If you google 'how to plan my wedding' you will find 1000s if not 10s of 1000s of guides to planning a wedding. It can be overwhelming. And to be fair, overwhelming is probably not what you need when you are at the beginning of the wedding planning stage.
Here's what myself, and many of my brides did to get started.
Get a notebook. Go get some cake and coffee with your hubby-to-be (any excuse for cake ;) and take the notebook and a nice pen with you.
1. Set in stone. Start by listing the key elements of the wedding, which go like this:
Preferred Date*:
Bridesmaids:
Groomsmen:
Maid of Honour:
Best Man:
Honeymoon:
First Dance Song:
Those are generally the things that you probably know already, and possibly won't change throughout the whole process. (*may be venue dependent...or even price!)
2. Variables. Now, look at all the things that are reliant on availability and may be more of a list type scenario.
Times of ceremony (most people would opt for around 2pm as that gives you time to get ready. It takes longer than you think! However some venues, like mine, squeeze 2 weddings into a day so I opted for 12pm - I wish I'd picked 2pm just so you know).
Time of reception. Generally this is when evening guests arrive.
Venues
Venues for reception (if different to ceremony venue)
Guestlist
Themes
Flowers/Cake/Favours/Hair/Makeup/Shoes/Nails/Veil
Photographer and videographer
DJ or live music, or both
Rings
Booking registrar or priest
Booking registry office announcement
Dress!
Groom suit!
Wedding party outfits (generally decided after the theme is done)
Transport/Accomodation
Extras - magician, fireworks, bouncy castle, photobooth, candles, candyfloss machine etc
Food
Wedding stationery (save the date cards, name holders, thank you cards etc)
And anything else you can think of!
This is a brainstorming session, just an chance to get everything down on paper. Get it out of your head so you can start researching and planning the all important bits.
If I've missed anything, let me know!