wedding bride and groom surprising guests with balloons

7 Solid Tips for Organizing Your Wedding Planning

We’re not going to lie to you: planning a Chicago wedding reception comes with a long wedding planning checklist. If you want to stay on top of it, you have to get organized. These tips can help you organize all your vendors and deadlines—and even help you enjoy the process.

Talk with your fiancé before diving into wedding planning.

Knowing what you both want can make wedding planning smoother and a bit more effortless. This doesn’t mean you have to lock in every wedding detail before you start, but it does mean knowing what each of you want on your big day.

Before you start wedding planning, sit down together and ask where you want to get married, if you want a big or small wedding, what your style is, and what you both want on your big day. This is also an ideal time to set a wedding budget and discuss your finances.

Make a system.

If you want to keep track of deadlines and your checklist tasks, come up with a foolproof system at the beginning of planning your Chicago wedding reception. Your system can be a paper binder or one of these great wedding planning apps. Either way, setting a system now makes it easier to keep track of deadlines, like when you need to contact your DJ with your must play list.

Use a wedding planning checklist.

A wedding planning checklist, either on paper or in an app, is one of the most important guides—if not the most important—during wedding planning. It’s a great way to set deadlines for hiring vendors and getting do-it-yourself projects done.

Set a budget (but be realistic).

In terms of importance, the wedding budget worksheet ranks right behind the wedding planning checklist. This is your chance to set a budget for vendors and allocate money for the most important items, such as the wedding venue, food, and entertainment.

When setting a budget, be careful about setting the bar too low. Unfortunately, the saying, “you get what you pay for” often applies. Be cautious about settling for amateurs that come with a small price tag and deliver less-than-stellar service.

Ask your vendors about deadlines.

As you prepare for the fun journey of wedding planning, be incredibly careful about sticking to vendor deadlines. You can track these with a wedding app or by setting alarms in your phone. If you have friends that are managing projects, don’t forget to give them deadlines as well. Unfortunately, missed deadlines are the source of many last-minute panic attacks and headaches.

Don’t be afraid to lean on the pros you hired.

When hiring vendors, always do your research and interview every vendor (like with these Chicago wedding DJ interview questions) to ensure that they are a good fit and have the experience you need. Once you are comfortable with your decision, don’t hesitate to ask the pros you hired for assistance and guidance.

Keep at it.

Wedding organization is a marathon not a sprint. As you plan, remember to keep organizing! If you feel overwhelmed, take a break and head out for an impromptu date with your fiancé. When you’re done, you can return to your organized wedding planning and enjoy the idea of a fantastic Chicago wedding reception.

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