Did you get engaged during the festive period? Christmas and New Year’s Eve can be very romantic, and January is a busy time for any venue in terms of showing newly engaged couples around. What an immensely exciting period you have ahead of you! Planning a wedding is a lot of fun, however, it can sometimes be a daunting task to embark on with lots of major decisions to make and a budget to consider. I work with couples and their families year around and have great deal of experience in helping them to plan for their big day. I have a few tips to get you going and make it all run smoothly.

Set a timetable

As soon as that announcement is made, people will be keen to congratulate you and will ask the question “so when is the big day?” Before you can make any major choices and set a date one of the most important decisions to make is choosing and booking your dream venue. As a wedding planner I work with the couple to find a date that works for not only them but their friends and family. A few things to think about include major events or family holidays that you may want to avoid. If you are thinking of a mid week wedding, people may have to take time off work not only for the wedding day, but a day either side. It is important to think about how long you want to plan your wedding, you often need longer than you think!

Set your budget

It is important to talk through financing your wedding. This may involve just you and your partner or your families too. You need an overall figure which you can then begin to work with on how you will spend it. There are some great money saving options, such as mid-week weddings or out of season dates.

Choose and book your venue

Before you do anything else, you need to choose and book your venue. Don’t get carried away trying on wedding dresses, picking cakes or booking your photographer. Your choice of wedding venue is crucial to your big day. Your venue should suit you as a couple. At Talhenbont the bespoke wedding service and flexible nature of the spaces on offer mean that every wedding is different.

Draft your guestlist

Once you know how where your wedding is going to be, it’s time then to sort out your guestlist. It may be that you decide upon an intimate wedding breakfast and huge evening “do.” People often want to invite more guests than is affordable, so part of my job is to work with a couple and their budget and offer advice on how best to cater for everyone. There are money saving options from a catering point of view and so it’s important to work closely with your caterer.

Work with your Wedding Planner.

Perhaps the best bit of advice is to work closely with your wedding planner. They are there to offer expert advice and support from the moment you book. I aim to go that extra mile for our couples, from bespoke tasting evenings with our caterer to putting you in touch with our carefully curated list of brilliant companies and individuals that we know are great to work with. A good wedding planner is also a great sounding board for any ideas that you may have.

Follow my tips for your big day and your wedding will be what you have always dreamed of.

Alicia Cox is the wedding director of Talhenbont Hall, a luxury wedding venue on the Llŷn Peninsula that is available for exclusive use

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