Planning your wedding day is a TON of work, am I right? I remember planning my own wedding. Nick and I got married back in 2011, before Pinterest became the big craze and social media boomed with Instagram and tons of other apps. I planned my wedding by going to local bookshops and choosing all the best wedding magazines, and then going home and clipping out all of my inspiration. I still have the binder with all of my wedding planning! Now of days I feel like there is an overload of wedding inspiration. But, wedding planning doesn’t need to feel like an overload. Keep reading for suggestions on how to lessen the wedding planning stress!

Ask Yourself Some Questions

First up, ask yourself some questions. Narrow down how you want the look and feel of your wedding day to be. Ask yourself:

• Do we want a small and intimate wedding? Medium-sized wedding? Or, big wedding with all of our extended family and friends?
• What season do we want to get married? Do we want a snowy wedding, beach wedding, rustic fall wedding, or fresh flower-filled spring wedding?
• Where do we want to get married? Do we want a destination wedding? To get married somewhere sentimental? In a big city? In the countryside?
• What should our color palette be? Should we have deep colors, or more of a light and airy feel?
• Do we want our wedding to be classic and timeless, or more trendy and unique?
• Do you want your wedding dress to be A-Line, trumpet, a ball gown, etc.?

These questions should start to get the ball rolling on your wedding vision.

Find Your Inspiration

After you’ve asked yourself these questions, you need to find your inspiration. There are so many ways to search for inspiration. So, here are some tips.

• Utilize Pinterest. Use different search words based on the answers from above. For example, “intimate summer Parisian wedding” or “rustic fall New York wedding”. From here, create different style boards for your various sections. For example, wedding dresses, table decor, bouquets, groom’s tux, bridesmaid dresses, etc. Organize all the inspiration you love into your various boards. At the end, pull all your favorite images from each board together to make one cohesive style board for your wedding. Tip: Choose a color palette and stick to it throughout your wedding planning.
  
• Use Instagram. Use hashtags like #nycwedding or #weddingdetails to find wedding inspiration. Save all of your favorite inspirational posts by bookmarking them. Once you’re done, go through and only keep the images that are your favorite.
• Use magazines. It may be old school, but magazines are still great for flipping through and cutting out your favorite images. You can take it one step further and create a vision board.
• Use GoMoodBoard. Screenshot your favorite images and put together an online mood board. This website is free and it makes your inspiration come together in one cohesively. Tip: Make sure to save the link to your mood board!
• Check out wedding blogs & websites. Some of my favorites are Style Me Pretty, Magnolia Rouge, Green Wedding Shoes, Grey Likes, and Martha Stewart Weddings.
• Follow New York Bridal Fashion Week. Want to be up to date on all the latest bridal fashion? Catch up on the latest bridal trends with NYBFW. It always takes place in the spring and fall, and the dresses are seriously swoon-worthy!

Find Your Vendors

Your vendor search is one of the most important parts of planning your wedding. First, you’ll want to find your wedding planner and venue, followed by finding your photographer. To help do this, you can:

• Check out websites and social media. Take a look at the websites above and see what vendors are contributing to those images. You can find this in the image credits. Chances are, if you love the image, you just may love the vendor’s work, and they just may be the right vendor for you!
• Do a google search. Search things like “NYC wedding photographer” or “American Yacht Club Wedding” to help narrow down a vendor in your area.
• Use a wedding planner. Wedding planners are well connected and will help with every aspect of your wedding. If they aren’t in your budget, consider hiring a day of coordinator. They can explain how they are different from on-site coordinators provided by the venue.
• Make sure you let your vendors know how you envision your wedding day, so they can help you make your vision come to life.

If you need more tips on how to plan your wedding day, don’t hesitate to ask! Send me a DM on social media or an email. Either way, I’d love to hear from you!

Happy wedding planning!

Photographed with Jessica Haley at The American Yacht Club in Rye, New York.