Congratulations, you and your special someone are engaged to be married! There are a lot of decisions to be made about your big day, and it can feel a little overwhelming at first, but here at Venue Finder we try to make the planning process as easy as possible. The first things you need to agree will set you off on the right course for your wedding day, and these all impact each other, so should be considered together. These are:
- The overall budget for your wedding day
- Your guest list
- Your wedding venue and location
- Your wedding date
- Your marriage celebrant
The Budget
The first thing you need to know is how much you are prepared to spend on your big day, and how much you can afford to pay. The average New Zealand wedding costs around $30,000, but there is certainly a large range here where savings can be made, or more lavish events can be planned. Some couples may have family members who may want to contribute to the budget, but be aware that those who contribute to the spend are likely to also want to have some say in what that money is spent on, and the planning of the day. No matter your budget, it is worth having a discussion about all the things that you will want for your wedding day, and which ones are the most important. Have you been dreaming about a particular venue or location, but don’t mind too much about having a custom-made wedding dress, or is the opposite true? Or maybe you are dedicated to particularly rare flowers in your bouquet, or have a huge or complex cake in mind, and wouldn’t mind compromising in another area to have that one thing.
The Guest List
The guest list can be a difficult thing to get right. You might want to invite every member of both of your families and all of your friends to share your special day, but your budget may not stretch to inviting the girl who you hung out with at primary school and haven’t seen since! For my own wedding, my husband and I had been together 4 years, and known each other even longer, so our rule was that if our significant other had not met the person, then they weren’t on the guest list. This worked well because we were paying for our wedding ourselves – of course if others are contributing to the budget of your big day then they can reasonably expect some input into who is invited.
The Location and Venue
This can take a few discussions, especially if you both have family and friends in different locations. Before choosing the location for your wedding, you may want to consider if you want to make it easier for older family members to attend, or if you would like a destination wedding for everyone to travel to. Do you love the ocean and want a beach or waterfront wedding in Auckland, feel most comfortable in nature and want your wedding ceremony in Canterbury in a garden or forest, or are you passionate about winter sports and want a winter wedding in Queenstown? Start looking at venues that fit your criteria and see what kind of wedding packages they offer. This may prompt you to go back and look at your budget again, and your guest list! It is important to visit venues and ask questions, understand the different spaces that they provide for ceremony, reception, and photos – and understand whether there are back-up options if the weather is not what you were hoping for on the big day. Different wedding venues offer different packages – for example, some will provide inhouse catering, some have their own decorations that you can use, some are able to provide all the tables/chairs/linen etc for your reception. It is important to understand exactly what is and isn’t included when you are comparing wedding venues.
The Date
Setting the date is, of course, very important! This can be part of the decision when selecting your venue – many wedding venues are booked 12 months in advance. Once we had selected the general area that we wanted to have our wedding, we selected a time of year that suited the kind of weather and photos that we were hoping to have. This meant that we were reasonably flexible with the actual date itself, and could choose the date once we had chosen a venue. Some venues offer discounted packages if your wedding is in their off-peak season, and some offer discounts for mid-week weddings, so these can be options to consider if you fall in love with a particular venue but can’t quite stretch the budget.
The Celebrant
The last of the fundamentals that are needed for a successful wedding is a celebrant! Selecting your celebrant is very important, as they will be setting the scene and the tone of your wedding ceremony. Are you wanting someone who can relax the crowd and tell a few jokes, or are you looking for something a little more serious? It is very normal to contact a few celebrants and have a chat or meet with them, to see if you get along and make sure they really understand what you are looking for. Celebrants will often have some suggested wording and order of events during your ceremony, but you should always feel free to reword these to make them more personal and relevant to you both. Some wedding ceremonies will include readings from friends or family members – at our own wedding we included a handfasting ceremony performed by my mum that was very special to us. A celebrant is not only the person who performs the ceremony and signs the legal paperwork – they are someone who has seen many weddings, so they are a fantastic resource to be able to provide advice and suggestions about some of the details of the ceremony, and prompt you to think about options that you might not have considered.
Planning a wedding is a big task and it is important to seek out advice from people who have done it before, or who are in the industry. Here at Venue Finder we are passionate about connecting couples with wedding venues and wedding suppliers, and providing advice for a fantastic wedding day. You can not only use us to search for your perfect wedding venue, but also for other wedding services you might need for the day – such as catering, photographers, wedding cakes, decorations, and flowers! Settle in with a tea or coffee and have a browse through our listings today – there is inspiration everywhere!