If you've just got engaged then it's probably time to start the slightly daunting task of planning your wedding!

After the peak Christmas and New Year proposal period, the start of 2021 should be the time when couples are throwing themselves into the first stages of planning, unsurprisingly though I know lots of you are holding off making any big plans until we know what's happening.

We've all seen it happen, happy couples updating their Facebook status to let everyone they've had to postpone and then again seemingly a few months later. Coupled with the increasing limitations on guests it's hard to feel quite as excited you should.

It is absolutely fine to take a complete step back, not plan anything until you've got a vaccine in one arm and a margarita in your other hand.

But, these quieter months are actually perfect for the preliminary stages of wedding planning and can ensure you're one step ahead when the world starts to open up again. 

Crack open your laptop and a bottle of fizz and lets tick off some planning.

Ring, Ring

It's any excuse for a celebration after the year we've all had, so we hope you took advantage of your newly engaged status and popped some champagne on various video calls with friends and family! Plus of course, you can start to plan those in-person celebrations!

So now one of the most important steps to take is around your ring. Give your home insurance a call and make sure you have it insured.

If you need it resized then start some research into which jeweller will be able to do this for you, and of course you'll also be able to browse for your wedding rings and have a few designs in mind for when you can view them in person.

Pick the Year You Want to Marry

It's easy to feel like the pandemic has everything on hold and that you can't plan any of your wedding and that's absolutely not true.

Statistics show that the average wedding takes 13 months to plan so starting now makes sense.

We've covered lots of items you can do from the comfort of your home in our blogs 10 Things to tick off your wedding to-do list and 10 more things, these will give you some great places to start.

Now is the time to consider what year you want to get married, will it be 2022 or even 2023?

Speaking from experience it is never too early to book venues and suppliers. Particularly with the unique situation, the pandemic has put us in, venues and suppliers are juggling reschedules and diaries are filling up quickly.

Pinterest Plan

Here at Alchemist HQ, we love a Pinterest board, and in lockdown and to be honest, even when we're not I would say this is one of the number one tools to have in your wedding planning arsenal.

It's the most perfect platform for planning all the visual aspects of your wedding, you'll get an idea of what you want your day to look like and it will make getting there that little bit easier.

You can see our full blog on Pinterest Planning Your Wedding During a Pandemic for more helpful tips.

Budget

Nobody likes talking about money, but it's an important part of planning your day and very few of us have an unlimited budget.

Take the time to sit down now and discuss a budget. This is definitely not a one size fits all solution and it's about being realistic about what you have to spend and what is important to you as a couple.

Some couples will go all out on the ultimate band and others will make do with a Spotify playlist, choosing to invest their money into a firework display instead. Remember it's your day and it's important to have the things you want.

Draft a Guest List

When the tier system returns at the end of Lockdown 3.0, the maximum number of wedding guests in England will be 15 and slightly higher in other parts of the UK. With the vaccine rollout, we don't anticipate these limits lasting to the end of 2021 and certainly not beyond. 

Planning a wedding for late 2021 or beyond? We'd recommend going ahead with a normal-sized guest list.

If you're on the more cautious side you could even have a backup guest list in case plans have to change. 

Start Researching Venues and Suppliers

Two things you need for your wedding are a date and a venue, without those you can't plan much else.

As I touched on earlier, venues and suppliers are filling up quickly, several years ahead.

Whilst you may not be able to physically visit venues just yet many are doing virtual tours until their doors open. Start making enquiries, download brochures and have a shortlist to hand. if there are any you really like then see if your date is free. There's no point having your heart set on somewhere if they can't accommodate you.

The same goes with suppliers, start your research and check the availability of the ones you have shortlisted. Discuss how deposits, bookings and payments work so that you can bag the best people for your day