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Start your wedding planning early and be prepared to delegate. Providing you’ve plenty of time and are happy to share the tasks, wedding planning can be a delectable occupation. Organisation is the key to success, and sitting right at the centre of any respectable wedding plan is the list. You will need not just one list, but many of them!

Start off by planning the plan

Sounds like overkill, doesn’t it? Making a plan of the plan! The bottom line is that even the most relaxed and informal wedding day requires a great deal of preparation behind the scenes . If your stomach tightens and waves of panic begin to swell at the very thought of managing this VIP event, then take a grip right now. Early planning is a way of taking control. When you feel in control, fear subsides.

Begin with a list

When you come to think of it, the planning has its own natural order :-

Guest list

Make a complete list of all the friends and family on both sides that you would really like to be present on this important day. You will need to consider the form of the invitation. You may well need a map to help your guests find the wedding venue. It’s likely that many of your guests will want to stay in the area overnight, so it would be helpful to include information about hotels and B ‘n’ Bs in the locality.

Choice of venue for ceremony and reception

Where would you like your wedding to take place? To find all the possible options in your area make a search on Google. Refine your search carefully. Here are a couple of examples - “country house wedding venue near Bath” or “tythe barn wedding venue in Bath area”.

To catch all the options in your area, try a range of different search terms - “wedding ceremony (or wedding reception) venue near Bath” may well bring up different suggestions. Make a list of all the potential options in the area, with rough costings.

Itinerary for the day itself

Make a general outline of the wedding ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening wedding party you would really like (or any combination of these).

Food and drink

Your guests will need to be fed and watered for the period of their stay. Think through the drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening wedding reception and make a note of the food and drink you would like to offer.

Will you need outside caterers? If so, it’s back to the Google search for “wedding caterers near Bath” or “outside caterers for wedding in Bath area” for example. Will you provide the wine, champagne and other drinks? In this event, your caterer is likely to charge corkage. You may decide that you would prefer the caterer to provide the drinks. Whichever route you choose, make a note of the costs entailed.

Does the catering come as a package with the venue? If so, check the costs, including the cost of the wine, champagne and other drinks.

Decoration

To create a festive atmosphere, the venue will need to be decorated. This may come as part of the venue package. Make sure that it is not a “hidden extra”. If it is, get a clear idea of the costs entailed.

Maybe you plan to make the decorations yourselves. If this is the case, make a rough plan of what you would like, and think through how long it will take to execute. How many people will you need? More importantly, do you have any creative friends who will help? Decide how you will obtain the flowers/place setting stationery required. Cost it out.

Dress for the bridal party

Everyone will want to look their very best on your special day. You will need a wedding dress and some! Consider what will be required in terms of clothes, hairdressing and make-up for bridal party on the day. Don’t forget the bridal bouquet and button-holes for all the guests. Make a note of the likely costs.

Entertainment

Your guests will need to be entertained during the day. Live music is a brilliant way of setting the atmosphere and creating a real sense of occasion.

Here’s the lowdown on how to plan wedding music . It’s a guide to planning wedding music that is chock-full of advice and information about utilising music in your wedding ceremony, drinks reception and your evening wedding party, including a rough breakdown of the costs entailed.

Recording the event - photographs/DVD

Rest assured, this is an event you will want to have a record of! Think how you would like to have the event recorded. Would you like old-fashioned photographs, or a full-blown DVD of the event? A Google search will put you in touch with photographers in your area. Make some calls and obtain costings for the different options available.

Transport

Will you need transport from the wedding ceremony venue to the reception venue? If so, check out the cost of a bridal car.

Honeymoon

Wouldn’t two weeks in Bermuda be wonderful after all the stress of putting together the rest of the show! Check out the cost. When you’ve done the sums, I suspect it’s more likely you’ll be doing a house-swap with friends who live in the country. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as that!

However, you do want to make sure that there is enough in the kitty for you and your new partner to spend some quiet time together celebrating and reflecting on the commitment you’ve just made to each other.

Do the sums

Take all those rough costings and add them up. You are likely to get a shock at the accumulated cost involved.

This is where the real planning begins. Some elements on the “wish list” will disappear immediately, I suspect. You will probably already have a fair idea of the finances that are actually available to you. No-one wants to return from their honeymoon to face a huge mountain of debt. Be sensible and cut your coat according to the cloth. Adapt your plans at this very early stage to fit in with any financial constraints.

Talk to both sides of the family

Now it’s time for some hard talking with both sides of the family. You have your own ideas carefully noted. Listen to everyone else’s ideas. You can rest assured, everyone will want to have an input into your special day. You will be very lucky if you don’t run into at least one ubiquitous overbearing family member who is quite sure that they know exactly how it should all be done.

Don’t be daunted. It is very important that everyone should be involved in the preparations for your very special day. Do be aware that there will be compromises to be made down the line by everyone (including yourselves) to avoid conflict and to make sure that your special day runs smoothly.

The key points of successful wedding planning in summary? Start your wedding planning early. Be very organised and make careful detailed lists of all that is entailed. Be aware of the cost right from the beginning, set a budget, and tailor your event to fit that budget. Include both sides of the family in the planning from an early stage, and be prepared to compromise.

If you follow these basic tenets, you can look forward to a stress-free, joyful day that you will look back on with pleasure.