5 Planning Tips for the Newly Engaged Couple in Knoxville, TN

2/21/2023

With Valentines Day having come and went, lots of couples are getting engaged. Congratulations! But, what now? Here are my five best tips to start your wedding planning after your engagement:

Tip 1 - Create a Budget

I know a lot of you might be dragging your feet at this one or even saying, "Everyone tells us that!" But that's because it's true! The first step to a stress free wedding is laying out a budget - before you get wrapped up in planning, setting a date, or even doing research on different vendors.
Yes, research, planning, and date setting can help you fine tune your budget, but setting that rough budget will help exponentially with your stress levels in the long run. You now have a guideline for researching your vendors based on your overall budget. Here's how to create one:

Sit down with your fiancé and whomever else is helping pay and decide on an overall budget.
Allocate that total budget based on your top 3 and your bottom 3 most wanted vendors.
Remember that different budgets such as your catering budget and your floral budget are based on how many guests you'd like to invite and how many you'd like to have in your wedding party.
Budget some extra money for any unforeseen expenses that might come your way.
Save some money in the budget for a day-of coordinator! Even if you'd like to plan your own wedding, a day-of coordinator is a must.

Tip 2 - Decide on a "Vibe" for your wedding

Whether that be a rustic outdoor wedding or a elegant ballroom style wedding, the "vibe" that you want your wedding to be is an important factor in planning your wedding. What you want your wedding to look like is going to determine what vendors you choose to hire.
If you want that outdoor, rustic wedding, you might choose to go with a venue that has beautiful scenery with a great place for an outdoor ceremony. However, if you want your style to be an elegant ballroom type wedding, you might not care as much about a venue's outdoor ceremony locations and instead choose one with multiple indoor setup locations.
Remember, whatever style is most comfortable for you, is how you should plan your wedding. Don't ever let someone else influence how you want your wedding to look because that day is earmarked just for you!

Tip 3 - Start looking for a Venue!

Your venue is arguably your most important vendor. Without a venue, you'd have no location for your wedding to take place! It is important to go ahead and find and book your wedding venue and here's why:

Booking your venue determines your wedding date.

Whether you have a date in mind or you just like a particular venue, until you book that venue, nothing is locked into place. Once you book that venue and your date is set in stone, you can breath a sigh of relief. Remember - in Tennessee October is the busiest wedding month. If this is when you want to get married, move in fast!

Booking your venue determines your vendors.

Whether you're looking to have your wedding in-state or out-of-state, booking your venue will determine the location of your wedding. Depending on where you're looking, this may also determine what vendors you can book. Make sure you check the location of services before booking any of your other vendors. Your venue may also have a list of exclusive vendors that they work with.

Tip 4 - Hire a Day-Of Coordinator

Even after you've planned your wedding, it's not over! There's a lot of work that goes into your actual wedding day, including on the big day. You're going to need someone to help set up décor, welcome in vendors, let everyone know where to set up, make sure everyone's on time, cue the ceremony, seat the guests, cue the DJ, and the list goes on and on.
This is why we recommend hiring a day-of coordinator. None of these things are things you want to do at your own wedding, nor do you want your mom or aunt off doing either. You want to relax with all your people, enjoying the beginning of a new marriage. Your day-of coordinator will handle anything that may arise on the wedding day making your day as stress-free as possible.
Along with taking care of everything on your wedding day, your day-of coordinator will also handle things pre and post wedding. Things such as communicating with your vendors all the way to distributing last payments and gratuity can be handled by your day-of coordinator. They can help you get all those last details together and make sure you've missed nothing for your big day. Contact us about our day-of coordination package today so your wedding is stress free!

Tip 5 - Have fun!

Even through the planning process, your goal is to celebrate the start of what will be a great marriage! The marriage isn't in the details, the details just elevate your beautiful relationship. This process should be a fun time for you and your fiancé to plan something together.
Especially on your wedding day, remember to have fun! This day is the start of something new, not the end of a process. All your hard work is coming together, enjoy it! If you keep this in mind, the rest will fall into place.

For more information, check out the segment our Owner, Julie Davenport, did on Living East Tennessee Channel 6 here!