Wedding Tips

First Steps to Planning Your Wedding

Follow our wedding tips and you will be well on the way to a successful and memorable Wedding Day.

2. Set yourself a budget for the wedding. The cost of a wedding can vary from just over £100 for a basic civil ceremony in front of two witnesses at your local register office, with a single copy of the marriage certificate, to many thousands of pounds. Currently the average cost of a wedding and reception is around £18,000, but it’s possible to spend much more or much less than this.

Decide who will pay for which elements of the wedding. Traditionally the bride’s parents have borne the greatest part of the costs, but it’s becoming more and more common for couples to pay for the whole wedding themselves, especially if they have already been living together for some time. The largest component of the cost of your wedding will probably be the hire of the reception venue and the cost of the food.

3. Decide what sort of wedding you would like to have. In England and Wales you may have a civil wedding in a register office or in a building licenced for civil marriages or a ceremony in a religious building registered for the solemnisation of marriage. If you marry in a religious building other than an Anglican church you may also need to have a civil ceremony if you wish your marriage to have legal recognition.

At present it is not possible to celebrate a Civil Partnership in a religious building, although it may be possible to have a blessing for your relationship if the local vicar or priest agrees.

4. Decide where and when you would like to marry and/or hold your reception. Book the venue and a local superintendent registrar as soon as you can, especially if you plan to marry on a Saturday in the summer. Most venues which are licenced for civil ceremonies will take provisional bookings and hold them for a couple of weeks while you ensure that there is a registrar available at the time that you would like to hold your ceremony.

5. Give notice of your intention to marry. If you are marrying in an Anglican church, you need to make the arrangements with the parish priest. Otherwise, you need to give notice at your local registry office. You must both do this in person, but you do not have to do it together. At this point you will be asked where and when you intend to marry. You can give notice up to a year in advance and under normal circumstances you need to allow 15 clear days between giving notice of your intention and the ceremony itself.

If you are planning a wedding abroad your marriage will be valid in the United Kingdom if it’s legally recognised in the country in which it takes place. If you are in any doubt, contact the local British embassy for advice.

6. Decide who you will invite to help you celebrate your wedding. One of our most useful wedding tips is to have two lists: one for the people such family and close friends that you must invite and the second for people that it would be nice to invite. When people from the first list are unable to accept your invitation, replace them with people from the second list.

7. Decide on the details of your celebration. Among the things that you may consider are:

- Colours and themes;

- What you are going to wear;

- Whether you want to have any attendants;

- How you would like to decorate your venue.

You may find that creating a mood board with pictures and swatches of material helps you to plan your theme and wedding decorations.

8. Keep an eye on your budget and prioritise your expenditure to keep it under control. Getting married is the important part of the day. This time next year it won't matter that you turned up to your wedding in a taxi instead of in a helicopter!

9. Delegate some of the work involved in organising your wedding to family and friends, so that you don’t enter your marriage tired and stressed out from all the hassle. Or hire a Wedding Planner who will have lots of wedding tips to help to take the load off your shoulders and will keep an eye on the budget for you.

10. This is one of the more important wedding tips! Keep some time free for non-Wedding related activities and give yourself a break from the preparations. Get to know your family and friends again.

To the best of our knowledge these wedding tips are correct at the time of writing for weddings in England and Wales.

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