You said “yes!” when he asked the question, unless you were like me who just managed a shriek of joy, and now you have questions!  After you’ve told your family and close friends and posted it on Facebook, you have to actually start planning!   Well what are your first steps?!  There’s so much to think about from the venue, to the date, to all the different vendors you have to choose!

So what do you do first?  Here’s a list of the first 5 things to do when planning a wedding:

1. Pick the season that you’re hoping to get married in.

When you decide what season you want to get married in, you narrow down your dates and really determine a big piece of the theme of your wedding.

2. Find a venue.

Based off of what time of the year you want to get married at, select your venue to determine your date.  Most venues have long lists of events going on, so if you have to have a specific venue, that will most likely determine your date.  In addition, before you hire any other vendors, they need to know the date and the venue.

3. Find your photographer.

Photographers are generally the vendors that book their weddings the farthest in advance.  Why? Unlike most other vendors, photographers can usually only do one wedding per day.  This makes their calendar much more limited than everyone else’s.

4. Schedule your engagement session.

I love when my couples schedule their engagement sessions pretty soon after they’ve gotten engaged.  There is still so much excitement and you’re wanting to celebrate, which makes beautiful pictures! Plus, more than likely, the photos you take are going to be used for the next item on your list…

5. Send out a Save the Date

Save the dates are an awesome way to let people you care about know when you’re getting married! It gives them plenty of notice for that date so that hopefully they can do their best to make it there!  This is especially important if you have family or friends coming in from out of town.  Most likely they’ll want to have the option to book their flights in advance.  Plus, if you send a Save the Date out after your engagement session, your family and friends also get a cute photo of you two!

These steps are just my own personal opinion, but I think they work well to make sure you get the first couple things you need to do knocked off your list of things to do!