You and your partner probably have a general idea of what kind of wedding you want to throw. Maybe you attended a friend’s formal ceremony followed by a five-course dinner and decided that was absolutely not you, or maybe you saw Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber exchange their vows at a beachside cabana and knew that was exactly the vibe you wanted to set for your big day.
However, as you begin to put together your guest list and nail down your budget, it’s important to make sure you take the time to really hone in on the specifics of what makes your heart sing. That’s where a mission statement comes in handy: A mission statement helps you narrow down the details of your day and gives structure to your decisions.
A mission statement is an outline of the core values that will drive your wedding decisions. It should include your personal priorities, what kind of ceremony you want to have and how many people you plan on inviting. Once you have a solid grasp on these basic ideas, you can start to put out feelers for suggestions from friends (engaged or not) and family alike. While this opens you up to a surge of input, it’s important that you only heed the advice that will serve you and your fiancé.
This is also the time to sit down and create a detailed spreadsheet of your estimated expenses. It’s best to include every major service, fee and potential expense, so you have a clear picture of the bottom line. You’ll then be able to go out and look at venues with a much more realistic understanding of what your day is likely to cost.
During your venue tours, ask for the availability of specific dates that are important to you and your fiancé. If you have a date in mind, it’s helpful to start looking at venues early on, because some sites book up well in advance.
After you pick out your venue, you’ll also want to set a firm guest count—especially because some venues require a deposit based on an estimated number of guests. It’s also the perfect opportunity to decide on whether or not you need to hire a planner, as they can help keep you on track and deal with last-minute hiccups.
The final months of planning are a hectic time, so it’s essential that you delegate tasks to other members of your wedding party and close friends. Make sure someone is in charge of answering vendors’ questions, that another person is in charge of wrangling your out-of-town guests, and that another person is on top of ensuring gifts are collected at the end of the night. Putting these systems in place will help ensure that no one person gets burnt out on the process and that you get to enjoy your wedding day to the fullest.