There are many questions brides have when planning..

Who should I hire first?

That depends. Are you going to be booking a Wedding Coordinator to help with all of your planning? If so, hire them first. They’ll be the ones guiding you on where to look at for venues and who to hire for your vendors based upon your budget, style and tastes.

If you’re planning on only booking a Day-of Coordinator or if you plan on planning this yourself, you’ll then first look at booking a venue. This will provide you with your wedding date so that you can start to book your other vendors.

After that, it’s up to what you value most and how much time you have to book. Photographers, for example, should be booked between 12-18 months in advance of your wedding. Videographers and DJ’s are also very highly sought after and book far in advance, so they should be considered next. Followed by catering, cake, florals and so on.

When should we send out invites?

Save the Dates should be sent out 8-12 months before your wedding (or further out if you’re having a destination wedding), while final Invitations are typically sent out 8-12 weeks before your wedding (make your RSVPs due 4 weeks before to give you some time for final numbers, etc).

Should all of my bridesmaids arrive to hair and makeup at the same time?

Definitely recommended. While the hair and makeup teams will have a schedule and approximate time for each person, if they end up being ahead of schedule, you don’t want everyone just sitting around waiting for the next person. If they are able to just move along and get the next person ready, it’ll be helpful in case someone else down the line ends up taking a little longer/need a touchup.

Also, YOU should NOT be the last to get their hair and makeup done! Bridesmaids, Mothers of the Bride/Groom and flower girls come second to you and you do not want to be the one that needs rushed at the end if things go over their scheduled time. Channel a little bit of Ricky Booby here. You don’t need to be first, but don’t be last.

Should we get out hair and makeup done at the same place?

Yes! You don’t want to have to stress about moving everyone to yet another location when you already have to herd people to the ceremony and perhaps the reception at a separate location. Consolidate where you can, and this is a spot you can.

Where should I get dressed before my ceremony?

Wherever you decide, it’s great to make sure it has enough space for your group (you’ll not only want a few people to help you into your dress, you’ll also want photos of them helping with your finishing touches once you’re in it). And the more natural light, the better!

You will also want to consider whether you want to have a First Look or not and where you and your bridal party will be around that time.

Is it still common to do a receiving line?

Nope. Please run away after your ceremony. Far, far away, before you are mobbed by your guests who chew up 20mins of the 30min we planned for your Family Portraits. You’ll either see them at cocktail hour or we can do table shots at the reception instead!

Should we provide vendor meals?

It’s typically expected that vendors will be fed and many will even have a clause in their contracts about this… Your vendors have been working hard for you all day and need sustenance! Whether you decided to provide them with the same meal as everyone else though, is up to you. Many caterers have vendor meals they can provide…. please make it warm, though! Cold sandwiches are not the most appetizing to eat after 6 hours on our feet!

Some vendors may also request to be seated in the reception space while they eat. Your venue may give you the option of placing your vendors out of sight, but some vendors (photographers and videographers in particular) are usually frightened of missing something important while they’re out of the room and don’t want to leave to eat.

At the end of the night, what do we do with the gifts/cards and our decor?

You’ll need to check with your venue’s policies to see if you’ll need to have all of your decor items out at the end of the night or if you can come back the next day to clean up. Either way, you’ll want to designate some helpers for this!

You will also want to have a (somewhat sober) point person (mom, perhaps?) to take all of your gifts and cards back for you after the reception.