The Big 5 & Budgeting

Before you can get to the detail of planning your wedding the five key elements listed below need to be considered. We call them the “BIG 5”. Thinking and talking about these points with everyone involved in planning and eventually paying for the day is crucial. You might want to defer some decisions until other key elements have been put in place and you will need to take a flexible approach. The BIG 5 are your road map, however, and until they have been agreed upon you cannot get down to the details of planning your day. 

• How?         Will you have a civil or religious wedding ceremony?

• Where?       Where would you like to be married? Have a rough geographic area in mind. If the ceremony and reception will be held in different locations the reception should ideally be within a thirty minutes drive of the ceremony.

• When?        The more flexible you can be about the date, the more options you will have.

• Who?          Who will you invite? This could be dictated by budget or how many guests your reception  venue can accommodate. Have an approximate figure in mind.
  
  
• Budget?      How much can you spend?