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Getting millions of suggestions from your family, friends, and relatives on planning your wedding can feel overwhelming. According to The Knot, marriage statistics show that couples spent an average of six hours a week reviewing details, organizing, and finalizing details. In the end, the wedding festivities are celebrated on an average of two days. But if you plan it with a calm and composed mind, it won’t feel that way.
Are you in the midst of planning so that everything is seamlessly executed on your special day? Guess what? The blog is here to break down the entire process on how to plan a wedding. This includes setting your budget, penning a guest list, selecting vendors, neon signs, and finding the ideal venue to share your vows. Hence, brace yourselves to say “I Do” in a confident yet magical manner.
Start with the Basics: Wedding Planning Timeline
Step 1: Set a Budget
You will get lots of creative ideas across social media sites, but before envisioning your marriage like that, set a realistic budget. This serves as a cornerstone and navigates you to take subsequent decisions, like the grandeur of your venue, to the amount of flowers you prefer in your floral decorations. You need to consider all the possible expenditures related to the rent of the venue, catering, clothing, entertainment, photography, neon sign options, and other overlooked factors..
Involve the particular vendors and discuss your budget, and take quotes from them. When you are clear regarding your spending limit, it will assist you in filtering down to what is more important. Apart from that, you might have to pay for unexpected things, so keep an emergency fund for your wedding day.
If your budget isn't clearly defined, you might encounter the following problems:
Am I delusional for spending $7k on flowers? (story from reddit)
We’re getting married July 2026 at an adorable farm venue in Lyons, Colorado. My parents have graciously offered to pay for the vast majority of the wedding with a very generous budget, but I don’t want to spend loads of money just for the sake of it.
Flowers are a huge deal for me and the florist I’m looking at is my dream. She has a $7k minimum after taxes, setup, transfer, strike, etc. (She’s incredibly open and transparent about her pricing, which is a big green flag).
Would it be insane to spend that much on flowers? I’m planning on pressing my bouquet and preserving as many of the flowers as possible. We aren’t booking any photo booths, activations, or entertainment since the venue itself has a lot for guests to do. Help!
The responses from everyone vary widely, with some people believing that:
It’s difficult to say anything is “insane” without knowing:
1. total overall budget and
2. what you’re getting for $7k
Some people also agree with this statement: If you are financially able to and you really want to, live your dream!!
Others have suggested more budget-friendly options: I went for faux flowers and am looking at a 1500 total cost to decorate a space for 100 people, plus bouquets, wedding arch, etc. I just can't stomach spending multiple grands on flowers that are going to die within a week.
What are your thoughts on spending $7,000 on flowers for a wedding? Is it a wise decision?
Step 2: Choose a Date and Venue
Once your budget is final, move on to choosing a date and venue. This is both time-consuming and fun, as you have to physically visit the venues suiting your budget, but again, you need to be prepared regarding the availability of the hall. Is your wedding clashing with any time of the year, a seasonal holiday, or if your guests are in town? How did you dream your special day to be? For instance, a summer beach wedding, a summer garden party, an autumn gathering, or a winter wonderland affair.
You need to explore a number of options to make sure that it is spacious enough for your guests, reflects your taste, and is within your budget. While personally visiting every hall, kindly ask detailed questions to the manager or owner so that no room is left for misunderstandings. If everything goes fine, then book it as early as possible, or else the rates will soar.
Planning a wedding can come with unexpected challenges. For instance, some people might suddenly be informed that their booked venue is closing for unforeseen reasons and can no longer host their wedding. Oh My God! This can be a devastating blow to the wedding planners, causing disappointment and stress. However, it's crucial to stay resilient, tackle the issue head-on, and find a new suitable venue.
Of course, timing is crucial at wedding venues. Check out the following discussions for more insights:
(Question from Reddit) Exact or early start time on invitations?
Did you put the time the ceremony would actually start, or sometime beforehand to ensure people are on time? I don’t want to assume anyone will look at our website for more info.
Following are some most interactive responses:
Answer 1: We put the exact start time, but we also put the time that doors opened for seating (30 minutes prior) to get people thinking along the lines of when to arrive.
Answer 2: This is completely regional and cultural. I photograph a lot of weddings with Miami guests and New York guests which easily can be identified by the fact that the NYCers arrive 30min before invite time and Miami people show up 30min late.
In SoFL it is absolutely standard that the invite time be AT LEAST 30min early. I wouldn’t do that in the NE because people would be waiting around way too long. And if you put the actual start time on the invite in Miami at least half the guests would not be there and would be furious.
Answer 3: Definitely go with something like “doors open at 530, ceremony starts promptly at 6.” Putting an early time without context is a great way to start your event with your guests upset that you are running late.
Answer 4: If ceremony starts at 6pm, write "ceremony starts at 6pm". If doors open at 5:30, write "doors open at 5:30". Lying about the start time tells people that you don't trust them.
