First things to book for your Wedding

Hey there beautiful Bride to be!

Feeling confused and a little overwhelmed with the 101 to do’s going through your head right now? Planning a Wedding is a second full time job! & guess what, no matter how far ahead you schedule your big day, I bet you end up filling it with more planning, DIY or find more things to research and book! To which I’d be exactly the same, sometimes it’s just the way we’re wired right?

Well let me simplify the basics down for you - Let’s talk priorities on what to book first!

Before I begin, if you’re new to this Blog you’re probably wondering ‘who are you?’ - I’m Emma, a Suffolk Wedding Photographer and I work closely with my Bride & Groom’s to ensure I continue to bring their Wedding day and the atmosphere to life for years post ceremony. I designed this Wedding Blog to help take the stress out of this new and unknown Wedding world for you! That being said, let’s dig into the content…

1) Wedding Venue & Registrar / Church & Reception Venue

Whichever way round you’re doing it - this is the key book you’ve got to get in first! You’ll then have your Wedding date to enquire with Wedding suppliers about and you will also have an idea on what you require, judging on the facilities and space at your Wedding Venue.

The quicker you book, the better priority Wedding ceremony time you’ll get too, I know it sounds mad and straight forward, but the favourite Wedding times of 1/2/3pm get booked up fast! So if you don’t want to get married in the morning or early evening - get in quick.

2) Wedding Photography / Wedding Videography

‘Duh you’d promote your own services’ - But SERIOUSLY! After the excitement, the buzz and the honeymoon, when everything calms down… The Photography & Videography are what you’re left with to re-live your Wedding day.

Now you don’t have to have both by any means! But a Wedding Photographer is certainly the ultimate necessity. From a personal experience, my parents were married 28 years, until I lost my Dad suddenly in 2015. Something I cherish more than anything in this world is their Wedding Album. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s big, it’s clunky (About 5 times the size of a Wedding Album today!), but I will never let their heirloom go and I love to look and see how happy my parents were (& how young…) back then. That Wedding Album is cherished in my family and thank god that Wedding Photography existed in the 80’s!

Just think, a Wedding Photographer or a Wedding Videographer cannot double up on days, they can only take on one Wedding per day (unless you’re booking with a franchise!), so if there’s a Wedding Photographer you love out there and you desperately love their style of images, personality (remember you have to spend A LOT of time around them) and their packages - JUMP IN QUICK! & this goes for Wedding Videography too.

3) Wedding Floristry

Wedding Floristry is a true art and can turn any Wedding Venue or Church into the most stunning and beautiful place to be. Finding the right Florist that you want to converse with, that you trust to bring your ideas to life and whom you love their work - IS KEY! Although many Wedding Florists maybe able to do more than one Wedding in a day, as they don’t tend to attend any of the actual event and they prep that week and set up before. Bare in mind that they can only prep and create so many stunning creations in a week, so if you’re planning a BIG Wedding with a lot of flowers - Make sure you contact them quick!

Stunning Wedding flowers by Suffolk Wedding supplier - Dear Luna Florals

4) Hair & Make-up

This is something you might be surprised about, but with many Weddings being on Friday’s & Saturday’s, and alike Wedding Photographers, Wedding Beauticians cannot split themselves into two! So often it’s one Wedding a day.

Your hair and make-up is a really personal thing and something you don’t want messed up on the day because it’s not to your taste… & certainly something you don’t want to be stressing about!

Top tip - I highly recommend having a hair and make-up trial before the day! DON’T RISK IT!

5) Evening Wedding Reception Entertainment

You cannot possibly forget the Band or DJ! They can really make or break a fun evening for your guests (Do you remember the scene in Love Actually where they played ‘Puppy Love’ at the Wedding Reception… NIGHT WAS OVER!).

So make sure you jump in early and ensure you have a cracking evening, ending the night on a bang!

One final tip from me is that I’m a big believer that you get what you pay for in this world, so just be careful that if you’re quote hunting for cheaper rates, you’re not going to get the same quality of service or product! Which is fine for anything that you don’t necessarily value, so when starting out on your Wedding ‘to book list’, I’d recommend putting a star next to your biggest priorities and go for what you love! Don’t settle for second best on what you value most.

That’s all from me for now!

Over & Out.