Dream wedding guide: how to organize your ‘YES’ day

Organizing your own wedding is certainly a very important and exciting event, but for many, it can be challenging. Deciding in which order to organize the event, understanding which aspect to prioritize, and deciding on any detail can be very confusing

With this article, then, we want to answer the doubts of future couples of spouses and offer them a complete guide for organizing the wedding down to the smallest detail. With this step-by-step guide, you can plan your dream wedding much easier and with more fun.

The first steps to take

During the preparation management, some need to be done first, being priorities, unlike other aspects that can be managed later, such a trial make-up or a trial hair.  

The search for the location, the church or the town hall is one of the fundamental steps from which to start, especially if you wish to celebrate your wedding in a particular period or one dear to you.

Here is a basic list of things to do for the wedding, which you can check off gradually during the organization:

• Choose a period for the celebration of the wedding
• Choose the church or the town hall
• Establish a budget
• Start thinking about what the theme of the wedding will be
• Draw up an initial list of guests
• Book the catering, define the menu and the wedding cake
• Start looking for wedding dresses
• Start looking for the photographer and ask for availability
• Start looking for the DJ or live band and ask for availability
• Choose the wedding rings
• Book the honeymoon
• Choose the bouquet of flowers and the various arrangements for both the location and the place of the ceremony
• Choose place cards, tableaux, invitations, and wedding favours
• Send wedding announcements

However, everyone has their own priority list, but some steps are crucial and handled first by all couples. Let's see together the first three most important: date, theme and location, and set-up.

Set the wedding date

Setting the date is the universally recognised first step in organizing a wedding. And this is because the chosen period or season, the moment of the day for the wedding – whether during the day or in the evening – has an important influence on the preparations and on the choice of the location, wedding dress or any other aspect of the wedding.

Even with respect to the date and period, you can draw up a provisional number of guests: if done in advance, you will have all the time necessary to define it. Once the guests have been decided – which we know how to streamline once invitations and participation have been sent – you can request estimates from all the experts in the sector. Another tool that can help you is drafting a deadline that will allow you to keep every preparation of the ceremony under control and beyond.

Decide which style and which location

Choosing the theme of the ceremony is the next step in the organization of the wedding. After setting the date, it could be useful to think about the style of the ceremony both to be coherent in the choice of every other aspect and detail of the party and to ensure that it reflects your identity and your personality. The style, among other things, will also determine the choice of the location: depending on whether you want a country chic, romantic, classic, or modern style wedding, the location will be very different for each of them.

Make sure, however, that it is suitable for containing all the guests: do not choose one with exaggeratedly large spaces if you are organizing an intimate reception or a chicer wedding. On the contrary, a location that is too small for a large number of guests could be constricting and not allow you to well organize the spaces or, worse, not to enjoy the reception.

Which supplier to contact first?

Once confirmed the date for the ceremony and booked the location, you can start making appointments with the suppliers who will follow you in the various stages of the organization. In particular, it would be advisable to contact the photographer, the florist and the DJ or live band first. Let's not forget the atelier of your choice, which will create the dress of your dreams and be tailored to your preferences.

These figures, in fact, are the essentials one from which to start for the definition of the style of the wedding and the ceremony, because they will give the right expression to your big day.

An efficient method for organizing a wedding and useful as a guideline in managing the event could be to keep these three fundamental points in mind:

• Location (also including the church)
• Dress
• Arrangements (flowers, wedding favours, photographer, …)

Small month-by-month checklist: one year before the wedding

If you love perfection and you have decided to plan your wedding well in advance, here is a small checklist: a way to have a more precise and concrete dimension on how to organize a wedding one year before the event and on all the steps to deal with:

• 10/12 months before book location, catering, photographer, florist, musicians
• 7/9 months before book the church or the town hall, take care of the bureaucracy and start looking for the dress
• 4/6 months before start to think of the honeymoon, send participations look for the car
• 2/3 months before dedicate yourself to completing the outfit: accessories, makeup, hairstyle, bouquet and above all the wedding favours!

Choice of wedding favours: the symbol that will remember your wedding

A fundamental and essential aspect of weddings is the wedding favours: any couple of spouses gives an object in memory of their day. They represent the soul of the couple, they are a tribute and a thank you to those who attended the party, but above all they are coherent with the style of the wedding.

From a more modern and also green point of view, the preference for gastronomic wedding favours has spread in recent years. These have a double use: both to be a reminder of a special day and be useful and usable. In fact, gastronomic wedding favours that contain typical regional or local products, such as jams and marmalades, honey, liqueurs and oil are very common. The Olivetta gastronomic wedding favours fit into this context which, in their four collections, want to be an original and green idea suitable for every type and style of wedding.

Beyond the wedding trends (read our article "2023 wedding trends") the real rule is to follow your preferences and tastes, so as to make your big day original and personalized.

Mistakes to avoid when planning a wedding

Don’t be fooled, to organize a wedding is not a walk, especially if there are many guests and if your dream wedding is full of details that you really don’t want to give up.  Surely with a little planning, you will be able to calmly and lucidly plan the most important day of your life.

It is normal, however, to make inaccuracies along the way. The important thing is to know how to solve them. But what are the 3 most common mistakes that happen to future spouses? Let's get to know them together so that we can avoid them or be able to manage them:

• Pretending to do everything by yourself is impossible You will find that the help of a friend, parent or relative can be vital to avoid making mistakes
• Don't be afraid to delegate. This does not mean losing control, because you will always hold the reins firmly and you will decide to whom and what to delegate
• Collaborate with your partner! During the preparations, you will realize how essential it is to share ideas, decisions and ideas with your partner so that both of you are protagonists of the preparations. - But above all, you will discover that dividing the tasks is essential to avoid stress and bad moods, and to enjoy, not only the wedding day, but also the moment of preparation

Conclusion

We have therefore seen what the basics are for organizing the day of your yes and what are the steps to follow to make every detail magical and tailored to your dreams.

Everyone has their own method and priorities, but this guide wants to make those who are managing such an exciting event breathe a sigh of relief.