Wedding Planning Advice - How to Get Started
By Victoria Williams

Wedding planning can be intimidating at first and for good reasons. Nightmares of late tux deliveries, ugly wedding cakes and makeup stained wedding dresses could scare anyone catatonic. The best way to have the "perfect wedding" is to start off on a good foot. You can start planning your wedding right now without spending a dime.

Select a Wedding Date

After you've told the world that you're tying the knot, it is a good idea to not take too long selecting a wedding date.

That way when you are shopping wedding vendors, you know what date you need beforehand. It keeps you from putting things off, because the wedding date will be quickly approaching. It gives your friends and family time to plan ahead. It is a good idea to tell them as early as possible, especially if you're getting married in the summer, due to many people planning vacations during that time.

Wedding Coordinating Help

Hire a wedding coordinator. I know you think it is expensive, but you will thank yourself in the end. If you don't want to bear the expense of hiring a wedding coordinator, get some talented family member to help you. Any type of help will do. Sometimes getting a second opinion can help you think about issues that you would not have thought of before. Above all, you should be enjoying yourself and not stressing out and getting some help will help you accomplish that.

What Type of Wedding Do yo Want?

Your wedding coordinator can help you determine the type of feel you want your wedding to give. Do you want it small and intimate, big and formal or somewhere in between? How about the time? If you have a lot of out of town guests it may be a good idea to have your wedding in the early evening, but not too late. Having your wedding at 10 AM may not go over too well with them.

Wedding Organizer

Wedding Organizers like notebooks or software can keep you from going into the insane asylum, for your probably can't and shouldn't try to keep all those numbers in your head. This way you are less likely to forget the small expenses that tend to add up in the end like wedding dress shoes, slips and veils. Weddingchannel.com and Theknot.com have free online wedding organizer software that includes a budget and expense calculator. At the very least, attempt to carry a notebook with you and record your wedding budget, expenses and tasks.

Wedding Guest List

Making a wedding guest list now is not too early. Well, at least attempt to do it! Combine the guest lists of future in-laws with your parents and your own guest lists for a good starting point. Don't fret too much at first, because this will only be a rough draft. Your wedding coordinator can help you with this also. A good idea for all of you is to start off with those you must invite and end with those who you would like to invite and go from there.

Choose Your Colors

Picking your color scheme will, of course, make decorating a whole lot easier. The wedding décor that you want so badly may not come in the colors that you want, so it is good to do this early on. The same idea goes for the wedding party's attire.

Above all, relax! It is your wedding day, not a final exam. And if something goes a little awry on your wedding day, try not to panic. Usually things work out in the end when you have loved ones to help you.

Victoria Williams is the author at http://www.nuptialparadise.com - Wedding Planning How-to, a content-rich searchable website that will help you in your wedding planning needs. You can find general wedding planning advice for a quick planning overview.

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