Plan your wedding...

13 Step Guide 

Sitting down and planning and coordinating your wedding can be both stressful and fun for you and your partner, which is why hitched.com.au is here to help you through every step. Our step-by step guide has been designed in a way to make the planning part both fun and easy. We wish you all the best for your forth coming marriage.

1. Step 1: Plan Your Budget

   If your current budget doesn’t quite add up you may want to consider speaking to one of the high street banks or the parents? However small or large your budget, you can be sure that there are services available that can fit within you budget and suit your needs. Visit our wedding diary planneron the hitched.com.au website for budget planning tips plus advice on how to allocate your spending.

2. Step 2: Find Your Venue

   Firstly we assume that you have a rough idea of the date you would like to get married. Choosing the perfect venue will almost dictate the actual date of the big day, unless you plan the date years in advance. Choosing the most suitable venue will take most of your time, but with our useful venue finder on the hitched.com.au website. There are hundreds of venues to browse through and we are sure you’ll find your perfect location for your wedding day. Once the venue and the ceremony have been arranged, the rest of the day planning will fall into place. One other important factor to consider when looking at venues is where you will spend your first night together as a married couple, as not all reception venues can act as a hotel, so it best to plan consider when viewing venues.

3. Step 3: Get Some Insurance

   An Insurance policy may not be the first thing on your mind when planning your wedding, however with the average wedding costing $30,000, it is important to consider the unfortunate mishaps that could cost you dearly? For instance, the venue could be cancelled at the last minute or poor health could mean you have to postpone. If you have purchased wedding insurance you can relax knowing full well for the sake of $200-$500 you do not have to worry about these situations. A complete list of insurance detailscan be reviewed on hitched.com.au.

4. Step 4: Select Your Rings

   Once you have purchased insurance and have the date locked in you can really start to spend. We all marry because we are in love, but aren’t we just as excited about the beautiful piece of jewellery on our finger? The traditions of a wedding are reported to come from the fact that a vein runs directly from your wedding finger to your heart, connecting the two continually. When selecting your ringyou are taking a step towards bonding yourselves together forever.

5. Step 5: Your Guest List

   Here comes the fun bit! Where do you begin with your guest list? The fact is that you have probably already had some thoughts about it. When you planned step 1 of our guide on your budget you presumably now have a budget decided and so it is safe to assume an idea of the size of your wedding party. To begin with our advice is always to keep it simple and start with the people closest to you, the family members, best man, bridesmaids, etc. Get the key players down on a large piece of paper and at the top write your names and in a sort of friends and family tree style work downwards in rows starting with the most important people and working until you have included everyone you can think of. This maybe a fairly long list, but don’t worry about the total number of guests you have written down, but think more about not overlooking anyone. Once you are sure you have everyone included, you can start discussing with you partner about grouping them into daytime, evening or crossing people off. Remember that it is after all your very special day so if there is somebody there will make it special for you, stand firm!

6. Step 6: Choosing The Dress

   Choosing the dress is traditionally one of the most fun and exciting parts of the wedding preparation process. On hitched.com.au there is huge number of dresses to be found in the bridal wear section, and many accessories to complete the fairy princess look. The Grooms wear, ushers, bridesmaids, pageboys and every other member of the wedding party also needed to be thought through to make sure that all key roles of the wedding party are coordinated.

7. Step 7: Order The Stationery

   Many of your close friends and family will be aware of your up and coming special day; it is now time to make it official. The invitations must be sent out well in advance so, while it may still be a little early, it is important to at least begin investigating designs and colours. If you want to ensure your guests save the date in their diaries send out some card now just to say when the day is. The stationery order can be themed by the colours in the rest of the day and is customarily sent out by the bride’s parents. The complete stationery order can include everything from order of service cards, save the date cards, place cards and invitations. Placing your order with one single supplier may save you some money and get a common theme throughout. The hitched.com.au website contains many stationery suppliers to get the ideal set for your special day.

8. Step 8: The Honeymoon

   After dealing with months of planning and trying to make the most important day of your life just right, you will need a holiday. Your honeymoon is the first few weeks as a married couple so it will be an exciting time for both of you. Researching online or popping down to your local travel agent early will avoid stress and ensure you have a relaxing break after the Wedding day. Don’t forget to check that you have at least 6 months validity on your passport before you travel, if not order a new one well in advance. If you are planning a trip to an exotic island, be sure to check any medical requirements before you leave and to check the visa situation. A little planning will ensure the holiday goes without a hitch.

9. Step 9: Arrange The Photographer

   There will be many wonderful memories throughout your wedding day that you will want to never forget. By hiring a quality photographer/videographer you can be sure you will capture all of these moments and reminisce over and over again. At this stage we also recommend you book yourwedding car and decide on the right colour coordinated and meaningful flowers to complement your day. The important and essential cake to eat during the evening, along with entertainment and music need to be thought about now. Our directory at hitched.com.au contains loads of professional and reliable professional services to help you organise and add the finishing touches to your special day.

10. Step 10: Your Wedding Gift List

    The reason for getting married is for love, however one special benefit is all the wonderful presents you receive from friends and relatives and as a bonus, you and your partner are able to choose the gifts! It is a real treat to be able to go into a store or online and choose anything you want. Creating a gift list is a good idea for couples who are already living together and have many items for the home and also will avoid you receiving three of the same item.Wedding gift lists can be arranged at any leading department stores and even easier with a number of easy to use online guides. For more detailed information on creating your own gift list, use the Wedding List Ideas section on the hitched.com.au site.

11. Step 11: Send Out Your Invitiations

    If you have sent out ‘save the date’ cards to your guests then they should be aware of when the wedding is and will be standing by for the official invitation in their letter box. We recommend that you send out your invitations a minimum of 8 weeks before your wedding. If you are planning to invite overseas guests then it would be advisable to send the invitations earlier in order for the replies to come back. It could take a while before you have all your replies back to you so it is a good idea to have a reserve list of people that you would like to invite.

12. Step 12: The Buck's and Hen's Nights

    Your last night of freedom to really let yourself go wild is the stag or hen night. This night is all about you and should get you in the mood for your wedding. The responsibility of organising this lies with the bridesmaids and best man and they are usually big nights and a lot of fun. Stag and Henparties are now turning into weekend events.

13. Step 13: The Finishing Touches

    Each and every wedding is unique to the individual so it is difficult to pin point exactly what the final touches are that you will need to think about. Some things you may want to consider are speeches, readings, rehearsals, seating plans, order of service, first night accommodation, returning hired suits, thank you cards, etc. If you still need more advice and help, please look through the rest of hitched.com.au wedding site and for specific guidance from other wedding planners, check out the wedding planning forum.