With the encouragement to stay home and stay safe- initially it may have discouraged you from continuing to work on your wedding. Not being able to see vendors in person, not being able to experience cake tastings, not being able to actually view venues…COVID-19 has brought on a whole new layer of concern for busy professionals planning a wedding.

But thanks to technology, it really is possible to plan your wedding entirely online. For starters, I emphatically believe you should enlist the help of a wedding planner to help you, even if it is online, to save you time, energy and money when sourcing vendors for your Big Day.

To plan your wedding online you first have to be a lot more flexible in terms of the time of day and mediums used to meet with vendors. But if you could imagine the experience you would plan a destination wedding. More likely than not, it would be planned entirely online with no opportunity to meet with your venue, view hotel accommodations or interview vendors in-person. So online wedding planning is just like destination wedding planning.

Here is a process to follow to make an online wedding planning experience easier for you:

First you will need to outline your budget. Whether you are planning in person or online, understanding your top-level financial comfort zone is crucial to a successful planning experience.

Second, identify your venue. Next up should be identifying the event space that is best for your event. A wedding planner can help complete this task because of his/her understanding of the venues available and their key features that are or are not aligned with your wedding vision.

Third, interview your VIP vendors. These vendors will be different for everyone. A photographer, catering, entertainment, cake, decor, and flowers are all likely candidates for the VIP slot but not all of them are the most important vendors to you and for YOUR wedding. Every wedding is different.

Fourth, interview your supporting vendors. These vendors are all of the other categories you still have left to book once your top 3 are secured. Maybe hair and makeup is a VIP for you and entertainment plays a supporting role? Again, every wedding is different. But most vendors can and will acocmodate meeting virtually or if your a boss who is pressed for time…communicating via email.

You can tell a lot about a vendor from their reviews, website and social media presence. If all 3 of those areas line up-then it may be feasible to send a request for a formal proposal. They will likely have you fill out a questionnaire to provide a quote but once received you can book them rather quickly from there.

Wedding planning online doesn’t have to be stressful, in fact it can give you more time back in your day to take care of business. You can communicate to vendors via email in the late evenings when they may be traditionally closed and have a response back in a couple of days rather than needing to wait weeks on end for a time block to go in for a consultation.

If these tips helped you to plan like a boss, I’d love to hear about it. Until next time!