For most of us, wedding planning doesn’t come easy.  After all, it’s not everyday that you have to plan the biggest party you’re ever going throw!

Finding suppliers, staying on budget and making it all come together are difficult and there are plenty of traps to fall in to.  This article highlights the seven biggest sins, so you can avoid them and plan your wedding to perfection.

So, in no particular order the biggest sins of wedding planning are:

Sin 1 – Hasty decisions Getting married is really exciting and it’s easy to get carried away.  There are so many ideas around and so many people want to help, all giving you things to think about.  It’s easy to make hasty decisions, sometimes to satisfy your family, pressure from suppliers for a quick sell or to get out of a difficult situation.

My advice – don’t make any quick decisions.  Listen to what people have to say, mull it over – even sleep on their ideas or suggestions.  Don’t feel pressured by anyone else.   If you give yourself time to make the decision it will be a better decision.

Sin 2 – Being swayed by pretty thingsWith all those magazines and now TV programmes too, you’re bombarded with hundreds of ideas for your wedding.  From week to week, it’s easy to change your mind and be swayed into buying the latest fashionable, pretty thing for your wedding.

Well, my advice – don’t fall into this trap.  You’ll end up with lots of unnecessary things that will tip you over your budget.  A little extra spent here on a few cute accessories or there on some lovely ribbon for your table napkins will soon mount up.  So watch those pretty things!

Sin 3 – Guestimates When defining your budget and how much you’ve got to spend, it’s easy to make guesses at how much things are going to cost.  This is a sure fire way to ending up miscalculating how much your wedding is really going to cost you.  More often than not, you’ll underestimate significantly and end up very frustrated.

The solution is to make sure you do your homework and find out how much things are really cost before you set your wedding budget.  That way, there should be no nasty surprises.

Sin 4 – Picking your first supplier When you know what you want, it’s easy to go to the first supplier you find, get a quote and use that as your benchmark for how much it’s going to cost.  Or worse still, enter a contract or buy the product there and then!

We all know that shopping around gets the best price. The same goes for all your wedding requirements – whether big things like venues or little things like favour boxes.  Shop around, get three quotes and then choose your supplier.  You’ll get the best deal.

Sin 5 – Accepting what is said by suppliers  This is probably the worst offending sin made by brides that causes heartache and stress when wedding planning.  The scenario is you’re visiting a supplier for initial discussions. They’ll often agree with what you’re saying so that you’re sold on their product.  But later down the line, when you’ve paid your deposit and booked them, you find a number of things aren’t included in the quote.  The problem here is accepting what is said by suppliers and not getting it in writing.

It’s essential to think about exactly what you want, what your requirements are and ask lots of relevant questions to your suppliers.  Then get their responses in writing and ensure what you want to happen is clearly written in their quote.  I’ve seen so many brides fall into this trap and end up paying so much more than expected.

Sin 6 – Spend, spend, spendWith planning a big party, it’s easy to get carried away and spend, spend, spend.  The end result is you go way over budget and have to save extra, or worse – you end up in debt.  Not a great start to married life!

The best way to avoid this is to keep track of all your expenditure.  When you work out a budget, draw a column next to your budget that tracks how much you actually pay for things.  Keep all your receipts for all wedding-related items and keep track of them in your budget.  Then watch the money add up – that will help you to stop spending!

Sin 7 – Careless briefingsFor some brides giving instructions comes naturally.  For others they skip over the details of what they want or how they want things to look.  These careless briefings leave suppliers and attendants confused, in disarray and stressed.  Worse still, you may end up an unhappy bride as things don’t quite go according to plan.

So, ensure everything runs smoothly.  Think things through and brief everyone thoroughly.  Tell them exactly what you want them to do or exactly how you want things to be.  Give people clear notes, timings plans and even drawings if you have to!  It will make for a more stress free day for everyone.