Oh, wedding planning... It has truly been filled with the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. Now that everything is officially booked for my NYE 2020 wedding, I want to spill the tea. Here's my three tips for wedding planning:

Tip 1:

Set your budget early on in the process. Don't put it off. The conversations can be kind of awkward, but it's better to just get it out of the way at the beginning because once you start looking for vendors, you will feel insanely overwhelmed if you don't actually know how much you have to spend. Also- make sure you are VERY clear about where everyone's money will be going and that they all understand it will likely be needed in lump sums (50% for deposit is normal, & credit cards might not be allowed).

-Use Excel for budgeting, guest lists, etc. It will save you. Try to stay as organized as possible throughout.

Tip 2:

Write down what is most important to you and how much ($) you value it at. For us, an open bar was VERY important (we're having a NYE wedding so we really want a fun party... duh). For us, this was valued really high and we planned accordingly. We chose lower budget options for other vendors and opted out of a cake because an open bar was way more important to us. So, just figure out what's really really important to you, and start there!

Tip 3:

Lower your expectations. Obviously, this won't apply to everyone, but probably most brides will agree, some of the things you've envisioned practically your entire life just won't be possible. Lower-your-expectations. Trust me when I say, if you go in with an "it's this or nothing" attitude, you will be disappointed. At the end of the day, there isn't anyone who cares about you and your big day more than you do. Don't expect everyone to ask you about it/see how things are going or even really act like they care, they won't, and it's not worth holding in the sadness that it will bring. Reach out to people directly if you want to talk about it or need support/help because most will not reach out to you. Your feelings will get hurt, and you will question whether you even want a wedding by the end of it. I haven't had my wedding yet... but I'm holding out hope that it will all be worth it in the end! (It better be!)

Hope these tips help some other stressed and confused bride out there.

Find me on Instagram, @simplynikibblog, to chat more!

Until next time,

xoxo

N