Wedding planning can be both fun, emotional, exciting, creative and hectic! Chances are you haven’t before planned quite the party that your wedding will be so I thought I would write up a little blog with some of the top wedding planning tips and tricks I’ve learned from my Kate Holt Photography Couples and my wedding planning vendor connections.

Planning Tip #1

Learn About Marriage Licenses

Marriage licenses need to be organized prior to your wedding, and there can be some idiosyncrasies about getting them depending on the county where you choose to be wed.

You can check your state's license requirements online, but confirm with a call to the county clerk's office to see when they're open, as the issuing of marriage licenses might only occur at certain times of day or certain days of the week.

As a safety measure, give a copy of your marriage license to your mom or your maid of honor just in case you lose yours during the final days before your wedding.

Planning Tip #2

Prioritize Your Guest List

One way to pare down your guest list is to create "tiers of priority.” Placing immediate family, the bridal party and best friends on top of the list will make your “minimum” intimate and macro-wedding guest list. Your next tier could include aunts, uncles, cousins and close friends you can't imagine celebrating without. As a final tier, list your parents' friends, neighbors, co-workers and so on.

Organizing your guest list in this fashion prepares you if you need to make any cuts as you can start from the bottom until you reach your ideal number.

Planning Tip #3

Ask and Ye Shall Receive!

During the wedding planning process, your vendor teams should be your go-to experts so don’t be afraid to lean on them for any questions or special requests you may have!

Chances are you spent quite a bit of time choosing your vendors and by the time of booking you are almost friends! Because a wedding client relationship is so much more intimate than a normal client relationship I know that for myself and for the vendors I love to work with we would do anything for our couples.

You should feel comfortable asking for special personalized service, whether it's serving a late-night snack instead of a first course or doing a bridal portrait session rather than an engagement session. You should feel like a conversation with one of your vendor team members about your wedding vision is a fun, enthusiastic experience. Ask them for their honesty about what you would love to customize and what can be fit into your wedding package.

Planning Tip #4

Create your Guest list as a first priority

Before you pick your venue, figure out approximately how many guests you aim on inviting. Doing this first will help you choose a venue which matches the size of your wedding. Surprisingly, the rule of thumb for venues is 25 to 30 square feet per guest. This allows for a reception space which allows ample room for all the tables and chairs that will be necessary to fit everyone, room for an epic dance floor, room for the catering staff to move in and about your guests and perhaps even a little nook for a lounge for guests to gather and chat.

Planning Tip #5

Don’t Forget to Plan for Your Bar/Cocktail Experience

Planning to serve cocktails or beer and wine at your wedding involves hiring a bartender. The rule of thumb to not overwhelm your bar staff and to keep your guests from waiting forever in a long line is that you need one bartender per 50 guests.

But if you're serving a signature cocktail that cannot be made ahead of time (or in large quantities), consider adding an extra server designated to this task.

Planning Tip #6

Go Light on the Guest List

Did you know the easiest way to trim your wedding budget is to cut down on your guest list? For most weddings, almost half of your wedding expenses go to dinner and drinks for your guests.

An average wedding price per head for cocktails, appetizers, food and dessert comes out at around $100 per person, so if you cut down your guest list by just one table you could save around $1,000!

A slightly shorter guest list also creates for a more intimate wedding experience and will make it easier for you to spend time with each guest who comes to celebrate your big day.

Planning Tip #7

Use Credit Cards to your Advantage!

While I normally caution new couples on opening up a bunch of lines of credit. If you’ve set a solid wedding budget and have finances already set aside for your wedding in a certain account, instead of paying with everything from a debit card, paypal account or check, consider applying for a credit card with excellent airline miles or other rewards.

Consolidating all wedding-related purchases onto one rewards card helps you accumulate thousands of rewards points that can be used on your honeymoon! Keeping your wedding purchases all in one spot also makes it easier for you to track and stay on budget during all those little extra expenses that pop up.

The part of credit cards that are dangerous are when you don’t pay them off as the interest rate on credit cards are terrible and you certainly don’t want to pay more for your wedding than needed! So, make sure you are able to pay off your card right away so that you don’t have any fees or interest that cut into your finances.

Planning Tip #8

Going DIY? Give Yourself Plenty of Time!

Try your DIY project way before you think you should. There is a whole site devoted to Pinterest fails for a reason, after all!

Adding DIY elements to your wedding day can be really fun and allows you to put a ton of your own personality into it! However, rushing these DIY elements can quickly take your wedding planning from enjoyable to stressful, so give yourself lots of time and enjoy the process!

Planning Tip #9

Make recording your RSVP’s easy!

On your RSVP cards, number each card so that if someone forgets to write their name(s) on the card, you can match it up to your list!

Using a program like Excel, you can number each guest as you address the envelopes so that “Guest Number 10” is Mr. & Mrs. Smith so if they forget to write their names you can see the #10 on their RSVP card and match it up to them!

Planning those little details can save you a lot of headache later on!

Planning Tip #10

Unity is Everything

No matter how well-intentioned, friends and family will undoubtedly lend advice, opinions, and even objections to your decisions. It comes from a desire to help, but can add an undue amount of stress to the wedding planning process.

With all these opinions, it's easy for you and your partner to become divided. Your wedding is a celebration of your love and future together, so in the end every choice should be yours together and you two should have the final say.

Keep your focus on what matters most, forget what you think you should or shouldn't do, and go with your heart and you can’t go wrong!

If you keep the two of you at the center of every decision, it will be the most memorable day of your life and your wedding will truly be a celebration of you!

I hope that a look through these tips helped you with your wedding planning process! If you are looking for other great wedding tips and tricks, feel free to peruse my other blogs in my Education section that I wrote from all my years working in the wedding industry!