Are you planning your wedding? Well, congratulations! In this article I share some of the most common wedding planning mistakes engaged couple and brides-to-be make and how to avoid them. So if you’re planning your wedding or know someone who is getting wed soon, grab a cuppa and dive in!

1. Booking A Venue Before Hiring Your Planner.

Venue selection is definitely the starting point, but if you are looking to work with a wedding planner, involving them first can be a lifesaver. An experienced wedding planner can assess the venue for logistical and design needs that you may not have thought of or considered. Planners are much more familiar with the capacity of a venue, the layout, time and logistics you’ll need to really transform it.

2. Booking A Venue Before Deciding On The Type & Size Of Your Wedding.

This might seem obvious, but it is important to seek out venues that fit the aesthetic you have in mind. If you’re planning a dreamy yet modern wedding, consider an upscale hotel ballroom or well-designed restaurant spaces. On the flip side, if you’re planning a rustic wedding with lots of natural earthy tones, consider outdoor venues or garden spaces with lots of trees or beautiful wooden elements.

3. Not Securing Your Favourite Vendors On Time.

You have probably heard this phrase: until a deposit is dropped we’re just hypothetically speaking. As a wedding planner, I cannot begin to tell you how many times brides have lost out on their favourite vendors because they did not secure their booking on time. Most vendors will only schedule your wedding date on their calendar, after they have received a deposit. So the minute you are certain you’re using a particular vendor, sign a contract and pay a deposit to secure your booking.

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

Maya Angelou

4. Not Properly Researching Vendors.

Social media can be very deceptive, so hopefully you have a wedding planner who will advice you on which vendors to bag and which to steer clear of. As a wedding planner, I am careful to only recommend well-researched, tried and tested vendors I know I can trust to do an incredible job. You don’t only want someone who can simply do the job, but someone who also brings the right kind of energy to your wedding day. Vendors like make-up artistes, hairstylists, photographers, videographers are in your personal space for hours on your wedding day. So you need to ensure that you LIKE these people, read the contracts, and ask questions where you’re uncertain.

5. Choosing The Cheapest Vendors.

If there’s anything I have learned over time as a wedding planner, it is this: the cheapest option will often cost you a lot more in the end. The one thing I’ll never do, is tell a client or bride-to-be to go for the cheapest vendor on the list just because they’re the cheapest. We all love a bargain, but when selecting vendors for an important event like your wedding, choose well researched vendors who come highly recommended. Speak to your wedding planner, listen to her recommendations, and then make a decision.

6. Expecting Discounts From FRIEND-ors.

It is great to have friends and family who are in the wedding industry and are good at what they do. But expecting that because you’re friends with a vendor, they’ll throw in tons of freebies and huge discounts will leave you disappointed or resentful. If they offer you a discount because of your friendship, that’s awesome. But please don’t ruin your friendship by forcing them to offer their services for free. It is disrespectful to ask someone to do for free what they do for a living. And frankly, you don’t want someone working on your wedding who does not genuinely want to be there.

7. Micromanaging Your Wedding Planner & Vendors.

Choose professionals who are not only truly passionate about what they do, but are also experienced and can think on their feet. Book people you like and trust, sign a good contract and allow them do what they do best. When you’re clear about what you want, and offer your vendors creative room to do their work, it produces a much better end result for everyone involved.

I hope you found value in this. If you did, please share it with someone who needs to see it too.

Have a brilliant week ahead and stay topped up!

Your Event Planning BFF,

Gloria.