Six tips for planning your wedding

1. Find motivation!

To put it delicately, many couples find that they're excited about a new engagement and lose track of what is most important: their wedding! Many couples enjoy the newly engaged photos, congratulatory messages, and parties that come along with being engaged without ever considering the time and work it takes to efficiently plan the huge event for which they may or may not have set the date. Time passes by, and before they know it, they're only half a half-a-year out from the big day, and they realize that they need to hire a caterer, find a limousine service, start dance classes, decide on their bachelor and bachelorette parties, choose centerpieces, find a general theme and colors, and so on. Sounds exhausting, right? That's just the start of it. Our biggest tip is that enjoying the newly engaged feeling is alright, but planning the wedding starts on Day one. Don't be lazy. Find the motivation and get to work!

2. Get organized

This tip is closely related to our first. Sure, it's easy to say that we think it's a good idea to get motivated and get to work, but what if you don't know how? Not everybody is an organizational expert; we here at Chicago Party Bus sure aren't. However, we suggest that you get a calendar or a date book, or if going digital is your thing, create a specific cloud-based calendar for only wedding-related things. From there, it's a matter of creating a plan, just as we mentioned earlier. To keep this easy on the brain, let's say you were engaged in January, and your wedding is in November. You might write in the calendar or date book that you would like the venue picked by the end of February. This gives you a couple of months to see a few places, gather the costs, and decide which suits your needs the best. You might even need a bit more of a kick in the rump with weekly reminders to call venue X or Y to schedule a meeting. If you are proactive and organized, you will have much more of a stress-free engagement.

3. Be sure to enjoy yourself

Does that mean that wedding planning can't be fun? Of course, it can. That said, that's not exactly what we're saying. Let's face it: you'll be a busy bee planning the big day. Also, be sure to schedule date nights and weekends where you and your significant other do no wedding planning. No talking about weddings, no planning of any kind. You just sit at home and enjoy dinner and wine, or even go out and have a night in town. These days are important not only because bonding time is essential in any relationship but also because an engagement can be an incredibly stressful venture, and having a break from that can really help keep the stress levels down and the romance truly alive.

4. Say it with us, "Communication is key."

This is the case for any relationship, but it's especially true for those who are engaged and want to remain that way until the wedding day. Communicate. Not keen on the color of tie he picked? Speak up now before you force anyone to make any last-minute decisions. If you bottle up the fact that you don't like the tie and he hides the fact that he preferred centerpiece 1 over centerpiece 2, then down the road, neither of you will be happy. Make sure to be open, honest, and non-confrontational, and not only will you be able to make it through the engagement process, but you might even have fun doing it, and that's saying a lot!

5. Stay on track!

Does the calendar say you need to have the centerpieces picked up within two weeks? Then you better choose them. "I can push it back a week" isn't a valid excuse. You set the goal to stay on track, and voiding from that path only leads to trouble. First, you're a week behind on the centerpieces, then the tux fitting is not done in time, and now you're rushing to find a limousine company to chauffeur your wedding party, and everyone is booked up! Procrastination holds no place in the wedding planning world. Write (or type) in your calendar and stick to it. Delegate tasks and take care of business. As you check off these items, you will see how far you've progressed, and you'll only be left with smiles! If you can't stay organized, then there's no sense in getting organized.

6. When meeting with venues ask the specifics

Sure, you might hire a wedding through an agency. They may have shown you a great band with a really good female singer who can really belt out the songs that your guests are going to dance to all night long. However, the contract fine print states they'll provide "A band or group which contains a female singer." This happens all of the time with talent agencies. One could argue that it is the old bait and switch, but in reality, if you agreed to have "a band or group which contains a female singer" and not "Band X" or "Group Y," then you agreed to their terms, and no matter who they deliver they're not in the wrong. When meeting with vendors, be sure to ask questions like "So upon signing this question, I will have Band X with members A, B, and C playing at my wedding from Start Time to End Time?" and when they say yes, ask them to point that out in the contract. If it's not there, ask them to put it in writing. This is your wedding day, and there's no room for error. If a company is unable to provide you with the exact services you requested, then they are not the company for you.

All in all, wedding planning can be a great joy. It just takes some motivation and a bit of know-how to make that planning go smoothly. Try to find the motivation to get organized. Stay on track with that organization. Veering off can only lead to disaster. Communicate with your significant other, but be sure to spend dedicated time with them that has nothing to do with planning a wedding. Sit back, enjoy time with them, and love one another. That's what all of this is about, and it will be the start of a great marriage, guaranteed.