07 Sep UPDATED: The 2020 Ultimate Guide to Transform Your Wedding Planning Game
Transform your wedding planning with HitchPlanner.
When all that excitement and buzz of your engagement and that shiny rock on your finger settles in (How many “OMG! You’re engaged!” comments can you tolerate in a day at the office?) you will soon realize the daunting task ahead – planning your wedding.
It could be the biggest project ever in your life that you have to plan for. And it is tough.
What about all that unspoken expectations that you have to live upto? Your Fiancé’s, your future-in-laws, your parents and your friends?!
All that work just makes you want to dive straight into your pillow and cry.
If you’ve experienced wedding planning for family members or helping out as a bridesmaid, chances are you know how hard the process is!
Where do you even fit your dream wedding vision between that?!
Photo: 1st Journal Productions
Here's the complete, ultimate guide checklist for your wedding planning
Step 1: Decide the basics!
Before you start looking at vendors or book anything, you first need to take a closer look at the big picture. Above all, sit with your partner and discuss the following aspects:
1. What type of wedding do you want? Bigger, smaller, lavish, intimate etc and how many guests do you want?
2. Use Pinterest! (or Instagram if you dare – you might end up getting lost!) Choose and gather your inspiration from there. Then, create a few boards and share your thoughts with each other.
3. Set the dates (an engagement party, solemnisation ceremony, actual wedding day.) For sure, shortlist a few dates and take into account on the availability of the venue. Then, choose the one that works best for you both.
Photo: Desseign Things
4. What is your wedding budget? Your wedding budget helps you to avoid debt – You wouldn’t want a debt to start off your married life. Also, this helps stay realistic when choosing the venues and wedding vendors.
5. When can you meet the family? Even if your families know each other, it is best to have a meeting for the wedding and hear their thoughts as well.
6. Draft your guest list. The number of guests is important and will therefore, will influence (or limit!) the type of venue you choose. Most importantly, make sure that the families are on the same page on the number of guests! Some can be picky on this!
Real wedding photo submission by: The Beauty Society
step 2: let the organisation begin!
This process requires time and dedication from both you and your partner (there is a lot of admin work in wedding planning if you didn’t know).
If you have the wedding budget for it then hire a wedding planner. Otherwise, you can make it easier by using HitchPlanner’s wedding planning tools. From curating your guest list, guest RSVP function (It’s a super cool feature). You can send your guests invites via Facebook and they can RSVP from there!)
There is even a checklist for your wedding and an in-built tracker for your wedding budget! That’s saving you time spent on paperwork or Excel spreadsheet for your entire wedding planning.
Time saved: 30 hours editing and updating on to the spreadsheet).
Here’s your step-to-step guide to using HitchPlanner as your wedding planner:
1. Create your HitchPlanner profile. Oh and did we mention, it’s free!
2. Look for the Collaborator Function! Invite friends and family members to join you in the wedding planning process.HitchPlanner allows you to invite anyone to your wedding profile and they can help you manage it. They can stay up to date with all the news and changes you may make along the way too!
(Time saved: 50 hours on whatsapp, communicating and confirming changes)
3. Update the checklist for your wedding to match your own timeline and update your wedding budget along the way.
4. Choose wedding venue and set the date. First, research, visit wedding venues and narrow down potential dates. It is best that you have both your solemnization ceremony and wedding banquet in one venue, not only is it more budget-friendly but its easier to organize!
Choose the wedding venue that fits in the theme of your ideal wedding and book it in advance. Good dates gets snapped up fast! Also, organize and book your rehearsal dinner as well. If it is an outdoor wedding, make sure you have a backup plan (ALWAYS) in case of bad weather.
It is best that you have both your solemnization ceremony and wedding banquet in one venue. This way you can avoid extra costs and you may get a better deal!
5. Plan and gather the decorations of the reception and the ceremony. Time to put your Pinterest boards to good use! Use it for inspiration and discuss it with the vendors you hired for decorations. Make sure everyone has a copy of the Pinterest board for reference!
6. Reserve rentals (Cars, wedding dresses, photo booth etc). Make arrangements for the transportation for the wedding day. (Pro-tip: You can ask a relative to help drive instead of hiring a chauffeur!)
Photo: Twist Photography
Make-up: Aoi’s Makeup
7. Get wedding insurance. Pro-tip: Do your research before deciding against it.
8. Create an official wedding webpage. By using HitchPlanner, you can create and send your official wedding webpage to everyone! So, help yourself stay organized while informing all the guests of any changes in advance, you can also send them reminders.
8. Create an official guest list with HitchPlanner. Then, create and send invitation cards too. Send invitations to your guests and check the reminders options. Additionally, this is also a good idea to make any hotel arrangements for guests who are going to travel to attend your wedding.
9. Book an officiant, and get a marriage license. Or if you are getting married in Singapore, be sure to go online to file a Notice of Marriage (http://www.rom.gov.sg). Bear in mind that you can only do so when your wedding day is no later than 21 days and up to 3 months in advance. Don’t forget, to bring your NRIC (or passports) and two witnesses (remind them to bring their proof of identity too!) for your ROM.
10. Visualize your wedding day seating plan. Use HitchPlanner ‘s seating plan to plan out a draft and you can also take a copy of it and give it to your venue coordinator as a reference too!
if you are getting married in Singapore, be sure to go online to file a Notice of Marriage (http://www.rom.gov.sg). Bear in mind that you can only do so when your wedding day is no later than 21 days and up to 3 months in advance.
STEP 3: the details matter!
1. Set the menu. Discuss the menu with the caterers, go for food tasting. If you are hiring a separate caterer, make sure you double check and book enough waiters and servers for the day. Decide and order your wedding cake and make sure you check with your guest list on HitchPlanner. (Guests can state their dietary preference when they RSVP too!)
2. Set the mood – MUSIC. Hope over to Spotify and shortlist a couple of playlists. (We recommend a bottle of wine during date night at home is the best time!) Discuss your music choices and decide on a playlist for the wedding.
3. Plan the honeymoon and check passports validity. (Pro-tip: Check out flight sales on Tuesdays or period in July/August for great deals!)
Photo: Functions.sg
5. Write your wedding vows. Yes, it is okay not to. But we recommend it anyway! Your wedding vows will stand the test of time. Take a moment and write down the things that you appreciate in your partner. It doesn’t need to “sound nice”. You are essentially writing a heartfelt letter to your Fiancé. Keep it simple!
6. Decide on your wedding favors. Some couples do not give enough thought into their wedding favors. This is quite unfortunate because the wedding favor is the one part of the wedding which your guests will take home as a reminder of your wedding. Classic wedding favor ideas include sweets, fortune cookies and other smaller edibles. If you don’t like the idea of giving out a particular favor you can also consider having an interactive bar for guests to make their own sweet mixes to take away or setting up a photobooth so guests can walk away with a personalised gift from your wedding.
7. Have fun at your wedding and relax through HitchPlanner’s Actual Day check-in option! You can check and see which guests have arrived and sent reminders for those who hasn’t. (Furthermore, we recommend to assign this to one of your groomsmen or bridesmaids with this. Enjoy your wedding day!
Conclusion
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For more inspiring ideas, why not visit the HitchPlanner Pinterest for more inspiration, search and shop securely on our dedicated Marketplace and create your Wedding website all right here on www.hitchplanner.com
For corporate partnerships and collaboration enquiries, please send an email to hello@hitchplanner.com to indicate your interest and we will get in touch with you.