Planning a wedding is easier, more exciting and fun than you might think. Stress-free wedding planning requires organization, adequate time, patience, and flexibility. Here is a concise blueprint on how to plan a wedding.

Congratulations on your engagement! Once you've come down from cloud nine, go out and buy yourselves a wedding planning organizer. This is the best tool in your arsenal of wedding planning tools! Use it to record ideas, inspirations, vendor recommendations and all the important details for planning your wedding.

Once you've announced your engagement, go out and shop for your wedding rings. Make sure that announcing your engagement and purchasing the rings (this can be done in reverse) takes place within two to three weeks. Why? Because you'll want to submit a formal engagement announcement to the paper, specifying a date, if possible, otherwise the date must be set when booking your civil or religious ceremony and you then submit a formal wedding announcement.

The number one mistake couples make when working on how to plan a wedding is underestimating the time they'll need. Many churches, halls and vendors are pre-booked 12 to 18 months in advance! An informal wedding requires three to six months to plan and book; a semiformal wedding six months to a year and a formal/large wedding 12 to 18 months. The early bird gets the worm: booking early means you'll have the vendors and caterers of your choice.

While money doesn't buy you happiness, being in agreement about money probably will. Decide on who is paying for what, including whether either of your parents are contributing financially or not. Remember whoever pays has the say about what is done and who is invited, so be very clear and specific with each other when it comes to money


The next step on how to plan a wedding involves coming up with a budget you can live with. All other how wedding planning decisions flow from this one crucial element. Finding the right balance between your budget and your dreams will determine the size and style of your wedding. The budget determines the size of the guest list. Expenses for a wedding are never minor. Expect to pay 45 to 50% of your entire budget on the reception.