It can be so overwhelming of knowing where to start. You have friends who did things one way, another who did it another, your family members and friends in your ear asking about it already- you’re overwhelmed. Well, girlfriend that’s totally ok. I FEEL IT.

That said, I’d like to think there’s ways to make it easier on yourself and with that I AM GOING TO MAKE IT EASIER ON YOU. My plan is to document the shit out of my wedding planning process to EASE it for other brides to be. I have spreadsheets, templates and much more for you & i’ll be sure to share it ALL over the next YEARS.

So let’s dig in…

First off, congrats!!!!! You freaking found your person & for most of us that was a journey in itself. Many of us have had our fair share of years of bad boyfriends, online dating flops and feeling like you were never going to meet YOUR PERSON. Well, thank you universe!

So where to freaking start?

All the articles I’ve read that mean to simply things have actually confused me a little more.

SO HERE’S THE BREAKDOWN.

• start by talking to your fiancé (doesn’t that have a nice ring to it) about potential dates

• then, you need to have A VERY candid conversation about budget, what can you afford?

• next up, you gotta reach out to venues to see if they are available for said dates

• I used wedding-wire to get pricing on multiple venues before reaching out.

• Once we had a list of our top interests, this is the template I used

EMAIL TEMPLATE TO VENUES

Hi there,

My name is [NAME] and I'm newly engaged just beginning to start dipping my toes in to planning. We hope to get married next [Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall] (MONTH OR MONTH OF YEAR, dates flexible) and we’d love to learn a bit more about your venue. Do you have a brochure you could send me with information about what packages you have available? We have a group of [#OF PEOPLE] people to invite and we’d love to host both our wedding ceremony and reception at the same location. We’d love to get an estimate for a Saturday wedding (venue cost, length of rental, food and beverage minimum & avg price per person) . Thanks for your consideration.

Now what?

STEP 1 is done. Wait to hear back from your venues and pick a top few you’d like to look at/tour. Be sure to take tons of notes, and throw them in a spreadsheet.

I have THE MOST comprehensive google doc spreadsheet that will keep me organized every step of the way:

• a to-do list month over month

• a venues page

• budget breakdown page

• photographer

• flowers

• cake

• dj

• music set list

• guest list

• seating chart

• attire sheet (dress/tux shopping)

• hair/makeup sheet

• gifts

• hotel

• and more…

If you’d like me to send over my comprehensive sheet that you can make a copy of- I’m happy to do so! Venmo me @thea-nolan $10 saying “bridal spreadsheet & YOUR EMAIL” & I’ll send it on over to you. It took me hours and hours to create, so I hope you understand the ask for $10. I promise it’ll be worth your while!