Come to Full Circle Eventi!  Just joking…or am I! But really, he finally popped the question and after the excitement has begun to wear off, you’re starting the feel the two “P’s” – Panic and Pressure.

First, let’s take a deep breath and let us here at Full Circle Eventi give you a great big Congratulations! Then, let’s get down to business and put it all in Perspective. No point in losing your sanity during the wedding planning process. Here’s are a few guiding questions.

-How much are you willing to spend?

Budges are simply, NOT FUN! So let’s get it out of the way early and be able to have fun with the rest of your planning. The first thing to find out is who is going to contribute to the overall budget. Will you and your fiancé be splitting the cost of the wedding? Will either set of parents or other relatives be helping with the cost? Be is $30,000 or $300,000, your budget will never be enough, so it’s important to set out a plan of action to spend your money. Once you have the final numbers in, keep in mind that generally half of your budget will go to the venue, food and beverage. The rest is for the décor, photographers, dress, etc. Create a list of things that are most important to you and allocate the more money towards the things that will make you happiest over what anyone else suggests.

-When do you want to get married?

Are you a 2011, 2012, or 2013 bride? Are you a summer, winter, spring or fall bride? Answering these simple questions can have a HUGE impact on your planning process. As 2011 has already begun and many bride began planning their 2011 weddings late last year, choice venues may be hard to come by. The same holds true for many vendors you many fall in love with. However, if you’re thinking of a wedding date 8 months or more into the future, the longer you wait, the more breathing room you give yourself. But breathing room often comes with a cost…too much time often leads to second guessing yourself on all your event details. Sometimes having less time saves a lot of headache in the end.

-How many guests do you want?

The guest count can make or break any budget. For instance, a $20,000 budget is incredible for a guest count of 50, but completely unrealistic for a guest count of 400. One of the easiest ways to maintain the budget is to maintain the guest count. The earlier you are able to determine your realistic guest count, the easier it will be to shape your event, giving you more direction. If your guest count spirals out of control and you have a huge count with a small budget, you will need to get more creative in terms of food and décor. On the other hand with a smaller number of guests you’ll find more options within your budget. It goes without saying, but the venue you ultimately choose will have a lot to do with your guest count as well.

-Where do you want to get married?

Your place or mine? Are you going back home to your (or his) place of birth for the wedding? Or maybe somewhere more tropical, like Hawaii? Maybe you want to keep things local? No matter what you decided, it’s an important option to exercise early on, as wedding dates and locations are the first things to be snapped up! Popular dates will also put the pressure on, but once the date is locked in, the rest falls nicely into place. And until you know your wedding date, it’s rather hard to hire key players in your wedding – your vendors.  You might consider hiring a wedding planner first, to help you with the location connection.

Once you’ve gathered all this information, dress shopping gets easier as well. Season, location, formality are all things that are reflected in your dress. The last thing you want to DRAG (and I mean drag) down the aisle at your seaside beach wedding is a $15,000 designer St. Pucchi full ballgown. Talk about heat stoke!

(C) StillMotion

I’ve said it once, but let me reiterate it again. The most important thing to do is set your priorities.  If flowers and the look of your wedding are all that you care about, then make that a priority in your budget and pull funds from another element.  Start with the big things that are important to you, it will make the other choices much easier and stress-free!  You can do it!