Morgan Elizabeth Weddings Now that you’re engaged, things can initially feel very overwhelming. Take some time to enjoy your engagement! This is a special time in your life, and you want to keep the “engagement high” going!
When you are ready to begin planning, starting off right by getting organized will help prevent you from feeling overwhelmed again and again. After all there’s tons of items on your to do list and you want to create the most special day possible.
Pinterest is a Bride’s Best Friend
First off, we want to say Pinterest is your new best friend…aside from your wedding planner (and hopefully that’s our team for you local brides). Use Pinterest for searching ideas and create a wedding board….or multiple boards. If you want your wedding to be a surprise to everyone, we suggest you go to your board setting and set it to private. This way your friends and family members on Pinterest can’t see what you have in store for them on your big day! It’s important to keep in mind a lot of the photos on Pinterest might not be from actual weddings. Vendors and venues have tons of mock up table settings, decor, and ceremony displays created for photography. That said, the ideas aren’t completely out of the question, but keep in mind your budget or ask your vendors (such as your florist) how to make your dreams an affordable reality!
Excel Budget Tracker
If you choose to not hire a Wedding Planner, please start an Excel file to manage your budget. Wedding spending can get out of hand quickly and easily. You should discuss your budget with your partner and any one who is contributing towards the costs of your wedding. Every time you purchase something or make a vendor payment, log it on your tracker. You can make a column for what the cost will be, how much has been paid, and the remaining balance owed. Have a comment column to document when payments are due so you aren’t blindsided when multiple payments are due at the same time. We do not suggest you go into debt for your wedding. Let us say that again: We do not suggest you go into debt for your wedding. Budget accordingly and spend within your means. Beginning your marriage in debt can be stressful and put a damper on your newlywed’s phase.
Create a Wedding Email Address
Once you are engaged and ready to start your wedding planning, create a new email address for you and your fiancé to use. Ashley and her fiancé, Stephen, used their hashtag as their email address and set up a free account through Gmail. This will allow both of you to see emails with vendors, setting up registries, receiving RVSPs, etc. Be sure you both have the email set up to your smartphone. Quick tip – if you both use the email on your phone, once an email has been opened, it will not show as new for the other person. You will have to mark the email as unread for it to appear as a new email for both of you.
Guest List
Begin establishing your wedding guest list. This might take a couple attempts to make sure you don’t miss anyone important so don’t rush through it. We have a great guest list template you can download for FREE here. It allows you to manage all your guest addresses in one spot, track RVSPs, food preferences, gifts, and whether you sent stationary. You can even use our guest list template for your bridal shower.
Wedding Planner
Each wedding planner book available for purchase provides a different perspective, but will have similar content. There will be monthly checklists, contact sheets, budget tracking (if you prefer to write it down). We haven’t found a one stop shop when it comes to wedding planner books…but there are a handful of options on Amazon. *SPOILER* We are working on releasing a Morgan Elizabeth Wedding Planner to help solve this problem. To get on the list to hear about it first when it’s available, provide your information here.
Hire a Wedding Planner
Hey that’s where we come in and help you out. We have multiple packages designed to help every type of bride. If you want more control over your wedding planning, we have a Bridal Kickoff Package with all the tools and one on one consultations with our team to help reduce the stress of planning. If you want someone more involved, we have a full Wedding Planning package, where we’re there from start to finish to bring your vision to life on your wedding day. Check out our Services tab to find the right package for you or even inquire about bundling multiple packages for more savings. We can’t wait to hear from you and can’t wait for your big day!
