In a lot of circumstances once you have your church and venue set you’re a lot of the way there. However when your venue is a private home you obviously have the added challenge of organising all the aspects the Hotel type venues would normally provide ‘in house’.

I started making a rough excel list of all the areas we needed to think about, from the church service itself all the way through the day to the 1am close. Wow. By line 79 I was starting to get a bit worried – not just in terms of managing all this but more importantly… the budget.

Your wedding day is one of the most personal days of your life. Every wedding is different and it’s important you follow your heart and do what’s right for you as a couple – not what the latest trend is, or coz your sister did it and it worked for her. It’s a completely individual thing. Its definitely a good idea to have a look at a few magazines, websites and-the-like to kick start that inspiration, just don’t try and replicate someone else’s big day. Or (as mentioned in a previous blog) be bullied into compromising on aspects of your day to make it easier for your suppliers / venues. Its not their wedding and more importantly their not paying for it!

Like with any ‘to do list’ it’s always tempting to start with the bits you like most… rather than tackle the ones you see as… not boring… but certainly not as enticing. And that’s exactly what I did! The food is one of the most important features of the day and therefore its imperative you choose the right caterer… but because it also involves the staff, kitchen equipment, tables, chairs, linen’s, cutlery, glasses… (it goes on), I chose to start with the smaller items on the list; dance floors, decorations etc. I don’t get in contact with people right away but start by doing a lot of research into the chosen ‘area’ – at least 5 of 6 companies – and get as much info as I can to add to the ever expanding spreadsheet. Once I’ve compared them all I then contact the top 2 or 3. Then it just comes down to who can give you the best deal. Don’t be afraid to negotiate either – times are hard for all and any business is good business for your supplier. Unless you have an uncapped budget (ooo, get you!) its definitely worth getting a few quotes before making any decisions as it could end up saving you a fortune. I was looking for a quote for bar furniture, poseur tables and stools – the first company I contacted could supply the poseur tables for £90 each (albeit with an LED light in them) with £95 delivery/pick up charge. A week later I was talking to another company about dance floors and he asked whether I need furniture. Turns out he does the normal poseur tables for…. £8 each with, oh yeah, no delivery/collection charge if I got the dance floor too. No brainer. They were the 5^th company I had researched so it’s worth doing some digging.

After seemingly months of googling, emails, spreadsheets & phone-calls we’re almost there with choosing our caterer (yeah… I got round to it in the end; more about that another time), I’ve decided to use the above company for the dance floor (and bar tables/stools!), we’re talking to DJs and think we’ve found our photographer. But at this moment in time, other than our videography (see ‘Suppliers’ page), nothing has been officially booked. Not even our venue actually but bizarrely it still feels like we’ve accomplished a lot. Feels like it. Needless to say every time I go to add something to the spreadsheet I’m starkly reminded of just how much there is still to do – but that’s what this is for – to vent my frustrations and hopefully give a bit of honest advice in relation to my experiences along this weird and wonderful journey. So I hope you’re ready… as this is only the beginning….