11 simple tips for a stress-free wedding without a wedding planner
No wedding planner, no problem?
Actually…anybody who’s planned their own intimate or micro wedding or elopement without a wedding planner will tell you they had plenty of problems. From missed communications to coordinating details with your vendors while you’re getting ready to walk down the aisle or even finding out the day before your wedding that you hadn’t actually booked your venue (yes, this actually happened to one of our brides…)—planning your own wedding is not for the faint of heart.
However, most couples planning a small, intimate micro wedding or elopement often opt to handle planning their own wedding themselves, primarily to save costs on their wedding budget. In fact, not only do most of our clients opt to handle wedding planning themselves, but Michael and I also planned our own wedding, too. Based on our own experience and that of many of our wedding photography clients, we’re sharing things to know if you aren’t hiring a wedding planner.
Can you plan a wedding without a wedding planner? We say yes! Here are 11 simple tips for a stress-free wedding without a wedding planner.
11 SIMPLE TIPS FOR A STRESS-FREE WEDDING WITHOUT A WEDDING PLANNER
1. Envision your dream wedding day
Before you even think about planning your own small or micro wedding without a wedding planner, you’ll want to dream up your ideal wedding day. Start big (what kind of wedding venue are you dreaming of? Should you have a micro wedding or an elopement? Do you want to get married locally, or at a destination?), but then delve into your desires and expectations for your special day. This isn’t just about creating an aspiration Pinterest board, but going in with a plan.
Without a clear plan of what you want your day to look and feel like—and what desires or expectations you may have—it will be easy to get overwhelmed with all the wedding planning ideas, research, and inspiration that’s out there.
2. Decide on your budget ahead of time—and stick to it
Believe it or not, you actually can get married at nearly any budget! While the question “How much does a wedding cost?” feels like a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation (how can you plan your wedding budget if you don’t know how much a wedding costs?), it’s going to save you much more stress down the road if you determine your budget early and resolve to keep to it.
With a bit of research or asking around, you can find wedding venues near you that are surprisingly affordable, get great deals on catering, or thrift your wedding dress, to name a few cost-saving examples.
Another savvy way to save money on your wedding budget? Hire a wedding photographer and videographer who only shows up for a limited time! We offer 2hr and 4hr wedding photography & videography packages that allow our couples to save a significant amount of money on their wedding photography costs so they can keep more money for their future life together.
3. Steal day-of wedding timeline templates
One of the trickiest parts of planning your own wedding without a wedding planner is figuring out your day-of schedule. (And no, “let’s just get married and figure it out as we go” is not a day-of plan.) You’d be shocked at just how quickly your wedding day flies when you’re caught up in the moment of celebrating with loved ones, and meanwhile your hungry guests are wondering if they should just find the nearest McDonald’s.
Determining your wedding timeline, or day-of wedding schedule, is more of a science than an art. Luckily, there are plenty of pre-created wedding timeline templates out there that you can use for your own wedding day. Looking for a place to start? Here’s a 4hr intimate wedding timeline example we’ve made based on our experience as a micro wedding specialized photographer!
4. Don’t go overboard with research
If you’re anything like me, it’s easy for you to get sucked into the internet black hole of “research”—aka, exhausting every possible option in order to feel like you’ve seen it all before calling it quits. And we all know that with the internet, there is no “seeing it all.”
In order to save your sanity, you might want to try to take it easy with the research phase. You could spend weeks looking up every wedding venue, caterer, florist, etc. near you, and while that’s certainly an option, it probably won’t do much for your mental health. Instead, just ask around friends and family or limit yourself to your top few and make plans to visit those before continuing with further research. Simply taking action before you feel fully finished with your research will help you with a sense of accomplishment, and who knows? Maybe one of those wedding venues will be your pick, saving you hours of research exhausting every option! (Need help finding a Central Florida wedding venue? We’re sharing our favorites here!)
YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED
9 THINGS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER WANTS YOU TO KNOW FOR A STRESS-FREE OUTDOOR WEDDING (RAIN OR SHINE)
5. Work with as few individual wedding vendors as possible
Most wedding planning involves coordinating with a wedding venue, a caterer, a florist, your wedding photographer, your wedding videographer, and so on. When you’re planning your own small or intimate wedding or elopement without a wedding planner, guess whose job it is to communicate with each of those people? Yours!
To maximize your time coordinating and communicating with your wedding vendors, try to find vendors who offer more than one service. For example, consider a wedding venue that includes catering (or has a preferred caterer that they’re able or willing to coordinate with on your behalf). Order wood and dried-bloom florals on Etsy instead of coordinating with a florist to deliver florals on the day of your wedding. Or hire a dual wedding photographer & videographer instead of hiring two separate individuals. Any way you can reduce the quantity of people you’re having to text, call, or email, the less stress planning your wedding—and on the day of your wedding.