So, what do you think about it?
Step 3: Create a Guest List
Create a guest list as that figure will determine the size of your wedding venue and whether you should compromise with your budget or not. Discuss with your potential partners about their guests and expectations related to the celebration. Then, consider your relationships, witnessing the available space of the venue, as you might have to cross out many names. This may lead to conflicts, but it's you who is paying for the occasion, hence be considerate enough.
What should you do if many of your guests can't attend your wedding, but you've already booked a large venue? The following story faces a similar dilemma.
We are massively short on guests (story from Reddit)
We have a wedding later this year and came into the planning process very optimistic about people coming and celebrating with us. Our initial guess count was based on 110-120 people, assuming a 15%-20% decline rate from our guess list of 140. Based on that we booked a venue, with the guarantee coming out to about 108 people including us.
But RSVPs have rolled in, only two weeks left and we have gotten a lot of surprise nos, even after we emptied out our b-list and invited co-workers and acquaintances to up the list to 160. We reviewed our likely to come, based on hearsay from our parents and friends in additional to the surprise nos. We are barely hitting a projected 70 people (currently 59 RSVPs 47 yes 12 nos), this is assuming we don’t get more surprise nos. Needless to say we definitely screwed up on our initial estimate and didn’t know our guests would just not come. We sentsave the dates a year ahead, and told people STD=invited. We are locked into our food and beverage minimum and we’d be short 37%, based on the minimum. This is a disaster, we are basically paying twice for every guest. Has any couple dealt with this
Have you been able to negotiate with the venue and remove concession to reduce the minimum? Just looking for ways to make this more palatable and less frustrating.
Here are some useful comments:
1、I don't know if this interests you but there is a Facebook group called "Sisterhood of the traveling wedding guest, bridesmaid or surrogate mom". It's all people who are either planning their own weddings or want to be wedding guests who support each other in attending wedding-related events. Your situation is a common one and there are always people willing to attend weddings there if you're okay with that approach. The group has a rule that if you RSVP yes and don't show up, you get banned and called out publicly on the page, so it's frowned upon to no-show.
Another option is to ask people if they want to bring friends. There are a lot of people who understand. I was invited to a wedding two days before one time. The bride had 6 people cancel last minute and she wanted to fill the seats. She told me not to bring a gift and just come for the party. I brought a gift anyway because it's what you do. It was a great memory and I appreciated being thought of, even if I didn't make the original guest list.
2、I'll probably get downvoted for this but there is something quite sad about having to invite random people because the people in your life couldn't make it. Hope no one has to go through this.
3、Extend a +1 to everyone who doesn’t already have one, consider inviting kids if they aren’t already. Extending the invites within the households already attending will tend to be easier than adding completely new people.
Think about if there are people around your existing guests who might be nice additions. Like, if you’re inviting some friends from high school, maybe see if their parents would like to come. That’s a sweet way for them all to catch up and see where all the kids went after graduation, and it’s a nice way for you to thank them for all the saturdays you spent playing video games in their basement, or all the times they drove you home from ballet practice.
Think about if you have friends, coworkers, or neighbors who might like to come. Ask if your parents want to invite anyone.
I think realistically, chances of renegotiating the contract to reduce the minimum are slim to none at this late stage. The venue is relying on that money to pay their staff, and to cover the cost of supplies they’ve already ordered for you. But, you can usually have them upgrade the package so your smaller guest count gets a nicer experience. Like instead of paying $50pp for 100 people, you bump up to the nicer package and pay $85pp for 60 people. They get nicer food, higher-shelf alcohol, comfier chairs, real glassware, etc.
Above are some highly-upvoted responses that I believe offer genuinely useful advice. I hope they can assist all the readers of this blog who are facing similar issues.
Selecting a Theme or Color Palette
Choosing a Theme
Have you decided on your wedding theme? 2025 has introduced a bunch of such design choices:
- Romantic Garden Parties
Decorate the garden with lush florals and soft lighting, like fairy or neon lights in neutral tones and minimalist chic and clean lines. - Bohemian Rhapsody
This theme features natural textures and earthy elements with industrial glamour, infused with exposed brick and metallic shades. - Your Personal Style
Do you have any innovative style in mind involving the season and the selected venue? If so, kindly express your imagination to streamline everything based on your preferences.
Integrating Your Color Palette
After the theme part is done, you need to select a color palette. Your chosen tones will be shown through every aspect of your big day. As far as your flowers are concerned, you can experiment with the dominant colors in your bouquets, ceremony arrangements, and centerpieces. Linens in the shape of napkins, tablecloths, and chair sashes provide you with another opportunity to use in your palette.
Many ignore the lighting factor, but it plays a vital role in enhancing the atmosphere of your wedding venue. You can order neon signs according to your color palette. For signage, you need to make sure that it includes welcome signs, menu cards, and seating charts, all with your color palette, so nothing looks out of place.
