The Three Fundamentals To Get Your Head Around Pre-Countdown

Before we kick-off, it’s important we cover these crucial points that totally underpin the world of wedding planning and will help take the stress out of your journey to the aisle of love right from the beginning...just think BUDGET, PLAN AND LOOK

Money talks!

How much cash have you got to splash?! Calculate a running total and break down the costs for each element of your big day. Take out 10% of your overall budget to act as an emergency fund for any costs that may crop up along the way or, to top-up cash allocation for specific elements such as the cake and flowers. Ensure you clearly work out your spend per head for the wedding reception as this is one area that always causes a headache for most couples - especially if not considered in advance of any planning meeting. Remember, if you have all your figures prepped before you get together with suppliers they will know you mean business. Many couples like to do the maths on an excel spreadsheet to tally running totals, but personally I LOVE the free budget breakdown resource offered online via hitched.co.uk. When I discovered this service, I just knew it would be a lifesaver for so many couples needing an organised check list. Online registration takes a few minutes but trust me, it’s so totally worth it to access this top admin tool. Check out the detail at www.hitched.co.uk

Big Day Bible

An essential bit of kit for any wedding planner to be, The Big Day Bible is your personalised a-z checklist of what to do and when. From securing the venue to selecting the dress, a concise countdown of jobs-to-do, is a total must-have piece of kit for anyone planning a big day celebration. Investing time in this plan right from the off, guarantees to ease your overall journey to the aisle of love, whilst at the same time ensuring you have everything effectively in place ready for the wedding itself - without stress levels reaching boiling point. And by a total stroke of luck, the next section of this book - your official 60 minute countdown, will act as a blueprint/inspiration board for said BDB! More on this in the next section...

Get in the mood - for romance...

Every wedding needs a clear style or theme to bind the celebration together and knowing where to start can be a challenging task. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but the best approach is to start with a blank canvas so you can build a unique picture of your celebration organically. Do not stifle your creativity with too many set ideas right from the beginning, start with an open mind and see what evolves. The true genius of a person is often bubbling subconsciously... here’s what to do:

Spend an afternoon grabbing a ton of wedding, food, home design and celebrity magazines highlighting your favourite dresses, interiors, menus and hairstyles. Rip out the pages you love and pop on a big board to create a montage of imagery. This we know in the business as a mood board, which you can then use to identify your favourite themes, styles and colour-ways to slowly build an overall concept for the wedding. This mood board is also really handy for taking to supplier sessions especially the cake maker and florist to inspire and steer their creativity.

And for those who prefer a more modern approach, remember www.pinterest.com is now one of the world’s number one online sites to pick up inspirational wedding ideas. Build yourself a digital board via an Ipad or similar device and use this to take along to supplier sessions. Many of the National wedding magazines also have Pinterest boards now, so it’s definitely a great place to start getting those creative juices flowing!

At the end of this guide you will also find ‘The Wedding Fairy’s little black book’ which is totally dedicated to inspiring your big day...