What To Do When You’re Totally Over Wedding Planning 

As an East London wedding planner, I know from personal experience how easy it is to let your self-care and motivation slip away during this hectic time. Still, it’s an essential component to prevent stressful planning and everything spiralling out of control.

How Do I Stop Being Overwhelmed With My Wedding Planning?

If your wedding planning to-do list takes up all of your time, you do not know what to do next, or the well-intentioned “how’s the wedding planning going” remarks make you want to shut down and hide, I recommend you hit the pause button now! 

Please grab a cup of coffee, your favourite biscuits, curl up on the sofa, and delve into my five sanity-saving tips to help you get your wedding planning back on track. I’ll be sharing invaluable solutions to make your wedding planning process enjoyable. Follow my wedding planning advice, and you’ll be counting down the days until your “I do’s” feeling confident and stress-free in no time.

1. Tackle Each Wedding Planning Task In Order Of Importance To You

Suppose you’re looking for ways to get excited about planning your wedding planning again. First things first! Before tackling your wedding task list, you must first rediscover your wedding purpose and prioritise. This process will involve you and your better half uncovering why you decided to have a wedding in the first place. I recommend you decide on no more than three priorities for your big day and make a pact not to stress over anything that falls outside of those priorities. 

I always encourage my brides and grooms-to-be to focus on just one task at a time; this prevents information overload and limits confusion caused by all the different options, which often leads to you second-guessing yourself. Trust me; you’ve got this! 

If you’d like a helping hand, then a wedding planning session with Mollineau Weddings & Events can assist you. I’m always available to reassure you about where to start, apportioning your budget or talk through anything else causing you to worry. Simply arrange a complimentary consultation here.

2. Set Realistic Deadlines For Completion & Celebrate Your Wins

At Mollineau Weddings & Events, we’re known to have planned weddings in 8 weeks; however, it is very rare. For instance, there’s a high possibility that You will not plan your wedding in a week. So take your time. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure by procrastinating. 

If you want to get excited about planning your wedding planning again. I suggest you create a basic timeline centred around your availability. Include all of your tasks which should be actioned by priority. When you accomplish a task, give yourself a special treat to stay motivated. Perhaps a favourite chocolate bar, a picnic in the park or a trip to your favourite restaurant. The choice is yours.

If you do not have time to action, all tasks within your timeline and wedding planning has ground to a halt. You may benefit from delegating a few errands to a professional wedding planner. Consider making contact sooner rather than later.

3. Go Off The Grid 

It’s important to sign off from wedding planning when you want or need to. I recommend you set up a dedicated email for wedding planning purposes and communication. That way if it all feels that the planning is getting too much, you can switch on your out-of-office reply and go off the grid for a week or two without running the risk of missing important communication from your pre-wedding planning lives.

I know it sounds extreme. But not looking at your social media accounts, wedding emails, or colossal binder filled with the paperwork you’ve collected over the years will do you some good!

Use the downtime as a necessary period to enjoy some non-wedding fun with your friends, self-care, or do whatever else you’d like to do to relax.

If my clients don’t feel motivated to attend a low key outing, I send them a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates. Gently encouraging them to take at least one night off and agree not to talk about wedding planning. It’s an excellent opportunity to reconnect and remember what it was like before wedding planning took over your lives.

If you’ve already tried some relaxing activities and still found yourself fixating on the latest wedding hurdle. You might want to take an entirely different approach by releasing some endorphins! Get your adrenaline pumping by going for a swim, boxercise, or some extreme sport may help get rid of your frustration.

4. Outsource Some Of Your Responsibilities

If you find going off the grid, relaxation or releasing endorphins doesn’t help; it’s time to outsource! 

Wedding planning burnout is common and usually means that you are not delegating enough. Please chat with your better half, establish what is taking too much of your time, and entrust it to a professional. For example, is your household chores or walking the dog are taking up too much of your time? If yes, hiring a temporary cleaner or subscribing to a dog walking service could be the silver bullet to reclaiming your time. If all fails, it’s time to arrange a consultation with a wedding planner.

5. Get Support Managing Your Anxiety 

The best way to handle the mentally trying aspects of your wedding planning journey is to take measured steps to prepare yourself and address any concerns you foresee as early as possible.

Weddings are emotional, high-stress situations. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by societal pressure, family expectations, not to mention the hefty price tag! 