6. Keep the DIY wedding decor to a minimum
When you’re planning your own small or micro wedding, you’re likely trying to save money on your wedding by DIYing much of your decor. But have you considered what your time (and sanity) is actually worth?
There’s a reason wedding planning is a full-time job: it takes time. However, if you’re planning your own wedding without hiring a wedding planner, AND working your job, AND fielding your mom’s suggestions for your wedding day, AND keeping your pet fed every day…trust us, the last thing you’ll have time to worry about is spray-painting a dozen lanterns for your wedding reception decor.
While DIY decor is still likely going to be a part of your wedding planning process, try to find ways to keep it to a minimum. Consider finding a wedding venue that needs little decoration, or includes basic decorations as part of your wedding package. Borrow decor from friends who recently got married. Or consider an outdoor garden wedding, where little embellishment is needed!
7. Ask your wedding vendors for recommendations
Believe it or not, the wedding industry in your city is actually quite a tight circle. Most wedding venues, caterers, florists, wedding photographers, officiants, and so forth have already worked with dozens of other wedding vendors—and have their own opinions on who made for a good experience and who didn’t. When you’re planning your own wedding without a wedding planner, however, you miss out on this circle of knowledge and referrals (which can often come with discounts).
For example, one of our recent brides found out the day before her wedding that she’d never actually signed the contract for her preferred wedding venue. (Actually, Michael was the one who found out when he tried to contact the venue’s wedding coordinator to confirm last-minute details. That was not a fun phone call to make to our bride.) Because we’ve shot numerous weddings in the local Orlando area, we knew of many other wonderful venues within the bride’s budget that she could consider contacting instead. Between our suggestions and those of her wedding officiant, she was able to book a beautiful wedding venue at the last second, saving her wedding day!
8. Set up a separate email account for your wedding planning
Nothing will derail your wedding day plans like finding out that an important piece of communication was buried in your inbox, sandwiched in between an ad for a flash sale at your favorite clothing brand and a reminder for a doctor’s appointment you had 4 months ago.
In order to keep all important documents and notes in one place, try setting up a separate email account for your wedding planning. We stole this tip from one of our recent brides, who used her dedicated email account for all of her contracts and invoices with us, and we love this idea for keeping all critical wedding planning information neatly organized in a dedicated email inbox. You can pick out a cute username, or just keep it simple with your last name and wedding (insert the date if needed) as the title.
9. Set aside one day a week for all wedding planning
If you’re planning your own wedding without a wedding planner and juggling your work/life balance, try setting aside a specific day each week to handle wedding planning tasks, such as responding to emails, signing contracts, visiting wedding venues, or holding phone calls with wedding vendors. This allows you to keep your head clear on the other days of the week and ensures you have ample time to handle both planning your own wedding and taking care of everything else in your life.
10. Recruit friends and family to help
If you’re planning your own wedding without hiring a wedding planner, you’re likely already looping in your friends and family to help pull your special day together. While asking your girlfriends who they used for hair and makeup can help you find trusted wedding vendors, where you’ll most need help is on the day of your wedding. Designate an organized, trusted friend or family member to serve as your day-of coordinator (trust us, wedding days have a tendency to go WAY off schedule if not properly managed!). Ask one of your bridesmaids to hold your phone and give her authorization to respond to any and all texts and questions while you’re focusing on getting ready to walk down the aisle. Find a family member to be the designated “guest manager” who signals to the crowd when it’s time to head over to your wedding reception. It really does take a village to pull off a successful, stress-free wedding!
11. Hire a collaborative wedding photographer & videographer
While we’d never call ourselves wedding planners (and please don’t ask us to be your wedding planner…), we do try to help our couples ensure their wedding day goes as smoothly as possible. Most of our couples choose not to hire a wedding planner, and having seen a thing or two in our time as a wedding photographer and videographer, we love to help review our clients’ day-of schedules and partner with you any way we can to ease the stress of planning your own wedding. (We just helped advise one of our brides on how and when to begin her send-off at the end of her wedding reception.) Most wedding photographers and wedding videographers just ask their clients to tell them when and where to show up and expect the couple to hand them everything they need, but we understand that planning your own wedding without hiring a wedding planner is a daunting task. Our goal is to be a collaborative partner with you to make sure your wedding day experience with us allows you to relax and celebrate your special day!
If you’re looking to get married in the Central Florida area such as Orlando, Winter Park, Winter Garden, Lakeland, Cocoa Beach, Daytona Beach, Lake Wales, Clermont, and more, we’d love to help share your special day with wedding photography and videography. View our specially-curated wedding photography and wedding videography packages, created just for small, intimate and micro weddings and elopements!
