YAY! You’re engaged!! You have Pinterest boards full of ideas on planning the perfect day, and a venue in mind that you absolutely love. Being engaged and planning your wedding is a special time – and a stressful time! To help handle the stress, we’ve created our Top Five Things We Want You To Know About Planning Your Wedding.

1. Trust your planner – This is basically our golden rule! We want your special day to exceed your expectations and we will go above and beyond to do so… please don’t doubt us!! Seriously, we are in love with our jobs, we have years of experience with every detail that goes into planning and we’ve established strong, positive relationships with amazing vendors. We promise your special day will be one for the books (we want it just as much as you do!) so sit back and relax… we’ve got this 🙂 Also, know that hiring a planner doesn’t mean you don’t get to have fun planning and picking out details for your wedding.  We want you to be as involved in the planning as you’d like and having a experienced planner allows you to focus more on the fun and less on the logistics!  Our main goal is to guide you through the experience and make it fun, stress-free and memorable!
2. Hire a (professional) videographer – Some couples choose to forego a videographer because they think having a photographer is enough to document the day. Don’t get us wrong, photographers do an outstanding job at doing that, but we think having those live moments of most important day of your life (thus far) to relive again and again is the best decision you can make! They will capture the raw emotion while you’re walking down the aisle, tears at the altar, your Dad’s speech during the reception and your wedding party’s awesome dance moves – and who wouldn’t want to replay those moments? There’s something about hearing the voices and watching the moments in real time that allows you to feel the day more deeply. It’s also something to pass down for generations to come.  Videography is not what it was 10 years ago.  A great videographer is there in an unobtrusive way capturing those moments behind the scenes so you will barely even notice them during the day!  So, hire a videographer… it will be worth every penny and it will allow you to relive your day for the rest of your life.  We guarantee it.
3. Be open with vendors – They want to help you just as much as we do! Often times vendors will ask your budget and we promise it’s solely because they want to give you realistic expectations of what they can do within your price range (they are definitely not taking advantage of you!!). On your day, you will have an entire team pulling together to make your visions come to life and we can only accomplish that if you are open and honest with both how you imagine it and the budget we need to work with.
4. Allow your friends and family to attend and celebrate your event, not work it (aka Hire Professionals) – So, your sister’s boyfriend sometimes DJs in a club on the weekends and has offered to DJ your wedding.  Please say no. Your aunt used to be a florist 10 years ago and has offered to procure and arrange the flowers for your wedding when she gets into town (she lives 3 hours away).  Please say no.  Your best friend does some side photography work as a hobby and has offered to shoot your wedding for free.  Please say no.  We know all of these options sound like great ways to save some money but for the sanctity of these relationships with your friends and family, for your sanity leading up to the wedding, and for the assurance of the look and feel you have dreamed of for your wedding, we beg you to let your friends and family celebrate alongside you as guests and hire professionals to make your wedding perfect and stress-free in every way.

5. Stay true to yourself  – Over the months (or years) leading up to the proposal you have painted a picture about the way you see your wedding.  It can be overwhelming digesting the endless recommendations and advice you receive from family and friends. Be sure the decisions you make are because you and your significant other truly want it (after all, your wedding should be a direct reflection of who you are as a couple!). If you don’t totally love a tradition you don’t have to include it. And, if you’d rather have milk and cookies instead of cake… go for it!

Wishing you a happy planning experience! For more wedding tips, inspiration, and behind the scenes looks at A Southern Soiree, follow us on Instagram!