FIRST 5 STEPS TO PLAN YOUR DREAM WEDDING

Hello lovely readers, welcome back! We are so excited to share our first 5 stages of wedding planning with you today. So, I guess I should start by saying huge congratulations on your engagement! It is such an exciting time and hopefully you are celebrating in style with lots of bubbly.

Celebrate this time just the two of you as being newly engaged is a truly magical moment in life! Enjoy the here and now, because you will never get this time back again! Relive your engagement story over and over again because this moment will soon pass and next thing you know you’ll be sky deep in wedding admin, moodboards, magazines and pinning like crazy on Pinterest.

The start of the wedding planning process can become a very stressful and overwhelming time. You might be asking what are the first steps? What should I do first? Or perhaps you are 10 steps ahead and already thinking about inviting everyone… Hold that thought, grab a cuppa and take a read first steps to planning your wedding!

GUESTLIST

Ok, first things first, the dreaded Guestlist. Knowing the size of your wedding guest list is so important as without you won’t know which venues can host your wedding and number of guests or where to allocate your budget (yes, we will get to that soon!).

Start to create a draft and be really selective of who you want to celebrate this moment with you. We truly believe in listening to your gut, always remember this is your wedding. You can create different elements to the Guestlist such as family, mutual friends, must have family and friends. Decide if you would like to invite any evening guests and start brainstorming this list.

We typically advise that 8-10% of your wedding guests will decline due to other commitments. Create a secondary list of guests to invite so you are prepared when you receive the RSVPs.

BUDGET

The most important task is confirming and sticking to your budget. It is critical to know the top end of the budget so you can decide what kind of wedding is available within the budget available. We always advise our couples to factor in a contingency of 10%.

You may also need to have a serious conversation with family members if any contributions are expected.

TIMING

Decide when you would like to marry. The wedding season starts in April and ends in September which means the majority of weddings take place during this months. This means that good wedding suppliers get booked up very quickly, sometimes years in advance especially Wedding Planners, Photographers, Videographers and Caterers. Decide when is the best time for you both, do you have any big work commitments due or around a certain time of the year that you may need to consider?

Another timing element to consider is how much time can you both allocate to wedding planning? Do you have hours upon hours available, because try me you will need this! In the U.K it takes on average 250 hours to plan a wedding, that’s nearly the equivalent of another Full-Time job – especially if you are planning to have a short engagement.

WEDDING VENUE & LOCATION

Now this is where the fun commences.

You might already know your dream wedding venue, so you are ready to send a few enquiries to confirm availability. Some venues can be booked up to 3-years in advance, so if you have your heart set on a dream wedding venue you may need to be more flexible with the timing and date of your wedding. Are you happy to wait 2 years for your dream date or do you want to say I Do sooner? Work out what’s more important.

Wedding professionals such as Wedding Planners know the market very well and can save a significant amount of time and heartache in searching for your dream wedding venue. It might be worth considering the different options.

WEDDING PLANNING SERVICES

It’s time to have a serious conversation and confirm how much resource and time you have available for planning your dream wedding. If it feels the impossible, then it might be worth looking into the services of a Wedding Planner. An experienced wedding planner will help save your hours upon hours, guide you through the wedding planning process and offer help and support where needed.

Wedding Planners offer a range of services from Full Wedding Planning, Partial Wedding Planning & Design and Wedding Management also known as On-The-Day-Coordination. You might want to plan some elements of your wedding but no others, then a Partial Package would be a great alternative.

The Events Designers have been lucky enough to support and guide couples through the wedding planning process over the years and love bringing wedding dreams and visions to reality. We ensure the wedding planning process is enjoyable and a happy time full of celebrations, after all what’s the point in amazing day if the journey has been miserable! We truly believe it’s about the whole experience. If you feel you need the support of a Wedding Planning you can check out our wedding planning services here.

Join us next month for the next installment of how to plan your dream wedding!

With Love,

Your Guide to Choosing the Perfect Wedding Color Schemes

It can be tricky to decide on a final color scheme for your wedding day. You want to make sure everything looks as wonderful as you have imagined it for your big day! Lucky for you, we’ve gathered the most important tips you need to choose the perfect color combinations for your wedding.

Consider your skin tone

Certain colors look better one certain tones of skin, so choose a color that is going to compliment your complexion. On your special day, you want to look radiant, not washed out. You don’t want a color that is going to pick up unpleasant undertones of your skin. Let’s be honest, we all know there are certain colors that, when we wear them, they make us sparkle and make us look refreshed and vibrant. Conversely, there are some colors that can totally drain the color from your face.
Most likely, your bridesmaids will be wearing the colors of your wedding theme, so although you may not be wearing them, the colors are important to choose with your complexion in mind.

