When should you start planning your dream wedding? Take it from a wedding planner, start right now. A stress-free wedding is one that comes with a good amount of forethought and adequate planning ( Welcome Pinterest and Excel sheets). But first, you need to know when you should start all the planning and who will assist you in that wedding of your dreams (*Psst, if you want to know why you need a planner in the first place, read our first story here).
So, when does the madness really begin? In my experience, the day your parents meet and fix a date. Sometimes, dates are dependant on availability of venue or choice of destination - so you don’t have dates but know vaguely the month and year, that helps too. So before you start on your wedding planning, here’s what you should know.
Pick the season
Is it going to be a summer wedding or a winter one? And not to forget, wedding season begins in September right after Ganpati celebrations. And winter weddings start from December and go all the way to spring in March. The ideal time to get married is between September - February according to me.
Space it out
A bride who is looking for the perfect time to plan? Look at a gap of around 6-8 months at least while you plan your wedding. A year is even better, your planner will be grateful and you can move things around without a hassle.
Looking for a planner
Always pick someone who meets your taste. Every planner has a good amount of Facebook photos to guide you to that decision. A simple query on FB or a mail can decide who and how much it would cost. Finding a planner should be the first thing you do, the rest will fall in place. And oh, don’t forget to spend enough time with your planner - vague details and ideas that are not expressed won’t help you plan things well. Just talk to the planner, have a wonderful relationship with her all through the planning days - that’s important!
Who should you book first?
Knowing who to book first changes the dynamics completely and your planning as well. A planner will take care of everything but what’s next? The venue. Also, I personally feel that the first people you need to book right after or alongside your venue are the Photographer and your Makeup artist. They get booked out the earliest during peak season. Since nobody wants second best, you need to keep an eye out for these people first. So talk to your planner and get those out of the way ASAP.
Share ideas
Make boards, share images of things you like. It could be simple things or complicated things, showing them to your planner will give her an idea as to how to proceed ahead. Pinterest boards are the best way to go about ideas - it can be a movie, an idea or a dress. Your wedding planner just needs the right inspiration pointed out so she can create a larger canvas for you.
Understand that perfecting a love story takes time
True that. At Devika Narain & Co, we like to start 4-6 months before the wedding so that we can create a beautiful handcrafted experience custom-made for the couple. We have a team of designers, event producers and artists who make sure every detail is handmade and detailed, which takes time, so we strongly recommend confirming our services ahead of time.