So if after all the advice I’ve given you still feel worried about the whole experience. Or your excitement about getting married has plummeted to the point of no return – don’t stress. 

The good news is that with some advanced planning and some help from a professional therapist, there are so many ways to make your wedding planning journey a little more manageable. Just drop me a line if you’d like a recommendation from the UK. I know an excellent therapist who’d love to help. 

How To Get Excited About Planning Your Wedding Again

And that’s a wrap guys! In summary, my 5 tops tips on how to get excited planning your wedding again.

1. Tackle one thing at a time during your planning and be methodical
2. Celebrate your wins! Have regular rest bite and keep your relationship a top priority. 
3. Create a joint wedding email account, so it’s separate from personal stuff, don’t forget to separate your social media accounts or switch off notifications. 
4. Outsource to a professional.
5. It’s ok not to be ok! A therapist can help if you need advice on managing your worries.

Drop me a line if you’ve found my advice helpful. 

You May Also Find The Following Blogs Helpful

• 5 Ways To Find The Perfect Wedding Venue In London & Surrounding Areas – Complimentary Download
• A Wedding Coordinator, Do You Really Need One ? This Will Help You Decide
• 8 Guilt Free Wedding Guest List Tips You Can’t Afford To Miss

Hang Out With Us On These Social Media Sites

• Connect with Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths on LinkedIn
• Follow Mollineau weddings and Events company page on LinkedIn
• Take a sneak peak behind the scenes via our Instagram page

Written By Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths | Award-Winning East London Wedding Planner

The post How To Get Excited About Planning Your Wedding Again – East London Wedding Planner appeared first on Mollineau Weddings & Events.

How Much Does An On The Day Coordinator Cost?

First things first. How much does an on the day wedding coordinator cost? Our London wedding coordination services also referred to as on-the-day wedding management or on-the-day coordination services, are expertly designed with modern couples in mind. Fore example, most of our couples either have hectic schedules, planning from overseas, therefore want the luxury of sitting back and enjoying the whole experience as their guests will.  

Secondly, the costs of a London wedding day coordinator varies. And is dependent on the number of locations, the number of hours. Your expected guest count, and logistics. When delivering our wedding budget consultancy packages, I advise my clients to ring-fence a minimum of £999. For instance, if £999 isn’t achievable for you, don’t worry. You can find out a little more about coordinating your own wedding day here or arrange a planning session with me here. 

What Does A Wedding Coordinator Do -UK?

So what does a London wedding coordinator do? There seems to be a fundamental misconception towards wedding coordinators in London at the moment! For instance, as a London wedding coordinator, I hear the following phrases often. Firstly it’s “I’m super organised; why do I need a planner.” Secondly it’s “We just can’t afford one within our wedding budget.” Thirdly, it’s “I already know what I’m doing, besides our venue has a planner, so we’re cool, thanks.” 

However, I always explain that although London wedding coordinators’ responsibilities vary ever so slightly. Importantly appointing a family member, friend, or even maid-of-honour to be responsible for troubleshooting on your big day puts a real dampener on their wedding day vibe. 

The frequency of conversations or the access you have to your month-of coordinator may vary. Rest assured, you can get in touch with a coordinator at Mollienau Weddings and Events as soon as you have completed the onboarding process. And you’ll have direct access to my diary.  

Some Examples Of What You May Want To Discuss With Me Are:

• Contract reviews and supplier recommendations.
• Venue walkthrough’s and liaison with your caterers.
• Detailed wedding day timeline creation.
• Family photo groupings.
• Ceremony rehearsals.
• Smoothing overt minute changes.
• Drafting floor plans and finalising reception layouts.
• How we can release your time.
• The list is endless.

How Do I Pick A Wedding Coordinator For The Day?

Our London wedding coordinator’s at Mollineau Weddings & Events benefit couples who have completed most of their wedding planning and want a little assistance putting their wedding plans into practice. Moreover, with us running the show, you can enjoy the weeks leading up-up to your wedding day. More importantly, I want you to be a happy host – not a hassled project manager.

In conclusion, it’s best practice to appoint a London wedding coordinator sooner rather than later. Yep the sooner, the better! At Mollineau Weddings and Events, we reach out to your wedding vendors and suppliers approx. 60-90 days before your big day. It’s easy to feel that your wedding suppliers are neglecting you. For example you may feel they are slow in responding to emails. However, this is not usually the case. The wedding and events industry is fast-paced. Therefore, contacting your wedding suppliers earlier than the 90-day mark may mean that they are focused on other weddings.

