning our own wedding… But it didn’t stop me from overthinking! So if you’re an overthinking bride or groom, you’re not alone. If I’d allowed myself to, I could’ve worried about whether or not our guests were enjoying themselves, whether I’d be able to walk in my shoes and whether everything might not go as it should… But I didn’t.

From experience, I knew worrying about things that might not happen can set you up to loathe planning your day. So, I tried to watch what I thought about and advise my couples to do the same. Planning a wedding can be so stressful, especially if pressures are being added that don’t need to be. Here are my top tips for avoiding that!

Schedule time outs

We always took time away from planning our wedding and went on date nights or had days when we weren’t allowed to talk about the wedding – it was refreshing to have a break from it all.

Set a realistic budget

This can be difficult until you start speaking with suppliers but do have a figure in mind that you don’t want to exceed. . Right at the beginning of planning we sat down and talked about our priorities, which meant we could split our budget in such a way that the spending reflected what matters most to us. Another top tip here – remember guest list numbers may affect where you hold your wedding and obviously affect the cost, so think about numbers early on.

Go with your gut

I often advise couples that once they’ve decided on something they should stay away from looking at any more options for that part of their wedding. If you continue looking, you’ll start doubting your choices.

Find your people

For me, a successful wedding is one where the venue and all suppliers are aligned and work beautifully together. Surround yourselves with suppliers you feel a connection with as you’ll find it easier to work with them.

Do your homework

Make sure you’ve read and understood all contracts and communication with each supplier – that way you’ll know what’s included in the cost, what’s not and any other important details. If in doubt, always ask!

Soak it up

A wedding day flies by, try your best to take a moment just breathe and take in everything. Find the time to be alone, just you as a couple.

Prepare for the worst but expect the best

Even with the best planning in the world there may be some unforeseen thing that goes wrong. If you prepare for this, it’ll be easier to deal with anything that does crop up. For those things that you can, have a contingency plan worked out beforehand. And if you’re not having a planner on the day, have a dependable friend or family member oversee everything. Make them that trusted person who’ll check in with suppliers before the wedding and deal with any issues on the day.

You do you two!

Lastly, my biggest advice would be to ‘do you,’ whatever that may be. This is your wedding so don’t feel pushed into doing or having things that you don’t want to. Relax and enjoy