Venue Decor: Transforming Your Space
Ceremony Decor
Your ceremony space is where you are going to take your vows, hence you need to be ultra thoughtful in terms of picking decoration that lifts the beauty and emotional significance. You can place an aisle runner to create your path, or maybe arches or chuppahs to create the center for exchanging promises. The decoration is up to you, as you can keep it simple, classic, dramatic, and elaborate. Pay the same attention to your seating arrangements, where you can involve floral accents, ribbons, or tailored touches, or benches or chairs.
Using Flowers, Fabric Draping, and Hanging Installations
Nothing can go wrong with flowers, you can use them in so many ways to boost the beauty of your wedding space. Go for fabric draping, which can soften harsh lines, add a subtle romantic touch, and even define different areas within the venue. Besides, you can opt for hanging installations like floral chandeliers, putting greenery to create everyone’s visual interest. Strategically, combine these elements to reflect your theme and color palette, and see how all eyes go up in surprise.
Reception Decor
Table Settings
For table settings, go with a mixture of linens, centerpieces, and place settings like chargers, cutlery, glassware, and plates. Place cards to guide guests where they need to be seated or as a decorative piece. Think about what looks appealing.
Lighting
Lighting can transform your simple wedding venue into a magical fairytale. Therefore, you can move ahead with a combination of ambient lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting. There are plenty of options to increase the lights, such as string, fairy, and wedding neon lights. Each of them serves its purpose of illuminating the centerpieces and chandeliers to lift the glamour.
Dance Floor Styling
The portion where everybody grooves to the beat of the music. Consider how you can decorate the dance floor to motivate the guests to dance all night. We suggest you go for custom neon signs since they are a trendy thing and work well as your photo backdrops.
Floral Arrangements: Beyond Bouquets
Must-Have Wedding Flowers
Your bridal bouquet will be there, but you need to decide about other floral arrangements as well. In the list of must-have wedding flowers, you can choose boutonnieres for your groom and groomsmen. Corsages for mothers and grandmothers, ceremony altar, decor on the aisle, and reception centerpieces. Lastly, floral crowns for flower girls or blooms for the cake.
Pro Tip: Repurpose the Ceremony Flowers For The Reception
You can extend your floral budget by repurposing ceremonial flowers. For instance, you can resume the altar ones for your head table decoration, and aisle flowers on cocktail tables. Who said you can’t shift places while being budget-conscious?
Custom Neon Signs: A Modern Decor Trend
Why Neon Signs Are Trending?
Believe it or not, custom neon signs are quite popular now, especially in modern wedding decorations. Why?
Personalization
With custom neon signs, you can display your unique style and even story through text, fonts, and colors.
Creates Instagram-Worthy Moments
Custom neon signs make the best Instagram-worthy moments, as when you post them to your gram, your followers are bound to scroll back and hit like and comments. Asking you where you got such a perfect backdrop from?
Ideas for Incorporating Neon
You can incorporate neon wedding signs in the following ways:
-
Monogram Signs
These feature your initials or wedding data on backdrops or the sweetheart table. -
Romantic Phrases
Phrases like "Love Wins" or "Till Death Do Us Part" can serve as expressive middle points during the ceremony or reception. -
Functional Signs
These are illuminated bar menus or arrows to direct your guests.
Where to Place Them?
You may consider hanging a monogram sign behind your head table or on a photobooth backdrop. Such romantic phrases work beautifully during your ceremony or above the dance floor, whereas the functional signs are best near the bar.
DIY vs. Hiring a Professional
DIY Decor Projects
DIY decoration can save you costs. Hence, if you have enough time, then you and your friends can assemble favors, create simple centerpieces, design signage, and craft paper goods. But while doing all the artistic work, be realistic about your abilities and the time needed.
Working with a Wedding Planner/Decorator
On the other hand, hiring a professional wedding planner can reduce stress. Their teams are skilled at managing complicated tasks, have connections with vendors, and know how to transform your venue into an unforgettable one. Apart from that, they can even look after the logistics while focusing on your wedding planning too.
Final Checklist- 1 Month Before the Wedding
Any unforeseen situation can arise at any time, and when it’s about your wedding, you shouldn’t take any kind of risk. 1 month before your actual wedding day, you have to confirm all decor delivery routines with your chosen florists, rental companies, and neon sign supplier. Other than this, ring your venue coordinator to give you a final arrangement plan for your ceremony and reception portions. If you are occupied with attire or priority work, then consider making your friend a supervisor to oversee the decoration on the main day.
Conclusion
We hope the blog relaxed you regarding your wedding planning, and if you liked the idea of neon signs, feel free to check Lamomo to buy your “Custom Neon Signs with Lamomoneon.”
