When you’re planning a wedding, it can feel like there’s a million things to juggle. You’ve got to meet with caterers, find a dress, pick theme colors, send out invitations, choose a photographer, figure out a seating chart...and on, and on, and on until you feel like your head is going to explode.
Luckily, a few of our favorite wedding planners have tips on how to make your life easier (and how to make the process more enjoyable). We caught up with some of the industry’s best to hear their insider tricks to creating your dream wedding in a snap.
Contributors
Laura Ritchie
Grit & Grace
Blake Bush
Pure Luxe Bride
Nora Sheils
Bridal Bliss
Allison Barnes
Allison Barnes Events
WEDDING STATIONERY
1. Create a guest list
“Gather addresses on day one. The guest list truly is the key to your budget, what type of venue you can be in, and it trickles on down from there. Start with your holiday card list and go from there.” – Laura Ritchie, Grit & Grace
2. Make it your own
“We really like adding personal touches to the invitation suite to make it more custom to the bride and groom and their design. For example, tying the suite with a pretty dupioni or silk ribbon and handwritten calligraphy for the addressing elevates the whole look!” – Blake Bush, Pure Luxe Bride
3. Save yourself some time
“Free guest address printing is easily our favorite Minted service! This is a huge time saver for our clients and such an added bonus. The designs for Save the Dates and Invitations are always cute and trendy, but what really seals the deal is the guest address printing. When you order arrives you only have to worry about stamping, sealing and mailing. The hard work has been done!” - Nora Sheils, Bridal Bliss
4. Experiment with different themes
“We love using Minted for save the dates and websites. It’s a great introduction into the entire wedding suite process and Minted makes it so easy to start a theme and create a jumping off point from there.” – Laura Ritchie, Grit & Grace
WEDDING DAY DISPLAYS
5. Design an escort card display
“Styling any escort card table or wall with flowers and trinkets can really go a long ways. Some of our favorites have included building custom walls in the couples color or theme. Sometimes we have incorporated colored envelopes or design elements to give it an extra pop. [One of our] brides was a horticulturist and wanted to bring in a personal touch to the escort cards, [so] we used some vintage furniture and flower seed packets.” - Nora Sheils, Bridal Bliss
6. Think of creative props
“[We love] using different accessories to display the place cards, rather than just using a tent card that sits on the table. [At] a previous wedding, we a used Ferrero Rocher as a place card holder.” – Blake Bush, Pure Luxe Bride
7. Make conversation pieces
“Bring the theme full circle [with] show-stopping, out-of-the-box ideas that create a talking point during cocktail hour.” – Laura Ritchie, Grit & Grace
8. Use them again & again
“I always recommend to clients who purchase table numbers to hold onto them. They can use them in monthly/yearly photos if they have a child (the month by month pics that everyone loves to post the first year of growth!) or to celebrate anniversaries. It's a great way to re-purpose a wedding day keepsake!” - Allison Barnes, Allison Barnes Events
ON YOUR WEDDING DAY
9. Trust the pros
“On your wedding day, it’s important to be present. The day will fly by in a blink, so take the time to really be with your family and friends, in addition to enjoying the hard work you put into planning. Just remember that you have hired carefully selected wedding professionals, so sit back and know they are looking after all the details." - Nora Sheils, Bridal Bliss
10. Enjoy yourself!
“Don't get caught up in the small stuff! If at the end of the day you are married to the one you love, then everything went perfectly.” – Blake Bush, Pure Luxe Bride
