Plan Early to Easily Stick to Your Budget

The free online wedding planner software at EZWeddingPlanner.com is my favorite. It's what my daughter and I used to both keep within our budgets and timelines.

And if you're more comfortable with planners you can print and take with you, be sure to visit the Printable Wedding Planner website. Use their free Wedding Planner Checklist and really enjoy planning your wedding every step by ticking off your to-do items one at a time as you move closer to the exciting day.

Below is just a general outline of a plan that basically shows what things you need to plan early and book ahead of time versus things that can wait until a couple of months before the wedding. And if you start your wedding plan outline early, you'll get the most use out of it and save the most money.

Keeping this in mind helps to make the planning easier and keeps you on track, especially when you've started your plan early enough to allow yourself some breathing room.

Different wedding planners will have different schedules, but starting at least nine months to a year before your wedding date (preferably longer if you can do it), this is the basic priority of things to be taken care of. Use your planner's guidelines for details:

• Put together a tentative guest list. This will most likely change as you get closer to mailing out your invitations, but it will give you a good starting point for deciding how large of a venue you'll need and about how many people you'll be feeding.

• Book your venue. Depending on where you're having your ceremony and/or reception, venue sites tend to book very, very early, sometimes up to two years in advance. So make this your top priority. This includes both ceremony and reception locations, unless you're having both at the same location.
  My Wedding Reception Planning
  A guide to help you with your wedding and wedding reception planning. This site not only provides information, tips and advice to plan your wedding and reception but also requests audience participation with surveys and special invitations to voice opinions and bridal plans and problems.

• Book your music. Again, live bands and disc jockeys often book their dates up to two years in advance as well. If you want to all but guarantee you get who you want, put this second on your list.

• Book your photographer. If you're going to contract a professional photographer, this must be booked early on too. Just like with a band or DJ, photography services book very early for weddings.

• Think about your reception menu. Start doing a price comparison to decide on how to cater your reception.

• Decide on a theme. Your theme will determine just about everything else on your list from your favors and decorations to your bridal party gowns and reception decor.

• Start thinking about your favors. Don't let this be one of the things you cut in order to cut costs. If you plan early enough, you can save money here and still give your guests thoughtful Thank You favors to take home.

• Plan your wedding invitation package. This includes your Save the Date cards, invitations, ceremony programs and thank you notes after the ceremony. If you plan early enough, you can save a lot of money even with a large guest list and still make your invitations say "You're important," to your invited guests.

• Decide on your wedding ceremony and reception flowers. Real or silk will determine how far in advance you can get your flowers but you should start comparing prices early.

• Decide on a wedding cake. The type of cake you want will determine how far in advance you need to order it and where you'll order it from.

• Start shopping for your bridal party attire. Will they be casual, formal; gowns or tea length dresses? Start getting some ideas early so you're ready for when you need to purchase them.

• Start looking at shoes. If you already have a gown in mind, you may be able to get the shoes first. Otherwise, just get an idea for now and do the actual shopping and purchasing later.

• Start shopping for your wedding gown. The earlier you can do this, the less stress you'll be under later to find the right one. You also want to have some breathing room for alterations should you need any.

• Get registered with a gift registry. Make sure you do this early enough so that just in case someone gives you a bridal shower, the guests will have some good ideas for gifts.

If you're planning a military wedding, you'll have additional considerations and things to plan. So stop by our Military Weddings page for important tips and resources.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the planning or not sure you have enough time? Read about hiring a personal wedding planner or certified consultant to take the stress out of the planning process.

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