The Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist: Tips for a Stress-Free Journey

The question is popped, the rings are out, your eyes are watery… but how did we get here?

With so many tasks to take care of and details to arrange, planning a wedding can seem

overwhelming. However, if you give yourself enough time to plan and sort the tasks into a

structured planning checklist and timeline, the job becomes less stressful and more enjoyable.

Placing orders and communicating with vendors early in the process such as Charleston

wedding rentals pertaining to items such as tables & chairs will help immensely. By breaking

down the year month by month, individuals are taking on the planning process in bite-size

pieces. This will ultimately make planning far less overwhelming. 

Although 12 to 14 months is the ideal length for a wedding, every couple's engagement time is

different. If your engagement length is shorter, CHEERS advice is to condense the wedding

schedule. For example if you’re getting married in six months, try to complete all the wedding-

planning checklist tasks designated for month 12 to 6 in that very first month. By taking this

approach you’ll be right on schedule with everything else. 

Insure the Engagement Ring

While we believe this should be a pre-wedding planning activity, it deserves special mention

with the investment. Our team suggests purchasing insurance for your ring as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, crazy things happen and you don't want to be stuck on the altar with no ring

because it slid off while you were skiing in Aspen a month before your wedding. 

Determine your budget

It’s time to do the math and crunch some not-so-fun numbers. Before you can start anything,

you have to figure out who’s paying for what and determine your weddings bottom line. From

there, you’ll want to break down said budget - what’s a priority and what’s not? Maybe you skip

the caviar and ensure your table & chair rentals Charleston SC match the theme of the event,

and are available for your wedding date. 

One important key to this process is knowing that your numbers will constantly change. Guest’s

will drop out, and people will ask for plus ones - since these numbers will change as you plan,

it's smart to start a detailed spreadsheet from the get-go. This will help keep track of spending

and make it easy to adjust numbers along the way. 

Make a Guest List

If only you could invite any and all, right? Chances are because of budgeting reasons, you can’t,

which is why you have to put a cap on dishing out invites. When deciding your head count,

always have the budget in the back of your mind. From there, figure out how you’re going to

divy up the list. If you and your partner are footing the bill, assume you’ll get 70 percent of the

invites, while both sets of parents will split the other 30 percent. 

Hire a wedding Planner

A big question you will need to ask yourself and your significant other is what type of wedding

do we want to host? Again, this will depend on your budget - fair warning most everything will.

But if your funds allow - or if your peace of mind depends on it - spend the money and hire the

planner! We are often asked - How much does a wedding planner cost in Charleston? And our

response to all couples is that it depends on the type of wedding you’re looking to host. Do you want a high-end planner that will manage the entire process or do you want a wedding planner

that is affordable but will not oversee all steps.

At the end of the day this person will be your right-hand and will guide you in all decisions, from

selecting a venue to tracking your budget and handling all the logistics.

Select the Venue

You know who you’re marrying - Now the real question is where and when? The scheduling of a

venue use to be pretty simple; however, COVID made this process extremely complicated and

our team is certain it will continue to be backlogged for the next two years. Choosing the venue

is one of the most important decisions you’ll make.

The location affects almost everything from

how many people you invite to what kind of flowers go on the table. Chances are, it's also going

to be the biggest chunk out of your budget. This is why it is imperative to explore all options,

visit all available, and ultimately select a place that fits your guest count, style, and budget. 

Last but certainly not least don't forget to enjoy the process. You only get married once or

maybe twice :) Remind yourself and your significant other that stressing over the process will

not help! Instead concentrate on booking items as early as possible such as a cool wedding car

rental as you wave goodbye to your friends and family post wedding. There is

nothing swaggier than a vintage get-away car pulling away from the wedding venue as the

sparklers are flying!