We’ve all heard it: the early bird catches the worm. Well, the same principle is true in wedding planning. Kinda. Not planning early so much, but rather planning ahead. What’s the difference, you ask? Planning ahead is all the small steps you can make in the beginning of your planning process that will save your time, money and sanity down the road. Check it:

Figure out a social media plan. No – that’s not the same as a marketing plan or anything quite as involved. It simply means decide how much you plan on sharing, who you’ll be sharing it with, and why. For example: If everyone at work follows you on social media, but none of them will be invited to the wedding, perhaps keeping wedding posts to a minimum will help you avoid awkward conversations down the line. Things on social media are hard to un-see, keep that in mind.

Setting family + friend boundaries early makes the wedding go ‘round. We’ll have a whole slew of posts dedicated to the inevitable family + friend issues that arise during wedding planning, but we’ll begin with saying that deciding how involved your loved ones will be from the start will be super helpful. It can help avoid arguments with your partner, and headaches for yourself when people feel disappointed down the line. While you’re at it, have a talk with your partner about your own wedding planning boundaries. It can be easy to get caught up in planning, and let it bleed into all aspects of your life. It’s kind of a part-time job, with tasks and meetings and decisions to be made. If you’d rather designate certain days or a specific amount of time per day or week to spend on it, talk it over now.

Make a wedding-specific email account. You can thank me later, when you’re not bombarded with wedding-related emails 5 years into your marriage. Share your actual email (and the one you plan on having after you’re married if your name is changing, etc.) with your planner and photographer however, so you’re sure to get all the follow up emails.

Get a joint checking account for wedding expenditures. If you don’t have one already, this will be a great starter that can transition to your main joint checking after the wedding. If you already have one, think about getting a separate account just for wedding needs, as it will be so much easier to track money coming in and going out from one dedicated pot.

Here’s our case for why everyone needs a planner. Not that super organized friend or cousin you have, and not your mother – an actual professional who does this for a living. Even if it’s just a day-of or month-of coordinator, you need someone who has done this a few times to run the show so everything runs smoothly. A good planner will save you more money than you pay them, I promise. Whether through vendor partnerships, knowledge of your local market or just trial and error – they know where the bucks are to be saved. You’re (hopefully) only getting married this one time – don’t try to figure it all out on your own. That’s like trying to make a cake with no recipe: I’m sure with a few tries you could get it right, but you’ll definitely burn one and another will taste terrible on your learning curve, and you only get once chance for your wedding day. Better to hire a baker (or a planner in this case), that does it all the time. And be sure to get the skinny on what exactly that venue coordinator does – Lauren from Every Last Detail has a great blog post on the difference HERE.

((The single best on-site photo ever taken of me. Thanks Dee!))

So there you have it – our best advice on little things you can do right now to make your wedding planning journey that much easier down the line. Brides, any other great advice? Comment and let us know below!

 

Credits // Bridal Party Photo + Couple Photo: Brian Mosoff Photo. Margaux On-Site Photo: Shutterdee Photography.

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