Get organized!

Planning a wedding is a full-time job and you’ll need the right tools to get it done. Buy a fabulous organizer to keep everything together: quotes, swatches, business cards and details of key contacts and suppliers, “to do” lists and a budget checklist. Run an efficient diary to keep track of appointments, create a “Wedding” file on your computer with a budget tracker and a “Guest Spreadsheet” Print and safely store hard copies of important documents and communications. Label two Boxes: one “Ceremony”, the other “Reception” and store everything related to these events in them.

Create a “mood board” or ideas scrap book for cuttings from magazines, adding swatches and photos. This will be useful when you come to make decisions. You may have no clue at this stage what style what style of event you are hoping to create, what you’ll wear or what kind of flowers you will buy. The word “theme” may cause your heart rate to rise (but it might justy mean “colour scheme” in your case), but by cutting out pictures from magazines a pattern will emerge hinting at your preferred style.