Wedding Planning Tips: 20 Things Couples Forget to Plan Until It’s Too Late
When you’re planning a wedding, it’s easy to focus on the big things first such as the venue, the food, the flowers, the dress, the band and all the beautiful details you’ve been saving on Pinterest for years.
But once those decisions are made, there’s a whole other side of wedding planning that isn’t quite as exciting which is the logistics.
Who is setting everything up? Where does everything go? Who is answering the florist when they arrive? What happens to all the rubbish? Who makes sure the cake is safely stored? And, perhaps most importantly, who is actually dealing with all of this while you’re getting married?
These are the details that can easily get overlooked until the week of the wedding, when you suddenly realise there are dozens of jobs that still need assigning.
As a wedding planner covering Cambridgeshire and beyond, these are my wedding planning tips: 20 things couples forget to plan until it’s too late.
20 Wedding Planning Tips
Who is setting everything up?
Who is packing everything down?
What happens to the rubbish?
Who is coordinating supplier arrivals?
Where does everything actually go?
What happens to your personal items?
Who is taking the flowers home?
What happens with the cake?
Where are suppliers eating?
Who is looking after your guests?
Have you planned the transport properly?
What happens if the weather changes?
Have you thought about power?
Who is answering all those emails?
Have you left enough time for supplier research?
Who is managing the timeline?
Have you told everyone what they need to know?
What happens at the end of the night?
Who is dealing with unexpected problems?
Who is actually going to run the day?
Who is setting everything up?
Your wedding might look effortless when you walk into your reception, but someone has to make it look that way.
So my first wedding planning tip is to have someone ready to set everything up for you!
From furniture and table plans to candles, stationery, menus and place settings, there can be a surprising amount to do before your guests arrive.
Who is packing everything down?
It’s easy to think about getting everything ready and forget that it all has to come back down again.
Who is collecting the décor? Who is packing the personal items? Who is dismantling signage and putting everything back into boxes?
It’s worth having a clear plan before the wedding day rather than leaving this to whoever happens to still be standing at the end of the night!
What happens to the rubbish?
This is one of those wonderfully unglamorous wedding planning tips that nobody wants to think about, but it needs thinking about.
Catering waste, bottles, packaging and general rubbish can quickly build up throughout the day. Make sure you know who is responsible for clearing it and where everything needs to go.
Who is coordinating supplier arrivals?
You may have spent months booking brilliant suppliers, but on the wedding morning you probably don’t want to be answering calls asking where the entrance is.
Make sure someone is responsible for being the main point of contact, directing suppliers and making sure everyone knows where they need to be.
Where does everything actually go?
This is a particularly important wedding planning tip for marquee or home weddings.
Where does the band set up? Where are the toilets? Where does catering need access? Where can suppliers park? Where are deliveries going?
Having a proper site plan can save an enormous amount of confusion.
What happens to your personal items?
Cards, gifts, guest books, menus, signage, leftover stationery and all those little personal touches need somewhere to go at the end of the night.
Decide in advance who is responsible for collecting everything and where it will be stored.
Who is taking the flowers home?
You might have beautiful floral arrangements throughout the day, but what happens to them afterwards?
If you'd like guests or family members to take flowers home, decide who is going to distribute them. Otherwise, you could find yourself surrounded by 20 vases at midnight wondering what on earth to do with them.
What happens with the cake?
Who is cutting it? When is it being served? Does it need refrigerating? Is there any left over?
Your cake supplier or caterer may handle some of this, but don't assume. A wedding planning tip for you is to clarify it beforehand.
Where are suppliers eating?
If your wedding runs across the whole day, your suppliers will need feeding too.
Your caterer, photographer, planner, band and other suppliers may be working for many hours, so make sure you know who needs a meal and when.
Who is looking after your guests?
Particularly if you're having a wedding weekend, there can be lots happening.
Welcome drinks, transport, accommodation, the ceremony, reception and brunch can all mean guests have questions.
Another wedding planning tip is to have someone other than you to answer them makes a huge difference.
Have you planned the transport properly?
It sounds simple until you start working out timings.
Where are guests travelling from? How long will the journey take? Is there parking? Are there taxis nearby? Do you need a shuttle between locations?
Build in plenty of contingency rather than planning everything down to the exact minute.
What happens if the weather changes?
If you're planning an outdoor ceremony, drinks reception or dinner, you need a Plan B, and ideally a Plan C.
Don't just decide that you'll "see what the weather does". Work out exactly what happens if it rains, it's extremely hot or the wind picks up.
Have you thought about power?
This is particularly important for marquee weddings and weddings at private homes.
Your band, DJ, caterer, lighting, bar and other suppliers may all need power. Make sure your venue and suppliers have discussed exactly what's required.
Who is answering all those emails?
This is a big wedding planning tip.
Wedding planning involves a lot of emails. Supplier questions, timelines, invoices, menu choices, guest numbers, deliveries, access details... it can quickly become another full-time job.
And if you're already working full-time, maintaining a busy social life and trying to enjoy your weekends, finding the time to stay on top of it all can be difficult.
Have you left enough time for supplier research?
Finding the right suppliers isn't just about sending a few enquiries.
You might spend hours looking through websites, Instagram, reviews, galleries and recommendations before you've even decided who you want to contact.
Multiply that by every supplier you need and suddenly you've lost several weekends.
Who is managing the timeline?
Your wedding day needs a timeline, but more importantly, someone needs to actually manage it.
From the ceremony through to dinner, speeches, first dance and band sets, there are lots of moving parts.
Having someone keeping an eye on the clock means you don't have to.
Have you told everyone what they need to know?
Your suppliers need information, but so do your wedding party and family.
Who needs to arrive early? Who has a reading? Who is giving a speech? Who needs to know where to go?
A top wedding planning tip is to leave these conversations until the final few days.
What happens at the end of the night?
The party might be your priority, but eventually the music stops and everyone needs to leave.
Think about taxis, transport, accommodation, belongings and any suppliers who need collecting or packing away.
Who is dealing with unexpected problems?
Because, inevitably, something will happen.
A delivery might be late. The weather might change. Someone might forget something. A supplier might have a question.
The important thing isn't making sure absolutely nothing goes wrong. It’s making sure you're not the person who has to deal with it when something does.
Who is actually going to run the day?
This is the big and final wedding planning tip.
You can plan every detail perfectly, but someone still needs to make it all happen.
And that person shouldn't be you!
You've spent months, sometimes years, planning this wedding. You should be getting ready with your friends, enjoying your ceremony, drinking champagne and dancing with your favourite people.
Not checking whether the caterer has arrived. Not answering a supplier's phone call. Not wondering where the spare candles are. Not organising the rubbish. Not trying to find out why the band hasn't started yet!
Ready to Have a Wedding Planner by Your Side?
There we have it — my wedding planning tips: 20 things couples forget to plan until it’s too late. The logistics might not be the most exciting part of planning a wedding, but they're what allow the beautiful parts to happen seamlessly.
And I know how busy life can be alongside planning a wedding. You're working, travelling, seeing friends, making plans and generally trying to enjoy life, all while responding to what can feel like hundreds of emails and making decisions about things you've never had to think about before!
That's where I come in.
My role is to take care of the planning, logistics and behind-the-scenes details so that when your wedding weekend arrives, you can actually be present for it.
Get in touch with me and let’s discuss my wedding planning services in Cambridgeshire and beyond.