How to Plan a Wedding: The Ultimate Guide in 2024

After the excitement of your engagement, the first thing you likely think is how do you start planning a wedding? There are so many decisions to consider, and when you’re planning a party for potentially 100 or more guests, you may or may not enlist the help of a professional. If you choose to DIY it and figure out how to plan a wedding on your own, the task can seem even more daunting.

But rest assured, plenty of people have planned their own weddings whether they were saving money or felt passionately about putting their party-planning skills to the test.  You can find plenty of simple wedding planning checklists online, which makes your job easier. Naturally, an important first step when figuring out how to plan a wedding is deciding on your budget.

This will be the deciding factor in pretty much every decision afterward, including whether to hire someone or do things yourself. Be sure to give yourself enough time to plan your wedding. Even for a small ceremony and reception, it’s not like hosting a big birthday party. Things take time, from dress alterations to catering and finding your dream location. More time equals less stress, so plan at least 12 months of prep time. 

Is 3 months enough time to plan a wedding? Generally, no. Ask any professional and they would recommend at least a year, even nine months can be pushing it. But if you’re okay with things being a bit more casual or you’re working with a small budget, it’s not impossible to bring together a celebration in that amount of time. How do you plan a wedding step by step? Read on for a comprehensive guide to your dream wedding. 

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• How to Plan a Wedding Step by Step
• How to Plan a Wedding on a Small Budget

How to Plan a Wedding Step by Step

Step 1: Set Your Budget

As previously mentioned, your budget will rule on every decision you make when it comes to how to plan a wedding. You can have the most beautiful day of your dreams on any size budget, paired with realistic expectations. In addition to setting your budget, decide how firm you intend to be with sticking to it.

Do a little research on the average cost of food, venues and photographers to help you set a realistic budget. Get comfortable with the fact that some things might have to change if you’re working with a tight budget. The main categories to consider here are as follows:

• Venue
• Food and Drink
• Photographer
• Florals
• Dress
• Honeymoon
• Gifts

Step 2: Decide What Matters Most

A close second step in how to plan a wedding, after setting a budget, is honing in on the things that are most important to you on your special day. If you insist on exquisite food, are you willing to cut down the size of your guest list or select a cheaper venue?

Or is inviting each and every person from your massive family and friends list the only thing that matters? Discuss this with your significant other to get on the same page. This is a good time to think about who you want in your wedding party and to extend those invitations as well. 

Step 3: Lay Out the Broad Details

Now that you know loosely how much you want to spend and what matters the most to you, it’s time to start thinking about big-picture details like wedding decoration ideas, color schemes and maybe dreaming up a list of venues you’d like to look at. 

Also, think about roughly when you’d like to get married. Do you envision an all-white affair in the heat of summer, or are you dreaming of bold wedding colors for a Fall wedding, surrounded by a rainbow of trees? You should decide on your guest list around this time as well.

Not necessarily a final count, but make a list or two and figure out approximately how many people you’re going to invite. This is around the time you should think about creating a wedding binder to keep all your lists, notes and ideas in one place, along with receipts and confirmations from vendors.

This would be the right time to interview and hire a wedding planner if that’s the route you’re going to take. It doesn’t hurt to hire your officiant and photographer around this time as well.

Step 4: Secure Your Venue

After deciding on a window of time or a season, make a list of venues that appeal to you and tour them. You might find out your dream venue is booked solid for the next two years. Are you going to wait, or pivot and find something similar? It’s vital to have your guest count pretty solid at this point because many venues have size restrictions. 

This is where your list of what matters most will start to come into play. Would you rather invite everyone on your list, or make some cuts for your dream location? After touring, it’s time to put a deposit on your venue. This is one of the first main steps in how to plan a wedding that makes the whole thing feel real.

Step 5: What to Wear

Once you know where you’re going to exchange vows and celebrate, you’ve got to be looking forward to your wedding look! The venue doesn’t have to guide your dress choice, but it can. If you’re getting married on the beach, a ballgown might not be the most practical choice. 

It’s up to you how to plan a wedding and make it your own. Both gowns and tuxedos or suits will require a few revisions to ensure they fit like a glove. Allow at least six months to receive your dress after ordering, and plan for several fittings.

Step 6: Trial and Error

If you’re a bride, your wedding day hair and makeup are just as important to your overall experience as your dress. Book some trial sessions with hair and makeup artists to figure out how you’d like to complete your look on the big day.

Don’t forget to start trying on shoes that are both stylish and comfortable. You could end up on your feet for quite a while, so consider bringing an extra pair if your dress shoes could get uncomfortable. 

Step 7: Send Your Save the Dates

When you’re figuring out how to plan a wedding, sending out your save-the-dates and invitations is one of the most fun parts of the experience. Now that you’ve nailed down your guest list and venue, it’s time to invite people.

Allow yourself a couple of weeks to organize and compile addresses and final counts for invitations. After deciding on your theme or color scheme, this will guide your choices with invitations.

This can be a little time-consuming, but it’s also a fun activity to do with your fiancé as you attach hundreds of stamps and maybe hand-write addresses. You generally want to send your save-the-dates eight months or more in advance.

If your guests are going to travel, the sooner in advance the better. Six months would be the absolute minimum amount of time to send these out. 

Step 8: Register

Enjoy creating a registry with your fiancé as you plan all the things you’d like to have in your new life and home together. Online registries are seamless and pretty easy to create. You can also set up a cash option for people to gift money towards a honeymoon or new home. 

Step 9: Accommodation

Even if your wedding is in the town where you live, chances are good you will have at least a few out-of-town guests. It’s always a nice touch to book a hotel block with a small discount available to those who are traveling to celebrate you. 

