Budgeting and planning for your wedding.
With every wedding I shoot, I learn something new. With every new couple I work with I also learn new things, and new ideas.
All this information builds up and before I knew it I knew more about weddings than I could possibly remember all in my brain. Be it timelines, sunset time, supplier information or budgets I’m here to help. I guess you could look at me as a free wedding planner?!
This is why the bride guide exists: you’ll find it as part of this website.
It’s a repository of lots of useful information that can help you with ideas, visions and blue sky ideas to help make your wedding your own and give you so many happy memories of your magical day. Feel free to browse it at your leisure and let me know if you need any help or further advice.
More importantly, don’t be afraid to ask if there is something else not covered that you’d like to know about. I don’t know that people want to know more about a topic until people tell me, and once I do I get busy making an article. Also, there is no such thing as a stupid question: if you don’t know you need to do so! If I don’t know the answer I will know someone who does. So actually, I’ll rephrase my earlier statement: the only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask.
In terms of planning I’m always there to sit down with you and work together on making things perfect. It’s your wedding day and I want you to have the most stressfree enjoyable day possible. Appropriate and considered timings are the key to this. I know only too well after years of weddings how much time you need for different things, and also how the time of year affects sunset and available light. The most important thing bar none is that you are spending plenty of quality time with your best friend. Therefore, do not be surprised when I send you away to head to the bar with them for some “you” time!
I also know the best time for photos, and how best to use the time on your day to maximise the opportunities you have both with you friends and family, but also just the two of you. It’s so VERY important you spend time together solo: it’s your wedding day and time to reflect on what you’ve achieved this day with your soulmate cannot be forgotten. To this end, sunset is a perfect time for this, and I’ve done a page on exactly that here.
Also, knowing what, where and when goes a long way towards making the day that little bit easier and a lot more fun. The software I use to manage my business is really useful in this, and I’ll always share the timeline it creates with you so we can tweak, amend and so on to make life simple. You’ll see a picture of it below.
Also, one of my brides, Beth, took the timeline I created for them and then turned it into a masterpieces for both bride and groom also pictured below. She’s been kind enough to share them with me so I’ll also put these together for you if you’d like. The only thing is you’ll need to do is buy Beth a glass of prosecco ?
Also, for a proper view of a whole wedding day and the timeline that creates, take a look at my sample wedding day. It’s 14 hours of happiness, and you’ll find it here!
And to help you realise it’s not just me that’s worried about timelines, you’ll see a link to one of my favourite venues, Dodmoor House. They’ve put together several sample timelines as well: maybe one of them will rock your world?
Seeing as Beth is SO amazing at putting together clever ideas and is totally OCD about planning, I asked her to do me an article about how she managed the planning process. Luckily she said yes, and you’ll find it at the link below. THANKS BETH!!!! xx
In terms of budgets I’m totally aware money doesn’t grow on trees, and therefore I’m always happy to sit down with you to work together on ways to maximise what you have for as little as possible. Be it suits, bridesmaids dresses, cars, toastmasters, cake or so on, there are lots of little tricks and tips to help here. The only thing I will say is try not to skimp on your photographer: I know I’m biased but your photos are the only thing left after your wedding day and they are the key to unlocking the memories held deep within of your day in the spotlight.
To this end, I wrote an article on why your photographer is your second most important decision: I was so surprised to find so many of my previous brides actually upgraded this to the first when I asked them if the article was fair. You’ll find it here.
What does this mean to you? Well I guess if you like, you buy a wedding photographer and get a wedding planner for free. No, it’s not my prime role. No, I don’t know everything. But yes, I will certainly help in every way I can, and I’ll always go the extra mile for my friends.
Phil is my Assistant Planner!
Not only are you going to be our photographer, you have defiantly become one of our close friends. Its not everyday you have someone you only met months ago in your house having mini shoots, pancake competitions (obvs I won!!) and tea and cake!
So we are so excited to let you shoot our special day but we are also so excited to let you watch us become husband and wife and watch us have such a good day with our families and friends.
You are also a great help with all this wedding planning, as you know, I am also a bit of an OCD freak and already planning so much, when I try and talk to others about the wedding, they shrug me off and tell me “You’re too early” “You’ve got ages yet” but I know I can message you with ideas/plans and you get as excited as I do and help me make things better or just throw so many amazing ideas at me to expand on!
We have the best chats and phone calls… we originally call about wedding things but we always get too carried away and talk about everything and anything and this is what we love about you!!
Carry on doing what you do best and as soon as this lockdown is over… we will have a catch up with tea & treats and hopefully we get our trip to Dublin!!!xxx
So then Phil, what actually is “The Bride Guide”?
And there is another chapter to this story. How many photographers do you know that are “daft” enough to take all questions they get asked by their clients, write articles about that topic and turn it into a guide for future couples to take a look through?
“The Bride Guide” was born. I’m always extending it, adding new articles and taking on board from other clients about what else they’d like to know. Again this is a commitment to how I do things and why I’d like to think it makes the difference. Ultimately, every nugget of information I share makes someone else’s life that little bit easier, and adds smiles. If that’s not worth it, I don’t know what is.
You’ll find a link to “The Bride Guide” below.
Every Little Helps
Whether it is checking over the plans, saving a few pennies or pounds along the way, or simply finding the answers to what you need to know, ASK ME! You may as well make full use of me before someone else does!