If you’d like to know more about our London wedding coordination services. Contact me today. 

You May Also Find The Following Blogs Helpful

• How To Get Excited About Planning Your Wedding Again
• Plan Your Wedding Like A Pro In 5 Easy Steps
• 4 Steps To Planning The Wedding You Always Wanted
• 5 Ways To Find The Perfect Wedding Venue In London & Surrounding Areas – Complimentary Download
• 8 Guilt Free Wedding Guest List Tips You Can’t Afford To Miss

Hang Out With Us On These Social Media Sites

• Connect with Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths on LinkedIn
• Follow Mollineau weddings and Events company page on LinkedIn
• Take a sneak peak behind the scenes via our Instagram page

Written By Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths | Award-Winning East London Wedding Planner

The post London Wedding Coordinator! Do I Need One? – East London Wedding Planner appeared first on Mollineau Weddings & Events.

Planning and coordinating events has enabled me to develop a simple, fool-proof wedding planning process for my team, clients, and wedding planning partners to follow, making our collaboration stress-free and seamless.

Phase 1: Planning With A London Wedding Planner

The first phase of wedding planning is just that: planning. As a London wedding planner I will first establish an appropriate budget for a wedding in London and surrounding areas.

It’s no secret that everyone wants their wedding day to create everlasting memories for all the right reasons. In reality, often that can mean that weddings are costly affairs. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have the wedding you’ve always dreamt of within budget. All you need to do is apportion your wedding expenditure well and decide how to pay for your big day! Alternatively, book a planning session with an East London wedding planner: Me, Marsha from Mollineau Weddings & Events, and I’ll break down your wedding budget for you.

As a professional East London wedding planner with a strong background in finance; I inform my clients of the many ways they can finance a wedding in the UK. Whether they decide to dip into a tidy sum, they have set aside, use contributions from loved ones, a loan or a credit card which offers an additional blanket of protection. I encourage my modern couples to fix their wedding budget very early on.  

During this wedding planning phase, I break down their wedding budget and apportion their fixed costs. Early on, providing a wedding budget breakdown enables me to pair my modern couples with the best London wedding suppliers in my portfolio in line with their wedding budget needs. This is why it’s vital to have a clear plan on how much your wedding might cost and how you will pay for it, as it will be the primary driver for all other decisions.

Phase 2: Wedding Design Made Easy

It’s pretty standard for your wedding vision to be a little all over the place at this stage. A wedding inspiration board is one of the best ways to gather your thoughts and create a clear game plan. Suppose you have a Pinterest wedding board and have been pinning to it since college – great. If you’re comfortable handing it over to me, I’ll break your Pins down into subsections. This will help all your wedding professionals, aka your wedding day dream team, bring your vision to life. 

If you’re struggling with wedding planning inspiration, my wedding planning sessions for Brides-to-be are a great way to ignite an imaginative spark or two.

Whether you’re a DIY couple or working with a professional London wedding planner, it’s important to have visuals of what you like, from fonts to fabric swatches. Once I have all of your ideas, your vision board will act as a road map, and all the decisions you have to make going forward really fall into place – easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

By the end of this wedding design phase, we would understand and feel what you want for your wedding day. I would have created a digital wedding look-book. Our look-books will act as a reference point for your wedding planning journey. It will list all of the details.

As your London wedding planner, I’ll be working with many different wedding pros on your behalf. For example florists and caterers. And I’ll frequently be asked for examples of what you like. Therefore the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings true when trying to explain your clients take on ballroom glam. 

Phase 3: Wedding Coordination With A London Wedding Planner

The wedding coordination phase is where you see your ideas come to fruition. I’ll introduce you to the perfect partners from our established network of award-winning suppliers and the fun continues.

As a London wedding planner, my role is to facilitate all the moving parts of your wedding day; coordination helps do just that! If you are a bride who has hired us for wedding day management only. This is where I’d jump on board. 

Phase 4: Execution 

Fast forward to the month of your wedding day. This is when all the magic happens. In the weeks leading up to your wedding day, I’m sending out final timelines and handling emails and logistics for you. 

