Just engaged? Huge congratulations! At Hadsham Farm Weddings we know what an exciting – and, yes, sometimes little overwhelming – time this is. We’ve helped lots of couples plan their dream wedding day at our cool Cotswold tipi venue, so like to think we know a thing or two about what to do – and what not to do – when it comes to hosting epic big days. It might feel like quite the gear shift to go from popping endless bottles of champagne, staring at your engagement ring, and throwing impromptu parties (because why the heck not?) to knuckling down with a planning spreadsheet, but we promise it doesn’t have to be stressful. Ready to start planning your wedding? Don’t do anything until you’ve read our essential tips for just engaged couples. Spoiler alert – they might not be what you expect…
1. Don’t rush
That ‘just engaged’ bubble is something special, so while it may be tempting to jump headfirst straight into planning, instead try and take some time just to soak it all up. Even if you want to plan a wedding in six months, nothing needs to be booked immediately. Once you’ve basked in that newly-engaged glow for a while, you can start to think about what kind of timescale you want to work towards. Oh, and FYI, we’d recommend holding off picking your wedding party straight away. Planning a wedding can take a while, so it’s worth deciding what kind of big day you want and how many bridesmaids/ushers you want involved before you ask.
2. Get the basics in place
Always get the essential things sorted before you go any further with your planning. While you may think you know what your other half wants and how they imagine their perfect wedding to be, it’s important to properly talk about it first. Once you know what each other want, it’s time to agree on a budget, the time of year you want to get married and the overall size of your big day (are you leaning towards an intimate celebration or a massive festival-style party?).
3. Think about your couple style
Deciding the look and vibe of your day is one of the best parts of your planning journey and will influence a lot of your choices. The world is your oyster when it comes to the style of day you’re after, so to make it ‘you’ think about what would suit your couple style best. At Hadsham Farm Weddings we’re all about laid-back, uniquely personal big days. Our lakeside tipi wedding venue offers you total flexibility to create the day you both want – whether that features VIP guests like your pet dog (bow ties/floral collars highly encouraged) or glow-stick waving dance-offs.
4. Visit a venue in person
Your venue shapes everything about your wedding day, and there’s no better way to get a genuine feel for a venue than by looking around in person. We love the chance to show newly engaged couples around our Oxfordshire tipi wedding venue and gorgeous countryside grounds. Click here to book a viewing at Hadsham Farm Weddings – Charlie, the owner, will get the kettle on.
5. All about priorities
Although it’s easy to set a wedding budget, it’s definitely harder to stick to it – but stick to it you must, *sigh*. Unless you have unlimited funds, this will mean some compromising on where the money goes. Sit down with your partner and talk about the things which are most important to you both, whether that’s the venue, food, entertainment, honeymoon or something else. List things in order of importance on your spreadsheet, then allocate how much you can afford to spend on each and focus on getting these sorted.
6. Your wedding doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s
Social media is great for discovering amazing wedding venues, big day trends and cool entertainment ideas, but don’t fall into the trap of comparing your wedding to anyone else’s. By all means, take inspiration from other weddings you see online, but then tweak these to fit your wedding style and budget. Please don’t ever feel like your wedding isn’t ‘good enough’ because you haven’t splashed out on matching bridal silk pjs for your wedding party or a fancy balloon arch.
7. Choose the traditions that suit you
Weddings are full of traditions, but that doesn’t mean you need to stick to them. Ditch the ones that don’t feel authentic or relevant to you as a couple and consider making your own instead. When it comes to planning your big day, people will always want to give you advice but it’s important to accept that you’re never going to please everyone all the time. And do you know what? That’s fine! It’s your day so you need to do it your own way.
8. Don’t let planning stress overwhelm you
If it all starts to feel a bit much, take a deep breath and heed our owner Charlie’s words of wisdom: “At the end of the day, it’s just a party – pick a great venue, add food, drinks and music and that’s it. Everything else should be on the ‘nice to have’ list’.” Try not to be overwhelmed by all the options. You don’t need to decide on everything all at once, so take it at your own pace. If you’re set on a tipi wedding, make sure you have a read of our handy planning blog, which will guide you through the process step by step.
9. Don’t do it alone
The brilliant thing about weddings is that everyone wants to help. Don’t feel you need to manage it all alone – get your friends and family involved, delegate jobs and talk to your venue. Share out the workload and you’ll feel 100 times better.
10. Enjoy the process
It sounds simple enough, but in the fog of wedding planning you can sometimes lose sight of what it’s all about. This is meant to be fun, so if it starts to feel a bit much (i.e. you’re crying in the work loos over the wrong shade of blush ribbons being delivered for the chair backs), it’s time to take a break. A week of ‘no wedding chat’ should soon restore order.
Our beautiful Cotswold tipi wedding venue
Tucked away in the most idyllic spot in Oxfordshire, Hadsham Farm Weddings is the perfect tipi venue for a stylish and bespoke wedding day. Our lakeside Cotswold setting is the dream for a cool, relaxed, festival-style celebration – and we would love to show you around in person. Click here to get in touch, book a viewing or to ask us a question.
