We are so excited for all the newly engaged couples out there! Congratulations.

In the spirit of holiday giving, we wanted to give you a few tips to make the planning as easy possible. Here are a few tips that we've came up with to help start the wedding planning.

1. sit down with your partner right now, and discuss expectations, desires, needs, and everything else under the sun regarding your wedding. There are a ton of great resources for this brainstorming session, our wedding questionnaire included - maybe a list will be our next post!

2. during said talk, make a budget and discuss who will pay for what. Talk to the people in your life that you think will want a hand in paying (parents, grandparents, wealthy great uncles... whoever!) and make sure to know their expectations. Last thing you want is to dream up a destination wedding with a gold foil cake when you do not have that type of budget.

3. listen to your heart. If you love something and want something, then fight for it. This wedding is for you and your future spouse, don't forget that. Compromises will happen, but don't be afraid to put a foot down for a thing or two.

4. plan early, select vendors early, and communicate! If you wait till the last minute, you'll be even more stressed than you need to. Plan ahead for all of the big stuff, especially selecting that amazing photographer that everyone loves or that quaint little rental shop that specifically caters to dreamy, midwestern wedding *cough* - then you won't have to worry about them not being available down the road! Trust us, the last thing you want is to call your dream photographer and they tell you that your date was booked last week.

5. have fun. This is such an exciting time in your life, so try not to stress too much. Go out on dates, laugh a lot, and remind your partner how excited you are to be marrying them!

till next time,