Preferably I don’t want you touching your inbox; my goal as your London wedding planner is to ask you the least amount of questions and be the liaison between your wedding day dream team and your guests. I coordinate your rehearsals the night before your wedding, and my team provide unlimited hours of service to you as hosts on your wedding day.   

What’s Your Thoughts?

And that’s a wrap! A London wedding planner’s process for planning a wedding in London. Please feel free to share our post, moreover connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like to stay in touch. Alternatively arrange a chat with me, I’d love to hear your plans.

You May Also Find The Following Blogs Helpful

• 10 Things To Do As Soon As You Are Engaged
• How To Announce Your Engagement In Style
• 6 Hidden Wedding Budget Costs Every Couple Should Consider
• How To Set Your Wedding Budget Successfully In 8 Simple Steps
• How To Get Excited About Planning Your Wedding Again
• Plan Your Wedding Like A Pro In 5 Easy Steps
• 8 Guilt Free Wedding Guest List Tips You Can’t Afford To Miss

Hang Out With Us On These Social Media Sites

• Connect with Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths on LinkedIn
• Follow Mollineau weddings and Events company page on LinkedIn
• Take a sneak peak behind the scenes via our Instagram page

Written By Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths | Award-Winning East London Wedding Planner

The post 4 Reasons You Need A London Wedding Planner – Professional Wedding Planner appeared first on Mollineau Weddings & Events.

How Hard Can It Be To Plan A Wedding Like A Pro?

Most of my modern couples have a good idea of what planning a wedding entails. In most cases, they’ve successfully planned family celebrations many times before. During our discovery calls, words such as creativity, trends and etiquette always pop up. However, once we get through our consultation, they soon realise that there are significant differences between planning a celebratory event for family and friends and planning one professionally for themselves. Trust me; it can be time-consuming and emotionally draining. If you have hefty commitments such as work, family life, studying, and so on you may want to hire a London planner.

1. Time Management Is Key To Planning A Wedding Like A Pro

As professional wedding planners, we are often asked how long it takes to plan a wedding in London, UK? It’s difficult to put an exact timeframe on how long it takes to plan a wedding in London, as no two couples are ever the same. However, in my experience as a laid-back luxury planner, a modern wedding can take up to 500+planning hours. That’s the equivalent of 20 days working around the clock or four full weeks, give or take!

Experienced event planners in London, will tell you that you can be on your feet anywhere between 12 – 18 hours on the wedding day itself! Plus, no matter how much you plan, I can guarantee you will be spread pretty thin if you decide to coordinate your wedding day without the presence of a professional wedding coordinator.

2. What Are The Must-Have Skills You Need To Plan A Wedding Like A Pro?

Communication! Whether you want to know how to plan a simple wedding in London or an extravagant wedding celebration in London. You need excellent communication skills. As an award-winning planner, I spend a large proportion of my time liaising with clients and wedding vendors.

To plan your wedding successfully, you need to get your message across clearly to all who will be involved in your big day! Guests, suppliers and your bridal party alike. Communicating your wedding plans effectively (oral and written) will help you manage expectations. Plus, you’ll achieve your wedding planning goals on time and within budget and without the stress!

For me, relationships with vendors are as meaningful as relationships with clients. As a professional London wedding planner, I’ve developed strong relationships with both throughout the years, which has enabled client referrals and the opportunity to source great vendors and exclusive pricing to my clients. 

If communicating well is not within your skill-set, you run the risk of your instructions being less transparent. Which could lead to everyone involved in your big day having a far from positive experience. You just need to watch an episode of “don’t tell the bride“to catch my drift. 

3. Next Up Is Organisation And Attention To Detail

These two traits are the one’s Mollineau Weddings & Events most associate with their role of wedding coordinators in London, and for a good reason. 

Learning how to plan a wedding like a pro is all about the detail. So your event’s success may depend on how you respond to being in the thick of things, especially if planning your wedding without the presence of a London wedding coordinator from Mollineau Weddings & Events.

Don’t be put off if you’re not the most organised person or attention to detail is not your thing. As a professional wedding planner, my role is to offer you solutions to make your wedding planning journey stress-free. 

Us award-winning wedding planners in London, specialise in lending a helping hand and spending time with modern couples. I enjoy developing strategies, processes and systems to keep you organised and on track, resulting in a stress-free wedding planning experience and a wonderful wedding day. I invite you to find out more about our wedding planning sessions and Q&A.

