How to Start Planning Your DIY Wedding: For Couples and Planners

Are you recently engaged and already feeling overwhelmed by the planning process? That’s OK! It can be overwhelming. Planning an event is stressful, especially a wedding.

Before we jump into the how-tos and tips and tricks, let’s take a deep breath together. Inhale, now exhale. Roll your shoulders back once or twice. It’s going to be ok.

One of my favorite things about being an event producer is helping people relieve some of that stress from the planning process. Over the last seven years, I’ve planned over 100 different events, from 10,000 person live sporting events to corporate conferences, nonprofit fundraisers, and weddings.

While a majority of my work revolves around sports, I’ve always had a soft spot for weddings. I first worked in the event industry as a banquet server at the Farmington Country Club when I was in college.

The club was host to countless weddings, rehearsal dinners, cocktail hours, and holiday parties. Over two years, I witnessed more than 40 weddings and quickly learned that the details matter when it comes to planning a wedding.

And the one thing that broke my heart as a server and now as an event planner, is seeing the couple stressed out on their wedding day. It’s rare that the everyday person plans an…