Planning a wedding requires time – and lots of it! For many brides-to-be, wedding planning can seem like an impossible task to slot in between office hours, social commitments and family life.
From researching wedding vendors to communicating with guests and tracking your budget, there’s definitely a lot of work involved in the lead up to your celebrations. And sometimes it feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done!
The good news is, there are some super strategic time-saving hacks that can really help to streamline the whole process and tick off those tasks much quicker.
If you’re currently struggling to balance wedding planning with your other commitments, read on for 9 of our favourite hacks to start implementing right away!
Create a Wedding Website
Communicating with guests is something that will take a huge chunk out of your available time. From sending save the dates and invitations to providing the right information for your wedding, it’s crazy how much time is spent answering phone calls, text messages and emails from guests in the lead up to your day.
This is where a wedding website comes in to streamline the process for you from the very beginning! Invitations are created and sent at the click of a button, and all of the necessary details are available to your guests through an easily accessible online platform.
When you’re planning a wedding, time is precious! A wedding website will dramatically reduce the number of questions being thrown at you by your guests, by providing them with all of the answers they need upfront.
Cut Down On Correspondence
Another time-consuming element of wedding planning is liaising with your wedding suppliers. This usually entails several back-and-forth emails, from the initial enquiry through to the quoting, planning and designing stages. If you feel like you’re spending way too much time in your inbox, why not cut down on correspondence by being smarter with communication?
Instead of sending a single email every time you have a new question or comment, try to send one longer, more comprehensive email with a list of notes for your vendors to respond to. This is a time-saving hack for your wedding suppliers too, and they’ll appreciate the more streamlined communication.
Or, when it comes to organising venue meetings with your suppliers, try to batch schedule these for the same day. It’s much more convenient to fill one day with back-to-back meetings, rather than over the course of a few weeks. Make sure you give your suppliers enough notice so that everybody can pencil the same date into their calendar.
We’ve even created checklists of questions to ask your photographer, wedding planner and celebrant, so you can prepare with a print-out for each meeting to make the most of your limited time!
Stationery by Flyover Design Co
Utilise Wedding Directories
Researching wedding suppliers without any kind of strategy can involve hours of Google searching and Instagram-scrolling, as you try to find your dream team of vendors.
Instead of heading off on a wild goose chase and potentially wasting some precious planning time, why not utilise an all-inclusive wedding directory?
Whether you’re searching for the perfect florist, stationery artist or rental company, wedding directories are basically a one-stop-shop for brides to save time on researching and find their ideal suppliers quickly and easily.
You’ll have the option to browse vendors according to location and category, and get in touch with them at the click of a button. We’ve created a great list of our top bridal directories, so you can get started straight away!
Automate Your RSVP Process
Following up RSVPs can be seriously time-consuming, not to mention trying to establish dietary requirements, meal preferences and plus ones. The good news is, this is a task that can definitely be automated and completely taken off your plate altogether!
If you’re going down the wedding website route, try to choose a platform that offers RSVP automation. Once you’ve sent your digital RSVPs, you can let the automation system action those pesky follow-ups on your behalf, saving you hours of time (and phone calls) in the process.
Chances are your guests will appreciate the automated process too, saving them a trip to the post office!
Floral Design by Zinnia Floral Designs
Delegate Where Possible
When you selected your bridal party members, your decision probably came down to these people being your closest and most supportive family and friends. So if you’re finding yourself completely overwhelmed with the sheer amount of work on your to-do list, don’t be afraid to delegate some of the smaller tasks to your bridal party.
It’s important to set expectations upfront so that nobody feels taken advantage of, but it’s likely your bridal party will be more than happy to put their hands up and help out where they can!
Even if it’s just a couple of hours getting together as a group to stuff invitations or arrange flowers, the assistance of your bridal party can be a real lifesaver.
Order Online
Now here’s something that every girl can relate to – the beauty of online shopping! There are so many elements of your wedding decor that can be easily ordered online and shipped directly to your home or venue, without you having to spend hours trawling through options in person.
Think about those smaller details like guest favours, cake toppers, table numbers, stationery and signage, or even crafting materials like paper and ribbon.
These days, there are a plethora of beautiful and creative options available for brides to purchase on sites like Etsy or LENZO, making it easy to source decor in just a few quick clicks.
Start by making a list of all the decor and styling materials you require for the big day, and see what you can delegate to sourcing online. You’d be surprised how easily you can deck out your wedding based on what’s already available on the internet!
Use Pinterest to Source Inspiration
One of the most overwhelming tasks for any bride-to-be is defining your wedding style. Luckily, Pinterest is a platform that can make this job much easier, allowing you to source and curate inspiration, pull mood boards together and form a cohesive vision for the day in the one place.
Pinterest is also another great way to save time on communicating with vendors. Instead of trying to explain your dream bouquet or table settings via long-winded emails, you can simply direct your wedding vendors to the relevant Pinterest board.
Not only will this save time, but you’ll ensure that everybody is on the same page when it comes to your styling preferences for the day.
Create a Checklist
Ask any event manager for their organisational secret and they’ll tell you the same thing – an actionable checklist is essential!
Instead of spending hours trawling through emails and scribbled notes to figure out what task needs to be completed next, take some time at the beginning of your planning process to create a monthly timeline.
A step-by-step checklist is the best way to keep you on track with your tasks, reduce your admin time and ensure you don’t overlook anything crucial!
Task organisation is another element of your planning where you can take advantage of an online platform to streamline the process. Our digital wedding planner will even send reminders to hold you accountable for that crucial to-do list.
Our 12-month wedding planning timeline blog post is a great place to start, giving you a monthly breakdown of what needs to be done and when.
Hire a Wedding Planner
Hiring a wedding planner is definitely a guaranteed way to save time (and stress!) in the lead-up to your day. Your wedding planner will take a huge weight off your shoulders by pulling your vision together, liaising with vendors, organising quotes and invoices, creating your run-sheet and setting up your venue.
Working with a wedding planner will cut back on hours of your own time, as they handle all of the necessary email communication and source products and services on your behalf.
They’ll also become the go-to contact for your venue and suppliers. This means your planner can field those last-minute questions and tie up any loose ends, while you focus on relaxing and enjoy your last few weeks before the wedding!
Find your Balance
When you consider that the average wedding takes over 100 hours to plan, it makes sense to look for ways to save time during the process!
From sourcing suppliers to arranging meetings and staying on top of your to-do list, it’s important to find the right balance to avoid stress or overwhelm along the way.
Juggling wedding planning with your everyday life doesn’t have to be so difficult when you have the right strategies on hand. So if you’re looking to make your wedding planning journey much easier, these time-saving hacks are a great way to streamline your tasks, stay organised and take some weight off your shoulders.
This is an exciting time after all, so make sure it’s a positive experience to look back on with these simple but effective tips!