4. Resourcefulness Is Key To Planning A Wedding Like A Pro

Resourcefulness is key! A good wedding planner in London is a great problem solver. If you can spring into action when there’s a crisis – then you may enjoy the challenges coordinating your wedding brings. 

Take a moment to think about how you managed a situation that didn’t go to plan. How did you feel? How did those involved or around you feel? Would you like that feeling on your wedding day or during your wedding planning journey? If not, a wedding planning session may be just what you need. 

Don’t worry if you get discombobulated when something goes wrong; not everybody wants to make lemonade of lemons! The good news is, you can still plan your wedding by yourself; however, you may find it less stressful if you use our on-the-day management services for London weddings.

The key benefit of hiring a wedding coordinator from Mollineau Weddings & Events is that you can hand over your wedding plans to an award-winning coordinator like me. I’ll tie everything together by dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. Essentially I’ll be your wedding project manager eight to twelve weeks in the lead up to your big day.

5. Creative Thinking Will Help

Creativity is definitely required to plan a wedding like a pro. Sure, savvy shopping is high on the list of planning your wedding and hats off to you if you can sew a button or mend a hem! But for Mollineau Weddings and Events, a good wedding planner in London is a creative thinker, especially if you want your weddings to reflect your personalities and uniqueness. 

Suppose you struggle with taking a seed of an idea and creating something magical. In that case, it may be worth scheduling a planning session with Mollineau Weddings & Events. I can help ignite your imaginative spark, whether that’s drawing inspiration from your favourite date night or narrowing down your ideas from social media – it’s incredible what we can achieve within an hour or so!

Are You Ready To Plan Your Wedding Like A Pro?

There you have it; I’ve shared a shortlist of skills and personality traits you may need to consider before you take the plunge and plan your wedding. So, are you ready to go it alone? If yes be sure to keep us up to speed with your progress. If you want a helping hand schedule a chat with me today; I’d love to hear your plans. 

You May Also Find The Following Blogs Helpful

• 10 Things To Do As Soon As You Are Engaged
• How To Announce Your Engagement In Style
• 6 Hidden Wedding Budget Costs Every Couple Should Consider
• How To Set Your Wedding Budget Successfully In 8 Simple Steps
• How To Get Excited About Planning Your Wedding Again
• 8 Guilt Free Wedding Guest List Tips You Can’t Afford To Miss

Hang Out With Us On These Social Media Sites

• Connect with Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths on LinkedIn
• Follow Mollineau weddings and Events company page on LinkedIn
• Take a sneak peak behind the scenes via our Instagram page

Written By Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths | Award-Winning East London Wedding Planner

The post Plan A Wedding Like A Pro – East London Wedding Planner appeared first on Mollineau Weddings & Events.

Pre COVID-19, many couples had the choice to invite all of their loved ones to their wedding. Sure, they’d have the usual wedding guest list considerations we’re all accustomed to: logistics, budget and venue size. But now, many couples may find themselves in the unpleasant situation of making cuts to their wedding guest list.

How Do I Make A Wedding Guest List?

To assist you with this sensitive part of your wedding planning process, I’ll be sharing my top tips for building your wedding guest list.

So what’s the secret formula to determine who’s going to be on your guest list? And how do you reduce the risk of offending loved ones that won’t make the cut? If you don’t have a London wedding planner on board, starting your list can be a very tricky task. Essentially you’ll need to put your emotions aside and bring out the project manager in you! Here goes…

How Do You Organise A Wedding Guest List?

Drafting and cutting your guest list might not be quite as fun as wedding dress shopping. As an East London wedding planner, I recommend following these essential tips to track everyone on your list including RSVPs and menu preferences. You could always invest in the Mollineau Weddings & Events London wedding coordination service if you’d like to free up your time and focus on another area of wedding planning. 

1. Divvy Up The List—Before Accepting Financial Help

Drafting your wedding guest list is often emotionally charged, so the probability of it getting messy is high! Especially if you have your parents or family members involved in wedding planning or contributing financially. 

Even if you’re paying for your wedding yourselves, it’s a good idea to get the families together and set out your expectations.

As a professional wedding planner, I often mediate situations between families regarding themes, décor, guest lists, menu choices, and more. I usually recommend that my couple gets half the guest list, and each set of parents gets a quarter of the guest list. 