Consider the season

Think of the natural landscape during the season of your wedding, and you can find some wonderful inspiration for your wedding color schemes. The best springtime wedding colors have some charming pastels and neutrals in them, without anything too dark. If you have a wedding in the fall months, you want to consider incorporating fall colors of warm oranges, purples, and pomegranate into your wedding. Beautiful colors for winter time are emerald green, deep reds, and cool blues. Think of a winter scene with glistening snow – wintery white or silver is also very nice. In contrast, warm gold looks beautiful during the summer season along with bright colors like pinks, yellows, and bright blues.

Do your research

If you have some colors in mind for your wedding, try to find photographs of other weddings with similar color combinations so you can see how these would look. Pinterest is a great place to look, as well as photographs of real weddings.

Choose complimentary colors

Look at a color wheel to check that your chosen colors will look good together and compliment one another. Often times, you pick one dominant color and one complimentary color (or one warm color and one cool color). The dominant color can be more bold, while a complimentary color is more neutral. Picking two bold colors, such as fuchsia and teal will look too bold and will not photograph well. If you want to have some soft colors such as blush, beige, or white in your wedding, consider throwing in a complementary color, such as seafoam or maroon to add a pop of color and prevent your decor from looking washed out or too plain.

Consider your venue

Make sure you wait until after booking your wedding venue to officially decide on your wedding color palette. The interior might have a patterned carpet, wall art, or other decorations that could clash with certain colors. You don’t have to worry about matching your colors exactly to the decor of your venue, but you just make sure that they mesh with the venue’s overall style and vibe. For example, if you’re getting married at a seaside country club, soft greens or blues would be lovely, while if your venue is a rustic barn, black and yellow may not be quite as fitting as, let’s say, dusty rose and cream.

Find the right vibe

Colors can definitely radiate a certain energy, especially when there is more than one. Think about the feeling you get when you imagine red and black, compared with baby blue and taupe. When choosing your wedding color schemes, consider the type of feeling, or aura, you want everyone to experience at your wedding. Also, keep in mind that your wedding isn’t just any sort of party, but one that is important and has a sense of seriousness to it. With this in mind, you don’t want to choose colors like purple, pink, and green, that might feel more like a child’s birthday party than a wedding.

Don’t forget about textures

Incorporating wonderful textures such as burlap, velvet, or sequins into your decor is a great way to add some style to your wedding day. These can compliment your wedding color schemes beautifully, and bring some glamour to your decor if you have more neutral colors. Throw in some burlap candle holders,  metallic gold sequin tablecloths, or velvet ribbons for napkin holders.

Find inspiration

Choose a color that inspires you. If daffodils are your favorite flower, you can pick up color inspiration from that and use crisp whites and vibrant yellows in your wedding color palette. Or, choose a color that has always been a favorite of yours. Don’t let someone else dictate your colors if it’s not something you’re crazy about. Your wedding day is supposed to be all about you and what you love, so make sure you have a color combination that makes you happy.
Another great idea, that is our wonderful secret, is to keep an eye out the next time you’re shopping in a home department store for the decorative pillows. Designers are very talented and paid to know exactly what colors compliment one another. The color combinations of decorative throw pillows can be a great source of inspiration for your wedding day color scheme!

Don’t go color-crazy

Everything doesn’t have to be perfectly matched. Doing this can make the day look overworked. You don’t have to incorporate your wedding colors into every layer of icing on your cake, or ribbons tied on your wedding chairs. Color coding everything might be a big wedding planning mistake and will not photograph well.
You may find a great combination of colors, but keep your wedding day colors down to a total of 3-5. Anything over this will be too busy and may risk looking unorganized or random.

Coordinate with your vendors

Ask for a sample of the centerpiece bouquet so you can know your exact wedding colors. Someone’s definition of “coral” can be quite different from someone else’s, so make sure you get on the same page as your florists when it comes to the flowers that will be adorned all over your wedding day. A wonderful tool for making sure your colors are coordinated is to look at Pantone, which allows you to identify specific colors. You can then share with all of your vendors to make sure all your colors are cohesive (and that your wedding cake matches your bouquet ribbons).

 Your wedding day should be everything you’ve dreamt of, and more! Make sure that you choose colors for your wedding that represent you and make you feel good. It’s your special day, so decorate it to fit your style.

Wedding Planning Services

Get in touch today

LET’S SAVE THE DATE!

Bookings are now open for 2019 / 2020 and we still have some availability for 2019 weddings. Here at The Events Designers we only take on a select number of weddings each year. This means we can concentrate on the finer details and focus on making your celebration as magical and beautiful as possible.

If our style resonates with you and you feel we can help to create your dream wedding then please feel free to contact us and schedule a free wedding planning consultation. We can’t wait to find out more about your special day… Let’s save the date!

CONTACT DETAILS

Contact: Chizoba Eze

Mobile: 07088350880

Email: chizobaexcel@gmail.com

Office: Wedding Inspiration Naija, 95 Femi Killa Street,Ago Palace Way,Okota,Lagos.