Planning a wedding is one of the most exciting times of your life. You’re about to embark on one of your biggest adventures – a journey of a lifetime with your significant other.
With a full heart and a wonderful new weight on your ring finger, it’s time to start planning the day that you commit to each other in front of your closest family and friends. But where to start?
With so much to think about, and so many spreadsheets to draw up, the excitement can quickly turn into stress.
To help make sure that your wedding planning remains as stress-free as possible, and that your day is the most magical day of your life, we’ve come up with the ultimate wedding to-do checklist.
Read on for a list of essentials to tick off and make sure your wedding planning is on track.
Determine your budget
Before the wedding planning commences, it’s important to sit down with your partner and discuss finances. How much you’re willing to spend on a wedding will determine your venue as well as all of the finer details.
Discuss which elements of your big day you’d like to prioritise and spend more money on, and which you’d like to hold back on. This discussion will help minimise arguments in the long-run and could save you money.
Finalise your guest list
Once the budget is decided, it’s time to draw up the guest list. This is an exciting task until you realise just how many people are on it.
Creating an A- and a B-list is helpful, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Place family members, the bridal party and very, very close friends on the A-list, and everyone else on the B-list (you could even make a C-list if you’re thinking of hosting quite a large party).
It’s said that approximately 20% of people invited to your wedding won’t be able to make it, so you can send out invites to your B- or C-list once others have declined.
Book your venue
Let the fun begin! Venue-hunting is one of the most exciting parts of wedding planning. With your budget and guest list in mind, it’s time to contact venues near you (or afar, if you’re planning a destination wedding). Before booking your dream farm, bush or beach destination venue, make sure it offers the following:
- The right amount of space to host your guests
- Enough accommodation either on the property or nearby
- Weatherproof spaces for your ceremony and reception (in case of bad weather)
- A fully equipped kitchen for catering purposes
- Clean lavatories
Find out exactly what is included in the venue price (cutlery, crockery, glasses?) because small additional expenses can add up quickly.
If you’re looking for a beautiful venue near Johannesburg, contact us at 0861 269 269 or info@oxbowestate.co.za. Oxbow Country Estate is a spectacular countryside wedding and events venue with accommodation on site, a beautiful little chapel, a grand reception hall, a garden pavilion, and gorgeous gardens.
Send out the invitations
With a venue selected, and a date set, it’s time to start inviting your guests! Often, venues can only accommodate couples a year or so after their engagement, which means that your date is set very early on. If this is the case for you, a simple save the date invitation can be sent out to ensure that your nearest and dearest don’t miss out.
A formal wedding invitation can be sent 3 – 4 months before the big day. Wedding websites and online invitations are the most popular forms of invitation, as they allow for easy communication between the happy couple and their guests.
Remember to include a list of accommodation options, the dress code, food choices, song requests, your registry, and any other personalised queries with your invitation – this makes it nice and easy for your guests to know exactly what to expect.
Choose and book your wedding planner
Choosing someone to be your right-hand helper with everything wedding-related is a very big decision. Not only will this person need to understand exactly what you want, but she or he will have to be able to make your dreams become a reality whilst also staying within budget.
Make sure you’ve seen your wedding planner’s portfolio and like what you see. Go over all of the expenses, ask them to draw up a contract, and triple-check what’s included in the price.
Usually planners take a 10% – 15% commission on all vendors that they supply, so if you’re hosting a wedding that’s off-the-beaten track, you’re going to be paying a premium on all of the equipment you’re bringing in.
At Oxbow Country Estate, we have all the essentials on-site, plus a team of professionals that are available to assist you and your planner every step of the way. This means that you can really sit back, relax, and enjoy every moment of your wedding planning and your wedding day.
Book your caterers, photographers and DJ
The wedding is all set, now it’s coming down to the nitty-gritty. It’s time for food-tastings, meetings with photographers, and checking every review of DJs near your venue. These tasks can become tedious, so speak to the team at your venue of choice and your wedding planner to get the best recommendations.
At Oxbow Country Estate we offer a bar and catering service so that you don’t have to worry about the catering. Our Riverbed Hall is designed for drinks on the patio or lawn (weather permitting) followed by a beautiful dinner indoors. All the doors can slide open for spectacular garden views. For photographer and DJ recommendations, our team are more than happy to provide recommendations.
Go dress shopping
Say yes to the dress! While all the spreadsheets are being edited and to-dos are being ticked off, we’re sure that your dress fittings have been a wonderful respite from the organisational side of the wedding. With the big day coming up, it’s time to start gearing up for bringing your beautiful dress home.
It’s also important to start finalising your bridal party outfits so that there’s no last-minute rush.
Draw up your seating chart
Ask any bride and groom what their worst wedding task was and the seating chart will undoubtedly be up there. Will you have a sweetheart table? Sit with the family? Or enjoy dinner with the bridal party? Will you put all the singles at one table? These kinds of questions will cause all kinds of arguments between partners and their families – be prepared.
Get your wedding planner to assist you with the best type of seating arrangements for your particular wedding party. If you’re hosting your wedding at Oxbow Country Estate, our team will be more than happy to assist you.
Write your vows
Let’s end off with the most important part of your wedding: your vows. Don’t leave these until the last minute – spend time writing them and making sure that they come from the heart. You can have the most perfect wedding day but after it’s all over, the only thing left are the words you said at the altar. Make them beautiful.
If you’re not writing your own vows but you’re saying a speech, then work on this for a few weeks before the wedding as well. Guests love listening to a good, heartfelt speech.
Have we left anything off our ultimate wedding to-do checklist? We’d love to know what you prioritised for your big day.
If you’re looking for a perfect venue to marry the love of your life, contact us! We would love to show you around the exquisite Oxbow Country Estate.
For more information click here
Tel: 0861 269 269
WhatsApp: 083 302 0575
Email: info@oxbowestate.co.za