This is a good time to set up a wedding website too, where all the information your guests might request can be put into one place. Don’t forget to book yourselves a place to stay for the wedding night!

It’s not a requirement when figuring out how to plan a wedding that you don’t sleep at home on your special night, but enjoying a night away makes it feel extra special. 

Step 10: Book Things

After a few months of inspiration and Pinterest planning, it’s time to start booking things. When figuring out how to plan a wedding, it’s helpful to break things down into categories or checklists to ensure no detail is forgotten.

Hire your caterer and decide on the menu. Figure out if your venue allows alcohol, and any requirements they have before making plans on the beverages. Don’t forget your cake! Sampling wedding cake flavors just might be the most fun part of how to plan a wedding.

Don’t forget about music (DJ or band?), florals that fit your color scheme and budget and other table decorations. You’ll need to account for flatware, glasses, linens, candles and other table runners and extra touches like fairy lights or lanterns. Don’t forget to consider parking and possible transportation for guests if your ceremony and reception are in different places.

This is one of the most important details in how to plan a wedding, whether that’s hiring a valet, offering shuttle transports or simply ensuring there’s adequate parking at your venues. 

Step 11: Rings, Dancing and Other Outfits

A few months into the process of how to plan a wedding you’ll need to consider things like your first dance, father-daughter dance and more. It’s a good time to take some dance lessons if you’re wanting to really nail it. 

This is also a good time to select outfits for the bride and groom’s party, flower girls and other important roles. Don’t forget to visit your jeweler and select wedding bands, if you’re going to do that. It’s never too soon to start planning your vows and rehearsing them. 

Step 12: Gifts and Extra Special Details

It’s always a nice touch to make gifting a part of your big day. They don’t have to be expensive, but take the time to make them thoughtful. If you really want to look like you know how to plan a wedding like a pro, think of some nice wedding favors for guests that will come in handy. If you’re getting married someplace warm, paper fans with your initials or a wedding logo are much appreciated. 

Lately, custom matches have become a huge trend, making it easy for guests to light up a celebratory cigar at your event, and remember it fondly when they’re lighting a candle at home.

Other things like take-home treats, miniature lip balms, or providing plastic flip flops for when your guests want to take off their dress shoes and dance the night away. 

Other wedding gift ideas could include something special for your new mother and father-in-law, a sentimental token for your new husband or wife to remember this day and little gifts for the wedding party like robes, duffel bags or other cute, customized tokens for your big day. 

Step 13: Final Words

A few weeks before the big day, make sure you have your vows written down on something nice and durable for safekeeping. Go over the final seating charts, and prepare a few words to share with your guests at the rehearsal dinner and main event.

And start breaking in your wedding shoes at home! If you’ve hired someone to tell you how to plan a wedding, confirm details with them regarding catering, flowers, transportation and the timeline for your big day. You can never go over the details too many times. 

Step 14: Make it Legal

Don’t forget that a wedding is more than just a party and a public declaration of your love. It’s a legal arrangement, too (at least typically). Head to the courthouse in advance of your actual wedding and find out what you need to do, what you need to sign and who needs to be there to make this thing official. Without the paperwork, you just figured out how to plan a wedding that’s only for show. 

Step 15: Post-Wedding Details

Depending on when you want to take a trip, you can begin your honeymoon planning when you start figuring out how to plan a wedding or wait until after so as to not double your stress.

The latest trend is to take a mini-moon, which is usually a local or relatively local trip for a long weekend right after your wedding. Some couples elect to not take a big extravagant honeymoon and put that money towards a new home. It’s up to you if, when and where you celebrate your union. 

How to Plan a Wedding on a Small Budget

Whether you’re working with a big budget or a tight one, it’s important to remember that this day is about your love and commitment to your fiancé. The other details of how to plan a wedding can create a lot of stress, but when you come back to what really matters, it can feel more grounding. The biggest way to save money on your special day is to do things yourself where possible.

TikTok has blown up with videos of brides detailing how they saved thousands of dollars by doing their wedding florals themselves. You can also get crafty by making a homemade altar of floral arch and keeping things minimalist.

One of the biggest ways to plan a wedding on a budget is to keep it small. The bigger the guest list, the more mouths you have to feed, invitations you have to order and drinks you have to account for.

Many people choose to get married with only close family and friends to save on costs, and they end up loving how intimate the whole experience feels.  When it comes to food, serving dishes family style or even as a buffet will help you cut a few corners. If weather allows, choosing an outdoor location for both your ceremony and reception can save you some money, though you’ll need to rent a tent just in case.

When you’re trying to figure out how to plan a wedding, with or without professional help, you’ve got to keep coming back to your budget. At the end of the day, it’s just a party and public declaration of your love in front of family and friends, so you don’t need to spend money you don’t have. It’s about your love and commitment to one another.

Always weigh your options and think about things before signing contracts and booking vendors or adding extra things. Ask yourself if these new additions are must-haves that are crucial to your day, or if they’re things you can live without. 

Speaking of contracts– read yours! Even if you don’t use a wedding planner, take the time to read through contracts with caterers, venues, florists, musicians and anyone else who might be part of your special day. You’ll want to know what you’re agreeing to in case of a change of plans or other issues.

Lastly, ask your bridal party or groomsmen party for help. Don’t forget that a bridesmaid or maid of honor is there to adjust your dress and veil but also emotionally support you and help things go smoothly so you can enjoy your big day. There’s a lot that goes into learning how to plan a wedding, but don’t forget to enjoy the process just as much as the day itself.

For even more fun wedding ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!