Ever since Leigh proposed to me, we have to been
trying to plan a wedding, but with one kicker: I work a 40+ hour week as a preschool teacher. I go in early in the mornings and get off late, sometimes staying until 7pm for meetings, so finding time to visit venues or getting information from vendors is very difficult. I have requested days off to visit venues and have used my lunch hour, which I normally would just eat and relax, to call vendors. I've even enlisted the help of my maid-of-honor to call places and get information for me.
So how does one plan a wedding (a
Doctor Who wedding at that) while working a 40-hour a week job?
1.
Delegate
Use your family, friends, and occasionally, your fiancee to get information, whether it's just getting prices or even just a name and phone number. Have them write down
any and
all information they receive because while it may not be important to them, it may be important to you.
2.
Find time to relax and go over details.
Even if it's just during naptime at preschool (which I have done several times), sit down and just go over small details. You don't have to plan the entire playlist in the setting, but just think of a few songs you think you might want. Save the really major details for when you have a lot more time.
3.
IF YOU HAVE TO, request days off.
I only suggest this
if you have no other options or aren't off during the week (as most places like venues and some vendors are closed on weekends). Unfortunately for me, I am only off on weekends and by the time I get off work, 75% of the places I want to visit are closed, and fortunately for me, I can request days off to go do what wedding things need to be done without losing pay. Some places offer PTO (with or without a reason) and some done.
4.
A Wedding Planner book, a Binder, and a Printer (and an awesome fiancee)
So you don't get completely stressed out, pick up a wedding planner. The day after getting engaged, my mom bought me a
wedding planner from David's Bridal. What I love about the one she got me was that it has a checklist by months and makes everything a breeze. But when it comes to gathering information about venues or vendors grouped into one category (like venues or photography vendors), there isn't a lot of pages to gather all the information you need to make a decision as you call venue after venue or vendor after vendor. So what my fiancee did was make a venue information sheet where you can put their name, the person you talked to, pricing, what's included in the price, and everything you can think of and made copies to put into a 3-ring binder I bought. It made getting venue information less stressful and much more organized.
5.
When it comes to a guest list, have your fiancee help.
My fiancee has been
so helpful through out the entire process so far, and when it comes to the guest list, especially as we get ready to send out our Save The Dates, he is helping me get addresses even from my side of the family. Because we created a Facebook event, he sent out a mass message to everyone we invited asking for their addresses, and 95% have already responded. Social media, especially Facebook, has helped us with getting addresses and figuring out who is interested in coming than wasting money on sending invitations to people who we thought would want to come but have no desire to come. (Plus that gives us a head count, which saves us money on food!)
6.
Stay calm.
As long as you stay calm and get as much help as you can, you can easily work a 40+/hr week job and not be completely stressed out! Trust me - when I first realized that I had to start planning a wedding while trying to teach 12 2-year-olds, I freaked out. How was I going to do this? What could I possibly get done?
My friends, family, fiancee, and a few moments here and there (like Google while I'm cooking dinner), has helped out a lot!
Plus it doesn't hurt to have caffeine once in a while!
