7 Key Steps To Plan Your Wedding

You have found your soulmate and are dreaming of a union that reflects you? Where to start now? To plan your wedding, this becomes your major preoccupation, as for many couples who haven’t taken the plunge or procrastinate on a wedding project that is yet important to them. 

When should you start the preparations for your wedding ? Who should you call? How to make sure you didn’t forget anything? What budget fix? These are questions that can generate stress and anxiety to the point of making you give up! But don’t worry! Our wedding planning experts give you the 7 essential steps to start off your wedding preparations in a good way. 

1. Choose a ring 

This step can seem obvious, but it is the ultimate starting point of any proposal. The wedding ring accompanies the love declaration. It also represents the unforgettable memory of the beginning of your wonderful couple’s project. 

The choice of the ring is personal and depends on your tastes and budget. You can find the rare gem among the collections of a jeweler. We advise you in particular to look on the websites of houses such as Cartier, Bulgari, Pomellato, or Chaumet.. 

If you are looking for a more original and customized ring, meet a creator with whom you can express, imagine, and draw your perfect item and have a unique and tailored ring. The websites Myrtille Beck, James Allen or Adiamor offer true masterpieces. However, mind to anticipate the production time. It can take up to several months, depending on your design!  

You can also opt for a family ring that you received from your parents or grandparents. This symbolic and sentimental jewel becomes one of the most beautiful proof of love and respects family traditions. If you choose this option, don’t hesitate to call upon the expertise of a jeweler to revive and enhance the glitter of the ring and adapt it to the size of your soulmate. 

Finally, whatever the model, remember to take one of your partner’s rings to make the right size choice. 

2. Propose!

Getting down on one knee scares you? Being the center of attention is not your thing? 

Don’t panic! A proposal is first and foremost an intimate and private moment. Take time to think of the context in which you will be the most at ease. Prefer a calm moment to act. Vacations or birthdays are generally perfect moments to make a beautiful surprise. 

Also, feel free to be creative. An occasion like this only happens once in the lifetime of a couple; a good reason to make it unforgettable. For example, think about organizing a sophisticated dinner, stage a decoration or create a nice album that recounts your best memories. There are an infinite number of ideas, you just need a little bit of imagination. Our article “Organize your wedding proposal” may help you to prepare for this magic moment. 

3. Make your guest list

He or she said, “I do”? Congratulations! The time has come for the next step: the guest list. To see it more clearly and quickly evaluate your number of guests, we advise you to write their names down on an Excel sheet. Formulas and filters will help you to avoid oversights and duplications. We also recommend to future spouses to make one list each and confront them to have a broader view. 

Remember to write the names of your guests’ children as well. First, feel free to invite whoever you like without limiting yourself. Nonetheless, this exceptional day is your day. You also have the right to be demanding and selective in the composition of your guest list. 

Once you have written your first list, you can precise it depending on the probability of attendance to obtain a shortlist. Your number of guests will evolve all along the process with fluctuating withdrawals and additions. Be prepared to witness changes until the last weeks before your special day. The goal is however to have an approximate number of guests. 

4. Choose a date

The planning of a wedding often starts one year in advance to ensure the availability of the venues. You can calmly prepare your wedding and allow your guests to organize their schedule to participate. The choice of the date thus depends on several factors. We can mention in the first place the type of ceremony you want: a summer or a winter wedding for instance. 

Your wedding calendar will also be affected by your and your guests professional and personal obligations. If most of your guests have children, you should try to celebrate your union during a weekend or holidays. Finally, your wedding date can be symbolic. You will thus celebrate an anniversary or an important moment of your life together. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us to have information about available wedding venues! Which brings us to our next step…

5. Choose the place

Prospect

This step is fundamental. Indeed, it is the starting point of your wedding’s organization: budget, decoration and angles of your reception are directly linked to it. Let’s be honest, choosing a wedding venue is not easy. What criteria should you consider? Is the proximity with the home of the guests a priority ? Are easy access and parking indispensable options? The housing on site: is it something you should bear in mind? 

Our advice would first be to select a couple of places for which you had a crush thanks to their photos. Do your research without preconceptions! You may love a place that you hadn’t considered. Then, favor a venue that can host your wedding in good conditions, even in case of bad weather. Put otherwise, a place that has an indoor reception hall big enough to fit all of your guests. This is a vital criterion!

Mind the modalities of the renting

Check that the places you have selected have conditions that are compatible with the party you want to organize for your wedding. For example, some venues impose a time limit. To avoid bad surprises, ask for quotations in order to get to a satisfying selection. The goal is to keep two or three options and to visit the venues in person if possible.  

Visit!

If you want to get married in Corsica or Italy, it is better to anticipate your coming on site a few weeks in advance to better organize your visit day. Our team of wedding planners accompanies you for the planification and the tours of this visiting day. If you cannot come on site, don’t hesitate to ask for all of the information and additional pictures you need to make a choice. We also offer to make a visio-tour if you wish. Be aware that some venues are booked one or more years in advance. It is in particular the case of masseria, trulli and Italian castles. It is thus necessary to anticipate this booking schedule. 

6. Ask for quotations to fix your budget

Once you have chosen your wedding venue, you have left to finalize the quotations. This step is also one that raises many questions. Are the quotations free? What should you ask to include in them? Who to ask for a quotation? To have quotations, you have two options. 

First, you can look for professionals who will provide you with the services you wish to benefit from on your wedding day. You must contact them one by one and get a detailed quotation from them. Be aware that it will take a considerable amount of time as you will have to look for different types of services, get in touch with them, compare their offer and negotiate their propositions.  

The second option is to call upon the services of a wedding planner who offers you a ready to use service. Noces Italiennes will send you customized and free quotations within 48 hours after a phone call. The quotations include the basic services for a smooth unfolding of your wedding: rental of the wedding venue, menu, photographer, DJ, and decoration. If you plan your wedding. The prices vary depending on the date, location, and additional services you wish to book. 

Finally, if you call upon the services of a wedding planning agency, mind to consider its economic model to have a comparison basis. In fact, you must distinguish wedding planners from wedding consultants. The first ones get paid by a fee included in the quotation of the event. The second ones get a commission on the services asked by the couples during the organization process. For instance, Noces Italiennes, a wedding planner agency, offers you to have a unique spokesperson and contract for your wedding. Once you receive our quotations, you have all the information in hand to fix your wedding budget and validate which venue will host your celebration. 

Discover our wedding venues now. 

7. Spread the news!

As the saying goes, “keep the best till last”. It is now time to share the good news with your close ones. When and where announce your wedding? 

The answer is: as soon as possible! Especially if you have chosen to get married in Italy or Corsica! 

Depending on your affinities with your guests, favor either a casual or a formal invitation. Sending a “Save the date” one year before the D-day is advised to announce the date and place of the wedding. Your guests can thus record them in their schedule. Nothing forbids you to send announcements three or four months before the celebration. Remember to indicate a deadline to give an answer to avoid late confirmations. 

For the announcements, we recommend the websites of our two favorite partners: Cotton Bird and Rosemood. We chose them for the excellence of their work and their environmental involvement. Defining the theme of your wedding printings is essential as it gives an insight of the rest of your design. Take some time to choose it and keep in mind your wedding’s theme. 

Finally, make the most of your announcement to formalize the roles of your guests, in particular for the witnesses, the bridesmaids and the best men. One piece of advice to immortalize the announcement of your wedding, discreetly record the reactions and emotions of your loved ones to have an unforgettable memory of the beginning of this beautiful adventure.