So if you’re planning to invite 100 people, you’d get 50 guests. Your parents would get 25 your fiancé’s parents would also get 25. That usually seems to be the most drama-free approach. Oh yes, and aunties and uncles come out of the parents quarter. I’ve got your back on this one.

2. Define Your Wedding Purpose!

First things first! Before you continue tackling your guest list, you must first discover your wedding purpose. This process will involve you and your partner uncovering why you decided to have a wedding in the first place. And why you would invite each of your guests. The outcome of this task will no doubt influence your decisions as you advance your wedding planning. And is an excellent way to refocus.

Once you’re clear on what your wedding is really about and what it truly means to you both, you’ll be in a stronger position to plan a celebration of a lifetime that embodies that. You’ll have the confidence to manoeuvre around the external factors you have little or no control over when planning a wedding regardless of size, scope or restrictions.

3. Managing Your Wedding Guest List In A Collaborative Spreadsheet 

If you’re wondering how to organise a wedding guest list, there are many ways. But it’s best to use a collaborative system! That way, anyone with input can make edits in real-time and see the most up-to-date version. Our wedding administration service lets you easily export your guest list to help create a seating plan and track RSVP and meal choices. Thus saving you ample time and headache in the weeks leading up to your big day.

It’s also helpful to have everyone’s contact info in one place. Many of our clients have us use the same list for thank you cards and other special announcements. We East London planners love planning celebrations.

4. Put A System In Place To Stick To Your Wedding Guest List Numbers

Once you’ve listed the names of all of your family and friends (your wedding guest wish list), you can divvy your potential friends into A, B, C tiers: Definites. Probables. Maybes. Alternatively, divvy your guest list into tiers of 15 if planning during the pandemic and rank each tier via priority & risk. Give me a call if you need further advice in this area.

Before the pandemic, a good rule of thumb is if the person is not on your holiday card list, or you’ve had no contact with them in 3 years, you should not feel guilty about omitting them from your guest list.

5. How To Deal With Fewer Guests Attending Your Wedding 

Would you please avoid deleting anyone’s names from the list that declines your invitation? And please still invite anyone you assume cannot attend.

I recommend you have a separate document for the names you are unsure about. You may find that you can still welcome them to attend remotely or at your future watch party. Besides, it’s a lovely gesture to send a thank you card, as your absentees may still want to forward you their congrats.

6. Ensure Your Wedding Budget And Venue Works With Your Guest List

In some cases, your wedding budget and venue may determine the maximum number of guests you can invite to your wedding. If you’re already concerned about your wedding budget, one of the most straightforward solutions to stay on track is to reduce the number of wedding guests you are considering inviting. I know this task may seem exasperating, but you’ll soon see the benefits of trimming your guest list. 

7. How To Decide Who’s On Your Wedding Guest List 

Avoid focusing on whom you need to cut from your guest list. Instead, focus on whom you want to see when you walk down the aisle. 

The reason being, regardless of your wedding size, whether it’s a micro wedding in London or a large intimate wedding in London, you’ll be limited as to how much time you can spend with each of your wedding guests. Think, whom would you miss? 

8. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help

Need help costing your wedding guest list? I have a few wedding planning hours available; access my diary here, and I’ll help you allocate your wedding budget in no time. 

You May Also Find The Following Blogs Helpful

• 10 Things To Do As Soon As You Are Engaged
• How To Announce Your Engagement In Style
• 6 Hidden Wedding Budget Costs Every Couple Should Consider
• How To Set Your Wedding Budget Successfully In 8 Simple Steps
• How To Get Excited About Planning Your Wedding Again
• Choosing Wedding Colours Made Easy
• How Long Does It Take To Plan A Wedding?

Hang Out With Us On These Social Media Sites

• Connect with Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths on LinkedIn
• Follow Mollineau weddings and Events company page on LinkedIn
• Take a sneak peak behind the scenes via our Instagram page

Written By Marsha Mollineau-Griffiths | Award-Winning East London Wedding Planner

The post 8 Essential Wedding Guest List Tips – Professional Wedding Planner appeared first on Mollineau Weddings & Events.

1. Start Working On Your Wedding Budget As Soon As Possible 

While it may be tempting to plan your wedding on a pay-as-you-go whim, by doing so you run the risk of depleting your funds before you’ve secured all of the wedding suppliers you want and need to achieve you wedding day goals.

