10 Tips For Streamlining Your Wedding Planning

October 01, 2024
bride, Wedding Trends, Weddings

Recently engaged? Congratulations! Now, the real fun starts: the wedding planning. Unless you’re one of those rare people with a knack for organization and time management (or prior experience in the wedding industry), you may not know where to start.

We won’t lie to you—planning a wedding can be A LOT.

Between touring and choosing a venue and coordinating wedding vendors to ironing out wedding party details and picking a dress, there’s just so much you’ve got to figure out (all while keeping up with your regular daily tasks and responsibilities).

Hence, the need for an efficient, streamlined approach!

You’re not in this alone. Follow the 10 steps below to transform wedding planning chaos and stress into a genuinely enjoyable experience.

1. Establish a Realistic Budget

The very first thing you need to do? Set a clear, hard-and-fast budget.

The more honest you are with yourself about your financial capabilities at the very beginning, the fewer disappointments you’ll experience later in the game.

When deciding on a budget, take time to research the typical costs for different wedding elements. Costs can differ considerably, depending on your chosen season, day of the week, and geographic location.

2. Keep Detailed Records of Your Expenses

A predetermined budget won’t do you any good unless you actively monitor your wedding expenses. Every time you purchase something for your wedding, record the expense in a spreadsheet, physical notebook, or a digital budgeting tool.

Some of our favorite FREE budgeting tools include:

As you’re closely watching your budget, be mindful of hidden costs and fees associated with certain vendor agreements.

3. Identify Your Priorities

It’s important that you get on the same page with your partner about your wedding priorities early on. We recommend creating two lists:

A “must-have” list
A “nice-to-have” list

Although some of your lower-priority items might be more flashy and exciting, avoid the temptation to plan out those details before you’ve secured all the essentials. Only once you have checked off every box on the “must-have” list should you start eating away at your “nice-to-have” list.

4. Ask Your Venue About the Wedding Planning Process BEFORE Signing

All wedding venues handle the wedding planning process differently. Some may assign you a dedicated on-staff wedding coordinator. Others might require you to work with a wedding planner or day-of coordinator (of your own choosing).

As you’re selecting your venue, try to find one that has a well-established planning process. This will save you lots of time and headaches down the road.

Better yet, some venues will provide a comprehensive list of local vendors, cutting out a major time-intensive component of planning a wedding. While you don’t want to go with a venue that removes ALL of your vendor freedom, you’ll appreciate a little bit of help narrowing down the expansive list of local vendors to a handful of vetted options.

A couple holding hands in the Spruce Mountain Ranch Ponderosa Courtyard

5. Understand Venue Rules & Regulations Before You Dive Too Deep

Once you’ve decided on a venue, become familiar with the venue’s policies on vendors, decorations, guest capacities, the day-of timeline, and other critical details. You can generally get this information from the venue website or your venue representative or coordinator. If your wedding venue has an FAQs page on its website, that’s also a great place to check for any relevant information and restrictions.

Having a strong grasp of your venue limitations BEFORE coordinating with vendors and planning other event details will help minimize misunderstandings and wasted time.

6. Give Yourself Achievable Deadlines

Smart time management is the key to stress-free wedding planning! Don’t attempt to do everything all at once. Instead, tackle one thing at a time, beginning with the most important, time-sensitive tasks. (This is where your priority lists come into play.)

Create a wedding planning timeline, setting clear deadlines for major decisions.

Your timeline should begin with high-priority aspects like your guest list and venue, followed by vendor selection, invitations, dress shopping, and other important details.

7. Block Out Regular Weekly Planning Time

The easiest way to stay on schedule and keep up with your wedding planning timeline is to dedicate time every week to tackling a bite-sized portion of the work. Not only will this ensure you don’t fall behind your deadline, but it will protect you from getting overwhelmed or burnt out too quickly.

8. Schedule Vendor Meetings Strategically

Many couples like to set aside a specific day (or series of days) to dedicate entirely to vendor meetings. This is especially useful if you live far away from your chosen venue.

If it’s not possible to coordinate with all of your vendors on a single day, do your best to schedule vendor meetings early on in the planning process. That way, you’re not scrambling at the last minute to get everyone on the same page.

9. Work With a Wedding Planner

If your budget permits, we strongly suggest hiring a wedding planner (or at least a day-of coordinator) to help you iron out the details of your big day.

There are several compelling reasons behind this recommendation:

By handling the most time-consuming tasks, a wedding planner frees you to ENJOY the planning process.
Wedding planners simply have more time to manage all the logistics.
With years of industry experience, they can anticipate and prevent potential issues, removing some of the pressure on you and your partner.
Planners often have established vendor relationships, resulting in better deals and reliable quality assurance.

10. Download the FREE Spruce Mountain Events App

Spruce Mountain Ranch offers a unique wedding planning resource. Couples can download the Spruce Mountain Events app at no additional cost, giving them access to a wide range of useful information and resources, including a 360° virtual tour of the venue, photo gallery, welcome packet, and much more.

Screenshot of the free Spruce Mountain Events mobile app

Planning a Wedding at Spruce Mountain Ranch?

Our free app is just one of the many ways we go above and beyond to ensure Spruce Mountain Ranch couples and visitors have a positive, seamless experience leading up to their big day. Ask your dedicated Spruce Mountain Representative how else we can aid with the wedding planning process.

And don’t forget to follow our social media pages for wedding inspiration:

Read more: