top of page

Planning your perfect Wedding; The first steps

Part one of the ultimate guide to planning your wedding.

When a new year begins we tend to make resolutions for ourselves to (hopefully) stick to throughout the year.


I personally look back at my list of failed resolutions with detached amusement. Many were attempts to improve my levels of tidiness at home (it's not my fault the chair in the corner of my bedroom was built for piles of ironing), some were made for me to feel a sense of achievement (realistically was I going to learn to play the piano-other than chopsticks of course) and the rest were for self care and personal improvement (I got more use out of Netflix, Disney+ and Now TV than I did spending £30 a month on a gym membership).


But this year is different. (I bet we have all said that before)


This year I plan to stick to my new years resolution. Not just because I've made sure that I only have one goal for the year, which happens to be realistic and highly achievable, but because it helps others; quite simply, it is to make sure I work to the best of my ability to help put together the events at Cutlers Hall.


With that being said, this is the first blog post in a series of three, where we are here to help guide all of you, whom have gotten engaged over the festive period, plan your weddings.

 

Before we get into the blog post, I asked our Business Development Manager for his advice...


‘The New Year and festive period help bring people together, families spend more quality time together and couples grow even closer. Many people see this as an opportunity to express their feelings and devotion to their loved one in the form of engagements. What advice would you give newly engaged couples to help begin the planning process of their wedding?’

The Cutlers Hall Business Development Manager, James Birch
First of all I would like to say a massive congratulations if you have been lucky enough to have got engaged over the festive period. If the past 12/18 months have taught us anything it is cherish every moment with loved ones.

When planning your special day the main advice I would give is to set yourself a budget. Weddings can often be very expensive so don’t be afraid to shop around for your perfect venue, dress, caterer, rings etc.

Secondly set your date but also have a back up ready. In the midst of lockdown a lot of couples have had to postpone their big days meaning venues are now booked up right the way in to 2022 & 2023. I would recommend booking your venue first before anything else as we would hate for you to be let down if your perfect venue is not available. 12 – 18 months is the ideal booking time and this way it will avoid disappointment

Thirdly, enjoy the experience of planning the wedding, a lot of people find it the most stressful time but this does not have to be the case, set yourself goals and dates, this away you know what you need to do and by when. So many couples leave everything to the last moment that by the day they are too exhausted to enjoy the celebration.


 

When it comes to planning a wedding, there is no right or wrong way to go about it. There are, however, a few simple steps and things to consider when organising your perfect day.


Budget

One of the first things we think about when it comes to weddings, is how much it will cost. Amidst the excitement of being engaged, we tend to throw ourselves into planning every fine little detail and sometimes we can lose track of exactly how much we are spending.


The average UK wedding costs in the region of £30,000 (2021) according to this research.


But that does not mean you have to spend that amount of money to have your perfect wedding. No one wants to begin a marriage in an unmanageable amount of debt- you, your partner, friends and family will love the day no matter what.


Without a budget, you could overspend which could result in a lot of stress mentally and financially, so we want to nip it in the bud at the earliest opportunity.


The budget is all about you and your partner and what works best for you both; and that begins with knowing what your wedding budget is.


Put the kettle on, make yourself and your partner a brew, have a sit down and chat about what amount of money you can both afford to spend, whether you have family members or friends who want to contribute to the wedding and what amount of money you want to allocate each item.


Sticking to it (if you're anything like me who has to buy anything I fall in love with no matter the price) is the hard part; so make sure to shop around and look at different shops, sites, wedding fairs and places to make sure you have the best deal. But don't worry if you overspend on one aspect of the wedding,! 9 times out of 10, there are other items that you over-budget for so you can afford to pay that little extra. If not, just decrease the budget for another aspect or see if you can do some DIY to save those pennies,



Mood Boards

I am a self confessed creative artistic creature, and if you are anything like me you will agree that mood boards are the way forward.


I find them to be ever so helpful when planning not just events but about almost anything. To have a visual representation of the different ideas you have is very beneficial when it comes to planning a wedding.


Before any personal events I have planned in the past, I search here there and everywhere for inspiration so I can narrow down the vision and the style of my events.


Personally, I love printing out images and sticking them onto a mood board, a bit of paint here and there, some materials, maybe some stickers and drawings and you've got yourself a vision of your event to look at every day!


But whilst I'm an old-fashioned creature of habit, you may not be. I would fully recommend Pinterest as your medium for this as it's a great modern way to gather ideas and create boards for different aspects of your wedding day,. This way you can access them at any point during the day on your phone and have them on hand when meeting with suppliers!


Theme

I'm sure we have all watched those Don't tell the Bride episodes where one groom decided to have the theme of the wedding as Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, or the one where the groom decided the wedding bands shouldn't be the only rings to have at a wedding as he held their special day in a boxing ring. If you haven't seen them then I whole heartedly recommend giving them a watch! They're very entertaining and (somewhat) helpful to see what's involved when planning a wedding.


With that being said, you don't have to go to the extremity that they did in terms of the theme.


Once you have all of your inspiration and ideas down on a mood board, you will begin to get a feel of a theme and the style of your wedding will become clear.


Whether you decide on a vintage ambience, or a Willy Wonka theme or your wedding is stemmed from a festival vibe- it is important to choose something to base your wedding around.


When you have decided on your theme and have stuck to it, then everything else will begin to fall into place and your decisions on suppliers will become a lot easier.



Venue and time of year

I think it's obvious that I'm going to suggest The Cutlers Hall as your perfect wedding venue! We are located in the heart of Sheffield with plenty of transport links and local hotels, our venue is always exclusive use to wedding parties and we have some absolutely gorgeous rooms (the main hall being a favourite of mine) that can accommodate any size wedding, from an intimate party of 12 to a whopping 300!


Once you have decided on a theme, it is important to find the perfect venue that fits in with it. Everyone has their own preference on a wedding venue, whether that be city centre (hint hint), outdoors, on a beach or in a barn!


Choosing the venue, in my opinion, is the foundations of wedding planning; because this determines the date you get married, the maximum guest numbers, the space you can decorate, sometimes it determines accommodation and it sets the location for your wedding. It all starts here.


Once again, I would put the kettle on and make some more brews and discuss what both of you want from your wedding venue and ensure it fits in with your theme.


There are other important factors to consider at this stage, if you are wanting an outdoor venue then you will need to make sure that you book it in a month where its unlikely to rain (living in the UK this is very hit and miss throughout the year so cross your fingers and hope for the best that we have another scorching summer!). If you would like your venue to be exclusive to you and your guests then this is another thing to look out for as some places can be available to the public and/or other events on the same day. Some venues offer accommodation which would be perfect if you have family/friends travelling a fair distance.


My advice would be to have a browse through different wedding venue sites (Hitched, Venue Directory, UK Bride etc) organise a few site visits so you can get a feel of the venues and be able to envisage your wedding there. This also provides the perfect opportunity to have a chat, with the wedding coordinators at each venue, about how you want your wedding to go ahead, if they offer catering, if they allow external caterers, what the minimum and maximum number of guests are and any other queries you may have.


 

I hope these first steps have proven helpful for the beginnings of your wedding planning.


Make sure to tune into our blog next Thursday for the next steps in planning your wedding.


If you have any further questions, queries or would like our first hand advice please do not hesitate to contact us on our social media or email salesexec@cutlershall.co.uk



Until next time,


Toni Charlotte

Events Sales Executive


Recent Posts

See All
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page