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DIY Wedding Planning Top Tips

Here are our top tips for wedding planning.

Wedding planning is a unique process and it can feel overwhelming. The wedding industry can somewhat thrive from your confusion but this doesn’t have to be the case.

Below are some of our top tips and considerations to put you firmly in the driving seat when wedding planning.

Where to start when wedding planning

Nowadays weddings are a big blank canvas you can personalise totally to you. This gives you a lot of freedom and creative scope. It can also make it feel overwhelming.

So the first step is to think about what you do and don’t like. This holds true with anything you are planning. Sit down, think about it and then get it down on paper.

Think about what has and hasn’t worked at weddings you’ve been to previously. Whilst it can feel a little mean or critical no one wants to experience the same mistakes. Especially with how much a wedding costs!

Here are some examples I have thought at from weddings I’ve been to before.

Things that have worked well at weddings

• Memorable food-one wedding I attended had beautiful choux swans as dessert.
• Sit-down lunches with waiter service
• Lunch buffets
• Having two different reception rooms
• Memorable wedding favours over throwaway plastic 
• Themed decorations
• Nice grounds with space
• Memory walls and photo timelines

Things that haven’t worked at weddings

• Being rushed at registry offices
• having to self-serve lunch with an overly full table
• Too much wine with lunch
• Too many decorations on the table-that centrepiece needs to be seen over
• Feeling squashed
• Boring food
• Boring day
• Long waits when hungry
• No waiting areas and no comfy chairs
• No soft drinks tea or coffee
• Fake moments for photography
• Standing and waiting for ages whilst others take photos
• Long outside waits outside locked marquees
• Ugly venues

Top tips for Wedding planning-how to help your DIY wedding be the best!

Wedding Planning

• Get yourself a notebook or similar. As well as a box file. Keep everything neat and together. All business cards, receipts etc from the beginning.
• Consider a wedding weekend. This way you can split the events down and hopefully feel less rushed.
• You don’t have to do multiple themed events to make it a wedding weekend either. (But you can!)
• Have a good key team around you. these may be friends rather than family. 
• If you are decorating the venue yourself it is idea to have a messy area/storage space. A space where stuff can be quickly hidden. 
• Get a small team together a day early to help-the right people will love being included in this.
• If you are considering a wedding registry, add a memory box to keep your post-wedding keepsakes safe.

Venue

When picking a venue it is important to pick the right venue for the event you want

If you want to host a very classic wedding then a hotel venue may be the right choice for you

But if you want to host a marquee wedding or a wedding with a lot of creative freedom then a venue like our own Bridge Meadows may be the right one for you.

Wedding planning, An element of fun

An element of fun is always a hit at events like weddings. Below are some examples of fun things you could include.

• A theme to the wedding
• Candy floss or another fun food vendor
• Photobooth
• Sweetie bar, a selection of pick and mix sweets.
• Unusual food options in towers such as a doughnut tower or cheese tower
• Uv dance floor with glow sticks
• Photo timeline
• Outside (and inside games)
• “His and her” food/drink options, each person from the couple picks a favourite cake flavour/cocktail etc

@anothermagictshirt

fun things to have at a wedding…a UV dance floor. #funthingsatWeddings #Weddingplanning #weddingideas #weddingtok

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Ceremony

• Consider a celebrant ceremony. These can be super personalised and much more interesting to watch
• Rice looks super pretty for confetti but it can hurt when people throw it incorrectly
• Consider a seating plan for the ceremony, at least just for key people
• Take more group shots post-ceremony. It’s seen as old fashioned now but we totally ran out of time during the day to rely on candid shots. I wish we had taken more group photos at our wedding!

Reception

• Have a box of travel-size toiletries and bathroom items
• Remember to balance a quiet seating area away from loud music or activities
• When creating your seating plan make sure to give a physical copy to whoever will be putting the name tags out in advance.
• A fun first dance song makes the process of people staring at you dance less intimidating!

Decorations

• Always buy more batteries then you think you will need.
• Same goes again for lining clips if decorating a marquee
• Always plan to put something in the middle of tables
• But don’t go too big with centrepieces. Guests need to be able to see each other and not feel cramped.
• Go big on lights, fairy lights, lanterns on shepherds crooks etc. Lighting is important inside and out.
• For even more tips on Decorations be sure to check out this post here.

Food and drink

• If self catering pick food that can be made in advance and frozen
• Unless your guests are big drinkers I wouldn’t recommend a bar service. 
• Whilst a food van makes for a memorable experience a more affordable option could be something like a Candyfloss vendor.
• Try a cheesecake, a stack of wheeled cheeses. But stay away from those covered in wax.
• Instead of a hot meal consider an afternoon tea or ploughman’s.
• Or even a brunch-style meal
• A styrofoam cake makes for a great wedding cake alternative. Served along sheet cakes, in “his and her” flavours or even just to add layers to an iced wedding cake.
• Sheet cakes work well for easy serving. Consider “His and Her” flavours
• Cookies and doughnuts go down well. Try Millies Cookies or Donut Worry Be Happy which has some great vegan options.
• For sweet foods marshmallows and macarons also seem to go down well at events.
• His and Her cocktails are also a great idea. Just make sure you pick something you truly likely as guests may well remember for future gifts!

@anothermagictshirt

next best food for weddings #Doughnuts #weddingtok #bridaltok #wedding #weddingfood

♬ original sound – anothermagictshirt

On the day

• Try to not let people rush you. This is so difficult!
• Ask a guest (or two) to take photos of the decorations and all the little details. This is particularly important if you made decorations yourself. Even if you hope a photographer will do this a guest or two extra will hopefully help you capture every minute. Photos can always be deleted but you can’t go back in time.
• Remember to circulate, the day goes so fast.

Wedding Weekend

If you decide to plan a wedding weekend here are some specific key tips and considerations

• How can you split your budget?
• Would you rather do multiple events with less people? Or less events with more?
• Think about what venue or venues you could use
• Tailor your guest list for each event
• Which guests will have to travel the furthest? Consider this too.
• A common set of events could be an evening dinner followed by a wedding day and then a final brunch
• Every event doesn’t have to have a separate theme. But it can do.