First comes the romance of the engagement, then comes the overwhelming reality of not knowing where to start! Don’t panic? We have Wedding + Party Planner, Jamie O’Donnell of Jamie O’ + Co, here to share the top three questions you need to ask yourself before starting the wedding planning process:

  1. What’s Your Vision:

It’s important to ask yourself and your fiancé, what feeling or theme of wedding do you want?  For example: A beach wedding, a ballroom wedding, an outdoor wedding or a nontraditional wedding with some character… Identifying what type of wedding you envision will help you determine three really important factors to start your planning process:

  • The Venue
  • The Dress
  • The Colors
  1. What’s Your Budget:

Think about BUDGET! This is probably the single most important factor you have to know before you start booking appointments or signing contracts. This number will help you determine:

  • The Number of Guests you can invite
  • What elements you want to include in your wedding like food, flowers and entertainment
  • Key Budget Tip to keep in mind: Food and Beverage will always be half of a budget so everything else has to come out of the other 50% (flowers, venue, chairs, linens, DJ, limo, ect…)
  • *I have a budget template that I use in my business that couples can download and use.
  1. Who Should I Work With?

 Hire Credible Vendors:

It’s vitally important to hire credible vendors who will be there to execute the day you have planned and paid for… I always say “Your wedding is only as good as your weakest vendor” so make sure to pick experienced and invested vendors to build a strong team.  Keep in mind the old adages:  “You get what you pay for”  AND  “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is” so Do Your Homework before you hire someone.

Pitfalls:Vendors disappear prior to the wedding after a client has paid themVendors show up unprepared or missing items you planned and paid forThey are late to load in and cause a domino effect for everyone else involved in setup of the wedding

All of this can be avoided if you hire credible vendors with strong experience and references of past weddings. The honest truth is something will inevitably go wrong on every event and having vendors who have the experience and the know how to problem solve onsite is a benefit worth more than money in having a flawless event.Hire a Wedding Planner:

Planning a wedding is a full-time job and can become completely overwhelming trying to plan on top of your full-time career. There is a misconception that a wedding planner costs you money when in fact they can actually save you money through their contacts, advice and knowledge. Planning events is an actual skill-set and when you are investing $20k to hundreds of thousands of dollars, you want to make sure you have someone to manage and watch over your investment.twitter: @JamieOandCohttp://jamieo.co