2. Manage Your Wedding Budget In A Spreadsheet 

With more than 15 years experience managing multi-million pound budgets, I’d always recommend you start planning any budget with a good spreadsheet! However, I know my eagerness to get number crunching will not be shared by all. So, to get yourself off to a good start, I recommend you contact me to request our easy to use Excel wedding budget template, Designed with couples in mind, it’s the best way to keep all of your information together in an easy-to-scan format. Plus, I’ve pre-populated expenditure headings and formulas (with COVID-19 in mind) to help you apportion your budget with ease and make your money go further. 

3. Don’t Be Embarrassed To Ask For Help Setting Your Wedding Budget 

If the thought of talking figures or using an Excel spreadsheet is worrying you, don’t put it off! You could always join one of our wedding budget workshops or arrange a one-to-one wedding planning power hour with me. Just remember, I’m always at the end of the phone if you need a helping hand. 

4. Decide If You’ll Use Your Savings To Set Your Wedding Budget

My husband and I found using savings to pay for our wedding would be the most affordable option. As a result, we were able to avoid paying interest and fees associated with borrowing money. Don’t worry if you don’t already have money set aside or if your existing savings are earmarked for something else. You can always open-up a new savings account that’s exclusively dedicated to your wedding. The sooner you can start saving the more you can set aside. Plus this will allow you more time to research venues and services. 

Don’t feel pressured into adopting the 50:50: rule. Instead work out the amount you can both comfortably afford to save each month without compromising your quality of life. It’s a good idea to set yourselves a deadline too, otherwise you could be saving for too long and risk loosing wedding planning momentum. I’d recommend you cap your savings target at 24 months, 36 months max!

5. Decide If It’s Worth Using A Bank Loan To Bump-up Your Wedding Budget 

If you can’t save enough to cover the full cost of your wedding day, taking out a personal loan could be your best alternative. Although this is not the cheapest option, it will allow you time to repay your wedding tab in fixed monthly instalments over a set number of years. That way, you’ll be able to apportion your budget accordingly, and know exactly what’s owed, thus reducing the risk of overcommitting yourselves.  

6. Consider Using A Credit Card As An Extra Layer Of Security

My wedding costs are still very fresh to mind. Given the many varied costs associated with planning a wedding in the UK, there can be some advantages to using a credit card. Many UK credit cards offer purchase protection, so you may be able to get your money back if something goes wrong. Depending on the card, this could include protection in the event of defaults or cancellations. If you’re considering using your credit card towards some of your wedding costs, you need to decide whether you’ll repay the spending immediately or over a longer period of time.

7. Think Carefully Before Accepting Contributions From Family And Friends 

Traditionally, the family of the bride would pay for the entire wedding, but times have changed. The majority of my clients usually cover some or all of their wedding expenses. If you are a couple already living together when you marry, your friends & family may present you with cash gifts in lieu of more traditional gifts, that could also help pay for your big day. Be sure to plug these figures into our excel budgeting template if that’s the case for you.

If your relatives are insistent on contributing a lump sum to your wedding day, try to have an open and honest conversation about their expectations. Where many relatives are happy to consider their contribution as a gift and let you spend it as you wish. Some relatives may automatically assume that they have a stake in your big day! Just remember, regardless of the amount, your relatives will deem  their contribution as an investment – and it’s likely they’ll want to see a return.

8. Allocate Your Wedding Budget 

Before you begin allocating your budget, I recommend you ring-fence 15% as a contingency, 20% if planning during COVID-19. 

All you have to do now is allocate your budget. Easier said then done right? By far this will be one of the more challenging tasks on your wedding planning to do list. You could always use our wedding planning budget template and go it alone. Chances are you’ve never planned an event on this scale before, so not sure how much things costs. This is when our wedding planning budget template or wedding planning power hours could come in handy, as a laidback luxury wedding planner, I know exactly how to apportion your wedding budget to make your money go further and deliver the wedding your hoping for.

Boutique soirée, simple but stylish, grand and lavish… whatever you’re dreaming of, we’ll make it come true.

I do hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog. Please do feel free to connect with me on anyone of our social media channels. YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Pinterest

Written by Marsha Mollineau, East London Wedding Planner & Founder of Mollineau Weddings & Events

The post Planning Your Wedding Budget – Set Your Wedding Budget Successfully appeared first on Mollineau Weddings & Events.