Julia Dowling of Snapdragon Parties, the leading luxury wedding and event planners, shares some trade secrets on creating an amazing wedding.

The idea of planning your own wedding sounds like fun to the uninitiated.  But unless you feel confidently creative, are commercially savvy and know how to find the best suppliers out there, it can be daunting.   As professional wedding planners we are most often asked for our top wedding planning tips.

1. Do set a realistic budget and stick to it

Even a modest wedding costs a great deal.  Build a budget based on some Internet research and your judgement of how much you are prepared to spend.  As a guide, your budget should be split about forty per cent to catering, ten per cent each to venue or marquee hire, clothes, entertainment, photography and flowers with everything else coming from the remainder.  Don’t assume that hosting your wedding at home will be cheaper, because the entire infrastructure needs to be brought in.  Have honest conversations with all concerned about who will contribute and how much, and do get wedding insurance. Use your budget to guide your choices.  We always start wedding planning with a budget and then help to choose a venue and style of wedding.  Once you have set a budget, stick to it by negotiating hard with suppliers, especially if they were recommended by your venue; they will often be paying commission on your booking.

2. Don’t pick a venue until you have a clear idea of the type of wedding you want

Many historic buildings impose restrictions on their use; a grade 1 listed castle full of ancient treasures is likely to prohibit use of candles, so if your vision is a candlelit wedding ceremony pick an appropriate venue.  Depending on when you plan to marry think about the likely weather (always have a wet weather plan) and the availability of local accommodation.

3. Do find ways to weave in your own personality and style

There is much more to styling a wedding than copying an idea from a glossy magazine or adhering to conventional traditions. I often start by asking couples what impression they want to leave their guests with and how we can incorporate elements of their personality into the design scheme.  Other considerations include the season, the exact location, the size of the guest list, favourite colours, the level of formality which is desired and the budget.

In terms of dressing a venue, think macro and micro.  Macro styling means lighting the outside of a building, transforming the interior space and fusing the venue’s character with the nature of your event.  Micro styling means the way you dress the tables, the folding of napkins and your choice of china, glassware, place cards and favours.

Really talented florists will happily interpret your concepts with flowers, candles, feathers, wood, glass or foliage.

4. Don’t settle for the same old wedding fare

Most caterers’ and venues’ standard menus are pretty boring.  Britain exports some of the finest food all over the world.  While no one goes to a wedding primarily for a gourmet experience, serve your guests some food that they will really appreciate.

5. Do plan the day from a guest’s perspective

On your wedding day you may be the centre of attention but you are also the host, and so you need to think about the whole day from your guests’ perspective.  This means making sure that it flows naturally, that people aren’t left standing around without a drink while you have pictures taken and that everyone gets to spend at least a little time with you both.

6. Don’t be afraid to save money where guests won’t notice

Wine needs to be good, but not necessarily a First Growth Bordeaux and you would be amazed at how good a wedding cake from M&S can be (yes, I’m being serious).  Once your florist has constructed something colourful between the tiers, your guests will think you spent a fortune on it!

7. Do make your wedding stationery stand out

The invitation offers the first indication your guests receive about the character of the event.  While the skilfully engraved traditional invitation undoubtedly retains its timeless appeal, an intricate laser cut creation can be equally impressive.  When picking a stationery style and colour, remember that you have to carry it through for orders of service and table stationery.  Anything too outlandish may make it hard for guests to read the hymns or placecards.

8. Don’t cut corners on photography

Apart from the marriage, the photographs are the only part of your wedding that will last a lifetime.   There are four basic styles of wedding photography and the best photographers can generally achieve a seamless mix of them all.  The traditional style is ideal for the posed family portraits, contemporary photography tends to be more informal and capture the spirit of the occasion.  Reportage is the fly-on-the-wall approach that captures the detail and flow of your day and the artistic approach, as the name suggests, aims to create the poster shots.    Even if you aren’t particularly traditional you should be cautious about too contemporary a style as you won’t want the photographs to look out of date in a few years.

9. Do hire a professional to coordinate things on the day

Appoint someone as the coordinator on the day.  This could be a friend, or ideally, a professional.  Without a coordinator, you will spend the whole day worrying about the details yourself, which will significantly reduce your enjoyment.   They need to reconfirm all the details with suppliers, create a detailed running order and oversee the day.  Many wedding venues will offer you an event coordinator but remember that they won’t coordinate anything other than at the wedding venue itself.

10. Don’t forget why you are doing this!

If you haven’t employed a wedding planner, there will be times during the planning process when you will wonder why you’re doing all this; it will inevitably get pretty stressful at times.  When the bills are flying in and you are worrying about all sorts of seemingly inconsequential details, remember that it will all be worth it in the end – and, after all, you will remember your wedding day forever!

www.snapdragonparties.com