Your must haves

First things first, have a very honest an open discussion together about both of your must haves and very importantly your budget. With a short lead wedding it is very likely a lot if not all of the money will be due at the time of booking, so create a budget and stick to it. You can then manage each others expectations and see where you both can compromise if needed. We have lots of couples who have family members and friends create their cakes, be their photographers, make their table centers and more which not only saves on costs, but allows them to have a very important role in the wedding, which they may not have had, had the wedding be booked in a few years time.

Be prepared!

Once you have a date in mind and you are aware the venue has availability, book your registrars and give your wedding notice. There must be 28 days between the day you give notice to the date your wedding takes place so the earlier you get this done - the better! You must give notice within the borough where you reside but the registrars who will attend on the day will need to be that of those within the borough the venue is located in. Then reach out to all of your guests and begin compiling a guest list as well as a table planner of where everyone is going to sit. 

Make quick decisions

Whether it be your flowers, hair, makeup, cake, photographer etc reach out and see if they are willing to offer any discounts/extras due to the wedding being more last minute. Tick everything off as you go so you don't forget anything, there are lots of free checklists on google to help. You don't have to have a cake booked in 3 years before your big day but just keep in mind your first choice supplier may not be available but your venue is likely to have a supplier list who will try their best to get you booked in.

Don't give too much choice!

When sending out your invitations it may be an idea to do so online via Whatsapp/Facebook etc as you are likely to get a much quicker response meaning you can finalize that guest list so much quicker. When sending out your menu choices, the easiest option is to offer just 1 option per course and note that if any guests are vegetarian/vegan or have any dietary requirements they let you know, and they will be catered to separately. That way you can manage this directly with the venue without having to go back and forth with all of your guests. 

Ask questions

When booking a last minute wedding the best people to ask questions to will be your venue. See if they are willing to offer a 30 minute planning meeting where they discuss everything they will need from you and give you a realistic time frame of when they need this by. That way you know exactly what is needed and by when. Your venue will also have the best advice for suppliers, set up, running of the day etc so don't be afraid to ask the questions. We recommend (which is very common) that you also have a final meeting around 6 weeks to 1 month before the big day to finalise everything. Venue's don't typically need much more details prior to this - just confirmation that you have your registrars booked in.

ENJOY IT!

Take it from us, since COVID we have seen weddings booked, planned and delivered within just 8-12 weeks and they have been absolutely magical and better yet - not as stressful as you may believe!

• Be prepared and organised
• Make quick decisions... and stick to them
• Don't give your guests too much choice - managing people will be the hardest task
• Get advise from your venue & suppliers
• Get family and friends involved - someone always knows someone who's a cake maker, designer, owns a dress shop etc so ask!

Happy Wedding Planning x