Now that you have picked a wedding date and booked a venue, here are your 20 next action steps to get you down the aisle:
Photo || JP Pratt Photography; Planning || Events By Memory Lane; Rentals || Bride and Joy Weddings
1. Book your vendors.
The best vendors can book 1-2 years out, so if there is one you must have, book them as soon as possible!
Here is a list of vendors that you’ll most likely need:
Photographer/Videographer
Caterer
Hair and Make Up
DJ
Bartenders
Cake/Desserts
Florist
Officiant
Rentals
Hotels/Accommodations/ AirBnBs
2. Finalize your invite list.
Check with your venue and see how many guests you are able to host. The Refinery can host 120 guests, so we typically recommend that couples invite up to 130-140 guests and should land around the 100-110 range for RSVPs. Guests do not like being squished, so make sure you plan your guest list accordingly.
3. Go dress shopping/tux shopping and pick out your big day attire!
Picking and ordering-in your ensemble can take time, not to mention waiting on fittings and alterations. The sooner you do this, the better. Advice from us: don’t buy your dress/tux on the same day you try it on. It’s so easy to have buyer’s remorse. Put it on hold, if you can. Go home. Look at videos and pictures of you in it. Go back and try it on a few days later. If you still love it, then buy it.
4. Choose your ceremony time.
We always recommend looking up what time the sunset is on your wedding day and scheduling your ceremony two hours before that. The main reason for this is, we want you to get that golden hour light and this happens one hour before sunset. The two hours before builds a little bit of extra time for us to make sure you can definitely get that good light! If you have a summer wedding with a late sunset time, we would suggest doing your ceremony at 4:00-5:00PM and planning to go back outside later for your sunset photos.
5. Arrival times and contact information.
Once you have hired all of your vendors and chosen your ceremony time, reach out to your vendors and ask them what time they plan on arriving, based on the ceremony time. Also request their phone numbers, so that all parties can get ahold of them at any point leading up to your wedding day/on your wedding day.
6. Set up your planning meeting with the venue.
Once you know your schedule, reach out to your venue about what day and time might be good to set up a planning meeting. At The Refinery, we do a four month meeting and a one month meeting. Please keep in mind that most venues do events on weekends, so the sooner you contact them and get something in the schedule, the more likely they all are to be able to accommodate your schedule!
During this meeting, we discuss questions, create your preliminary timeline and come up with your ceremony processional order (how all of your family members and bridal party are walking in to the wedding). The only things we need you to bring to this meeting, typically, are your list of vendors and arrival times and a tentative processional order, that we can work through with you.
This meeting takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. This can be done in person or by phone.
7. Do your registry!
You will need to include this information in your invitation, so it’s best to get it done ahead of time.
8. Plan and book your honeymoon.
Think outside the box: look at places like Norway, Switzerland or Denmark! Cheap airfare and absolutely unforgettable hospitality and beauty!
9. Discuss and book your rehearsal dinner location.
At The Refinery, we include a one hour rehearsal with your wedding package. We cannot guarantee that it will be the night before your wedding, however. This is discussed and confirmed at the 1 month meeting. A lot of our clients will add on the “Rehearsal Dinner Package” (a 3 hour timeframe) or the “Decoration Package” (a 6 hour timeframe), the day before their wedding. This allows you to have the rehearsal on your desired day and time, host your rehearsal dinner at the venue (if you’d like), unload decorations, and decorate the day before the wedding, to alleviate stress on the wedding day. If this is something you’d like to add on, please reach out for pricing!
10. Get your invitations printed and addressed!
Put an RSVP date of 2 months before your wedding. This is earlier than most recommend, but we strongly suggest having concrete numbers as soon as possible. Send your invites out 3 months before your wedding.
11. Order your wedding bands!
Try to support small businesses by shopping local or on Etsy! This can also help you find something really unique and amazing!
12. Order in all of your plasticware or glassware--dinner plates, bar glasses, cocktail napkins, cake plates, cake forks, etc.
Regardless of what you’re drinking out of or eating off of, make sure you order early, so you aren’t paying extra for shipping things at the last minute
13. Schedule your one month meeting with your venue.
During this meeting, you can finalize your timeline, create your floorplan and go over questions. At The Refinery, this meeting typically takes 1.5 to 2 hours. This can be done in person or over the phone.
14. Send final timeline to all vendors and ask them if they have questions
Once you have finalized your timeline, we suggest you reach out to all of your vendors and send them the timeline. This way, everyone is on the same page.
15. Get marriage license at least one month before.
Look up your local courthouse and see what their rules and regulations are. Every town and county has different guidelines, so make sure you do everything by the book!
16. Get your ABC license at least one month before!
If your caterer does not provide an ABC license, most venues will require you to attain one for your wedding day. These can be purchased online for $40-$75, depending on what you are serving. It is a very easy process and helps protect you, in case anything were to happen from the alcohol that you have provided. You must print this license and bring it to the venue on wedding day.
17. Purchase all of your alcohol and beverages.
If you are providing your own alcohol, definitely make sure you purchase everything ahead of time so that you aren’t running to the store the day before your wedding. A lot of stores run discounts on alwine and beer, so this can be easy to stock up on over a few months, which will help cut down cost!
18. Have a final dress/tux fitting and hair/makeup trial at least one month out.
You want to make sure that everything still fits and will look amazing for the wedding day. Do NOT avoid the hair and makeup trial. This is so important to make sure that you’ll love how you’ll look on your wedding day.
19. Schedule a final phone call with your venue.
Once you know what day works best for you, set up a day and time for a phone meeting. At The Refinery, we do a one week phone call. This meeting typically takes 30 minutes in which we go over all of the details of the timeline, floorplan and any last minute questions.
20. Coordinate schedules with all of the wedding party for rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.
Rehearsal always goes best if you make sure everyone who can be at the rehearsal knows when and where to be!
YOU MADE IT TO WEDDING DAY! CONGRATS!
Photo || JP Pratt Photography; Planning || Events By Memory Lane; Rentals || Bride and Joy Weddings