A Guide on How to Plan a Wedding in 90 Days

Recently engaged? Woooo congrats! This is going to be both a beautiful, fun, and scary time. I’m sure you have heard all the horror stories about planning a wedding, horror stories about the costs and everything in between. So let’s open up together and get an action plan on how to plan a wedding in 90 days (yes it is possible).

In my experience as a wedding photographer, I have spoken to loads of brides and grooms, and have come up with one unanimous piece of advice, you ready for it? Here it is…the longer you leave things, and the more time you take, the higher your anxiety will rise! Think about it, what’s worse? An exam, or an assignment? Waiting for a bad phone call all day, or getting the bad news straight away? Ripping a band-aid off, or pulling it off slowly? I think we can all agree on most of these things, the slower the process, the worse it will be.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with taking your time planning a wedding, but most couples explain to me that they feel they are ‘supposed’ to take a while. They think they need to check out 10 venues, and 20 photographers before going with the first place they saw anyway. There are no hard and fast rules about planning a wedding. You can take 2 years, you can take 2 months. But for those of you out there who want to plan your wedding efficiently, and get to that massive big beautiful day faster, let’s do this!

Don’t procrastinate, get into it!

Does this sound familiar? Get engaged, get really excited, have an engagement party (maybe), and then sit around for months on end, wondering when you will start planning a wedding? Parents, friends, family asking when the big day will be, but you haven’t even considered a date, let alone anything else?

This is really common. I do a lot of engagement shoots, and when I ask about the wedding, they haven’t even thought about it, despite being engaged for 12 months already. It doesn’t have to be this way. This is only adding to your anxiety and making things worse.

So what should you do? Just jump in! Start looking for venues first, that is crucial! Don’t get me wrong, you can check out a few venues, but no need to overdo it. Go with your gut! If your gut tells you you have found the perfect place, which is available on your day and fits in your budget…what are you waiting for?! Once this is done, move on to the other big ticket items like Photography, Hair and Makeup and Florals. Do the same with them! Check a few out, do your due diligence, but as soon as you find someone who you love, and whose work you are blown away by, if they are available and in your budget, don’t play games and wait, book them in!

These are the huge ticket items, all sorted now. That is usually what takes people over a year to get onto. You have just reduced your stress endlessly. As my most recent bride Charley said to me, “I just cut to the chase, and refused to muck around”. It can be done, you just need to trust your gut, and take the plunge.

Choose your party wisely

If you want to plan a wedding in 90 days, you absolutely must have the right party by your side. Not sure how important it is to select the right people? One recent bride had this to say, “Mum helped me with the vibe and look of the entire wedding. She came to help pick the cake, decorations, flowers and the dress! Dad handled accomodation, the celebrant and making sure everything ran smoothly. He would personally go into the venue to organise the logistics of it all. My sister and best friend (bridesmaids) mainly kept my stress levels down throughout the process and the day. It doesn’t sound important, but they had a tough job, and totally nailed it.”

I shot a wedding last year in the Hunter Valley were everything went perfectly. Well…as far as the bride was concerned they did. About 90 minutes before the ceremony, the Groom realised he had left the rings at his Airbnb. As a good Best Man does, he saved the day! How? This is what the Groom had to say to me on the day, “He’s rushed back, in an Uber, to pick up the rings! He has told the venue, and they are now going to stall by telling the girls that they need just a bit longer to set up the ceremony. Thank God! I would be f***ed without him!” Excuse the expletive, but honestly, this is what people in your bridal party do. They can save the day, or they can save you from becoming a ball of stress. Family can help organise and plan, and if you get everyone humming like a well oiled machine, amazing things can happen.

Be realistic about your big day!

You are going to need to be flexible. Let’s get that out of the way right up front. If you want to plan a wedding in 90 days, you are going to need some wiggle room. You may have had your heart set on that custom wedding cake, or maybe on a custom tailored dress from France, but you know as well as I do, these things need to be planned far in advance, sometimes over 12 months. Does this mean all hope is lost? No! Of course not! Compromise. You can easily find so many amazing, stunning local dress suppliers or cake makers in your area.

Being realistic also might include accepting that things may not be smooth sailing the entire planning process. Don’t get me wrong, this can happen with any length engagement, but little hiccups are more prone when time is of the essence. If you approach this entire process with the mindset that there will be hiccups along the way, you will have much more resilience about you, resilience you will need to plan a wedding in 90 days.

So is it doable? Yes! Is it going to be tough? Of course, but so is planning a wedding over 12 months. Every engagement length has its pros and cons in regards to wedding planning. But if you really want to cut through the fat and get to the wedding, then it is certainly achievable. Will you do this? Get in touch and let me know your thoughts!