It’s amazing if you think about how much preparation goes into just one day. For months, you have to take care of every detail and tie up each loose end before the wedding date comes. It takes months—sometimes even more than a year—to get ready for such a special event in one’s life, and if you ask most couples, every single day of preparation is worth it.
However, not every future bride has the luxury of time in her hands. Planning a wedding often feels like a full-time job, and if you already work an actual full-time job, wedding planning can sometimes feel like an impossible feat to accomplish.
That said, we’ve come up with some of the best tips specifically for working women with busy schedules, a ton of responsibilities to take care of, and a wedding to plan:
-
Hire a wedding planner
Planning a wedding yourself can give you more control over your big day and save you money. Still, if wedding planning is not something you can add to your already overflowing plate, it’s best to hire a reputable wedding planner to take care of almost everything.
A wedding planner can help you scout wedding dresses, look for venues, negotiate deals with vendors, and basically prepare almost everything that you need for the wedding. Although hiring someone to plan your wedding will inevitably increase your expenses, the additional cost is worth it if you want to plan a great wedding without compromising your other responsibilities.
-
Trim the guest list
The size of your guest list will determine nearly every aspect of your wedding, including the food, the venue, the seating, and transportation plans. That said, how many guests you will have dictates how much you need to spend for your big day—and ultimately, how manageable your wedding will be.
Cutting down the guest list means fewer invites to send, fewer dietary restrictions to consider, and fewer wedding tokens to prepare, among many others. A smart way to do this is to create two lists: A and B. On list A, list down all the people you must invite, such as your immediate family members and closest friends. On list B, list down the people that you want to invite but don’t have the budget for, such as extended family and acquaintances.
Then, send out RSVP way in advance. For every person in list A that will not be making it to your wedding, send an invitation to a person in list B to replace their spot.
-
Stick to simple
Simplicity makes everything easier to manage, especially when it comes to wedding planning. So if you are a very busy person, it makes sense to have a wedding with fewer complexities—remember, less is more!
For instance, instead of having a four-course menu for the wedding, why not trim it down to three courses or even a one-plate meal? Or perhaps instead of having multiple types of flowers at the wedding, pick only one or two? Simple doesn’t always have to mean boring—rather, it could mean working with less and still coming up with great results.
-
Delegate, delegate, delegate
Your spouse should be your number one partner for wedding planning, but the both of you can only do so much on your own. If your bridesmaids, future in-laws, and parents are willing to lend a hand, let them take off some of the burden from your shoulders. From scouting venues to taking care of dress alterations, the people around you are your best sources of support during this time in your life.
-
Be specific
Many brides-to-be like to see multiple options before they end up with a final decision, be it with the color of the tablecloth or the number of flowers on their bouquet. However, this can take up a lot of time, which you may not have enough of before the wedding day.
That said, try to be as specific as you can with the particulars of your wedding. Do research way in advance so that you know exactly what you want when it’s time to plan your wedding. Whether it’s the type of flowers for the reception, the appetizers at dinner, or the songs during the first dance, being more specific can help save a significant amount of time.
If you can’t fit wedding planning well enough into your already packed schedule, try these tips for size. Even if you may be the busiest person on the planet, there are always plenty of workarounds to prepare for your big day.
