First time

First of all, congrats! Wedding planning can be intimidating, but if you make it a point to have FUN, you'll end up being a lot less stressed.

The first thing you'll want to do is set a time of year and budget. Once you have those two things in place, then get to researching venues, making your guest list and doing all the big stuff. It does seem like a lot, but the timelines, resources and people here are SUPER helpful!

And don't stress about anything being perfect - true story: nothing ever will be! All you can do is shoot for what you want, and remember that no matter if everything goes right or if everything goes wrong - as long as you all sign the right paperwork at the end of the day, you're married. And that's all that matters

I agree: your wedding is not going to be perfect. No one's wedding is. If you can let go of that idea early on, you have a much better chance of enjoying a wedding that is fun but not perfect.

As for planning, what you need first is:

* Budget;

* Guest list; and

* Style of wedding (e.g., jazz brunch versus Saturday night dinner and dancing).

Then you try to coordinate those three. For example, if your budget isn't enough for Saturday night dinner and dancing with the number of people you want to invite, you could:

* Take a second job or delay your wedding in order to have a bigger budget;

* Reduce the number of guests; or

* Change to a breakfast or afternoon cake and punch wedding.

When you've got these three lined up, you are ready to proceed to the next step. Typically, that's the venue(s). But you can find all sorts of checklists online that take you through the steps. The only thing to remember about those checklists is that you shouldn't assume that you need everything on them. For example, if it says that you should arrange for the limo at a certain time, that doesn't mean you actually need a limo. Even the dress is strictly optional; you can get married in something other than a wedding dress, even an outfit you already own.

Welcome to the WeddingWire community, Ariel!

Congratulations on your engagement

It’s totally normal to feel lost wedding planning, especially at the beginning. Most members of the community are planning a wedding for the first time. You’re totally not alone!

A great place to start and a super helpful wedding planning tool is the WeddingWire checklist!

Tell the tool a little bit about your wedding and it will create customizable tasks for every stage of your planning journey. You can remove any tasks you’re not planning on including in your wedding, and add more you would like to do. Check it out, I think you and your FS will find it really helpful

WeddingWire also have an entire wedding ideas section packed with helpful articles full of tips, ideas, and etiquette to guide you through your planning

It also has a lot of advice on planning on a budget, here are some interesting articles to get you started -

How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget

Wedding Budget Breakdown 101: How to Divide & Conquer

Setting Up Your Wedding Budget

Have you and your FS decided on September 13, 2020 for the wedding?