As any married person knows in the Phoenix valley, a few mistakes are bound to be made during the wedding planning process. Our first piece of expert advice is to embrace the entire process, including the peaks and the valleys. There are a few mistakes though that you can avoid easily by doing a tiny bit of basic research in advance about wedding planning in Arizona. Here are some of our top Arizona wedding planner insider tips on how to avoid some common mistakes so that you can make the most of your engagement!
Photo by Trevor Dayley
1. Doing anything before drafting your guest list
First things first, you need to have a solid understanding of how many people will be at your Arizona wedding so that you can move forward with booking an appropriate venue, which will dictate the date and the many other details associated with your wedding day. Consider this scenario - you and your fiancé ideally would like a smaller wedding, and you book an intimate Scottsdale wedding venue that will accommodate 75 people. You then physically tally the number of guests that you’d like to include, plus you hear from your parents and your in-laws that they too have people you did not think of that should be invited. Your list is now up to 125, but you already have your heart set on your original wedding venue choice. Assemble your rough-draft guest list first to avoid this common wedding planning mistake, and make sure to keep your list between you and your partner, (and family), for now. When you are in the trenches of Arizona wedding planning, you may want to make edits to your list, and this will be much easier if you haven’t yet shared invites with anyone.
2. Verbally inviting people to your wedding before you have finalized your guest list
If you’ve just read our first wedding planning tip, you know it’s best to keep your guest list to you, your partner, and your close family before it has been finalized. Often couples are so excited about their engagement that it’s only natural to chat about it in social settings, and sometimes couple’s can jump the gun and “impulse invite”, or sometimes even feel socially pressured to invite people. Our advice is to meet with your Arizona wedding planner first to get your budget squared away, which will help you understand the costs associated with getting married in Arizona, and in many cases, may dictate how large or small a wedding you’d like to have in the end.
3. Changing your color theme (with two months to go)
If you’re engaged, some Arizona brides can probably identify with this scenario. You initially fell in love with a few beautiful photos on Pinterest and had a theme in mind that you were drawn to. You made plans to coordinate your wedding colors, bridesmaid dresses, and decor around this vision. Now, the more and more that you scoured inspiration boards, the less confident you felt with what you chose. You’ve now completely changed your mind, and while it’s not the best realization to have, don’t fret! There are still ways that you can revamp some of the aesthetic elements to your Arizona wedding. If you’ve already ordered your bridesmaid dresses, think about adding a bold sash or accessorizing with a colorful blossom in your bridesmaid’s hair. You can also liven things up a bit with chunky accessories or shoes. Another option is to visit your local Phoenix florist and work out the changes to your bouquets and centerpieces, adding pops of your preferred colors throughout the room. You can do the same thing with linens. Spice them up with adding a lacy overlay or a colorful table-runner. If it’s still relatively early in your wedding planning process, don’t be afraid to make the changes, but don’t forget, you’re marrying your soul mate, not your centerpieces! We at Sip and Twirl truly love helping Arizona brides with the entire design process, and can assist our couple with confidentally executing their vision to the smallest detail.
Photo by Jane in the Woods
4. Trying to drop two sizes before your final fitting
Every bride wants to look flawless on her wedding day, and while it’s one thing to eat right and exercise a few times a week, it’s another thing to crash-diet, slave away with your PT, putting immense pressure on yourself to look perfect. Set some fitness goals with your trainer, or with a workout buddy, and make small changes to your daily habits that will compound with great success in time for your Arizona wedding day. If you are someone who is a bit self-conscious of your figure, or an aspect of your body type, shop for a wedding dress that suits your shape verses a particular style that may only be flattering on specific body types. If you find that you are still freaking out about your figure with weeks to go, just remember, not only does your fiancé love you just the way that you are, but each bride is uniquely beautiful and nothing wears as well as self-confidence.
5. Doing it all yourself
Sure, we are biased on this one, but think about it. Do you really want to be the one coordinating whether or not the caterer remembered to remove trash after your reception or calling each individual local Phoenix vendor the day of your wedding to make sure they are set to arrive on time? Of course you want to be taking in every moment of your beautiful day and don’t want to be consumed with the stresses that can come up on wedding day. Let your Arizona wedding planner handle that. If you’re not sure if a wedding planner is right for you, probably due to budget, check out our blog post. A professional Arizona-based wedding planner can not only save you money in the end, but they can help alleviate some of the less glamorous jobs of wedding planning so that you can truly enjoy the months leading up to your wedding day.
Photo by Bradford Jones
We at Sip and Twirl are always here to help Arizona brides and grooms to be. We get more than a bit excited about planning everything from the perfect first look to the last toast on wedding night. Our wedding planning showroom is located in Scottsdale, Arizona, and have many years of experience in Arizona wedding planning. We’d love to hear about your dream wedding day, and learn how we can help make this vision a reality. Contact us at (480) 648-0663 or info@sipandtwirl.com.