Tips for Long Distance Wedding Planning
Wedding planning can be hard enough without miles and miles in-between you and your future spouse. Trust me, when I was planning my own wedding my fiance was thousands of miles away on a six month deployment. We learned a lot about each other and new ways to communicate during this time. So many couples find themselves in a long distance planning situation, whether they are away from their future spouse, family or even planning team. Below are some great tips to help you navigate this tricky situation!
1. Create a Planning Timeline
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Well, it may be but it is super important. You and your partner should lay out all of the tasks you need to accomplish in the order in which you need to complete them so there are no surprises. Having an outline of what and when you need to do allows you to adjust your schedule, finances and life around the big ticket items.
2. Discuss Finances
No matter if you're paying for your wedding yourselves or have loved ones assisting you with the expenses you should have an open and clear conversation with your partner about how you will pay for your big day. Large payments happen early in the planning process for deposits and then again towards the end of the planning process as you make final payments. To ease the burden, create a payment plan for your partner and yourself to make those large payments smaller. The middle months are often quiet financially so utilize that time to lessen the burden of your financial commitment.
Also, for couples who are paying for the wedding themselves, you should look into a shared account or discuss how you will contribute to those payments from afar. Luckily, Venmo and similar bank transfer processes have made this wayyy easier. If you do open a shared account, make sure you both understand the amount you will contribute, the long-term financial plans, and how it will affect your credit/personal finances.
3. Schedule Your Wedding Planning
Just like you probably schedule your regular FaceTime dates you should try to plan certain chats to focus solely on wedding planning. Based on your overall life schedules and how much time you have to plan for your big day, your regular wedding planning meeting frequencies can differ but find what you think works best for you. These wedding planning dates don't have to be stressful! Open a bottle of champagne or try out potential recipes for your signature drinks, create an agenda so you know what items you need to tackle during that meeting, and when you're done - celebrate that you've checked off some planning boxes!
Another great tip is to narrow down your decisions ahead of your planning calls so there's a few options to discuss instead of endless centerpiece choices. Limiting these choices to three options you love means your spouse can't make the wrong decision (you know what I'm talking about!) and it keeps your planning talk time to a minimum. Your planning team can definitely help you narrow down your options, too!
4. Utilize Your Planning Team
Having a planner (yes, I'm a little biased) can really help you keep on the same page throughout the planning process. When you work with us you will have access to our online planning program so there's no doubt on where you're at in the process.
If you don't live in the area where you are getting married, don't fret! Wedding vendors are experienced in working with out-of-town clients. Whether that means virtual meetings, lots of phone calls, or making a time to meet with you in-person when you're in town - your planning team is there to help you no matter where you are!
5. Tech up!
Technology can be your best friend when planning long-distance! Websites like Aisle Planner (our planning program) can keep you, your fiance, and your planning team all on the same page - no matter the distance or time change! Utilize shared spreadsheets to track finances or tasks.
Ask your venue if you can do a virtual tour of the property! Most likely they'd love to virtually walk you through the venue personally if they don't already have a digital walk-through video.
At the end of the day there truly is not need to fret over the distance between you, your planning team or venue. If you load up your team with supportive and adaptive people then you're going to have the perfect wedding day you've been dreaming of!