Iris Li, founder and lead planner of Blue Lavender Events in Toronto, has been planning weddings for 10 years.
As an expert in the field, she says engaged couples should follow a certain order when it comes to planning their big day to keep things running smoothly and she's sharing advice on how to do that.
"There's a rhyme and reason for everything," she told Narcity.
Li says typically the holidays are a busy time for engagements and she sees an influx of clients in the new year. However, she's noticed a shift for many couples in that more of them are planning further in advance.
"I'm finding 2025 is almost booking faster. I don't know if that's an indication of the financial climate," Li said.
While the most common timeline is giving yourself 12 months to plan your big day, Li says there are advantages to giving it more time.
"The really sought-after venues are booking a year and a half to two years in advance these days," the Toronto wedding planner explained when asked what timeline she would recommend.
"I would say if you have your heart set on a certain venue or something, then I'd say a year and a half [is safe]."
So if you're newly engaged and overwhelmed with planning your special day you may be wondering: where do you start?
Here are six steps that Li suggests you start with and in what particular order.
Make a guest list
A wedding planner checklist.
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The first step Li suggests is for couples to make a guest list. Consider who you want to come to your wedding and actually put the names down on paper to get the exact number rather than an estimate.
"That is going to directly correlate to your budget and drive your venue search and everything. It's like your Northstar," the Toronto wedding planner explained.
Hire a wedding planner
Li recommends couples hire a wedding planner, before doing anything else. The wedding expert advises that a lot of mistakes can happen if you hire a planner after a venue has already been booked.
"Most couples don't know how much things cost in terms of weddings," Li continued.
"What will happen is they [the couple] could potentially book a venue that would eat up more than half their budget not knowing that right? And then they're kind of locked in to certain terms in their contract that they can't get out of or we have to sort of help them backtrack."
A wedding planner can also help a couple go over costs and explain the differences between venues.
For example, many couples may assume a non-traditional wedding venue like Evergreen Brick Works or Steam Whistle in Toronto would cost less than a traditional venue like a banquet hall, but that's not necessarily the case.
"It looks like it's less expensive because you're booking just the space, but that space doesn't have a kitchen built in or the catering that's in house or the furniture," Li shared.
"That's why they [traditional venues] seem more expensive is because they have that infrastructure."
Create a budget
A bride-to-be putting cash into her wedding jar.
Prostockstudio | Dreamstime
Once a couple has a wedding planner, it's time to set a budget and the expert can help a couple navigate it.
Li says the budget will help dictate what kind of venue the couple can afford and that will narrow down the search.
"After that budget meeting, what would happen is hopefully the planner would be able to lead them through the venue, doing the site visits and booking that venue."
When we asked Li what a realistic budget for Canada is currently, the wedding planner admitted it's hard to pinpoint because everyones priorities are different.
"I would say the rule of thumb is the venue cost in your budget is typically about 40% of the overall budget. Venues these days, between non-traditional and traditional venues, the cost per head is anywhere between $250 to $400 ahead."
Book a venue and secure a date
A person marking down their wedding date on a calendar.
Jakub Jirsak | Dreamstime
Booking a venue should be done once you have a guest list and a budget.
Li always suggests that couples be flexible with their wedding date as well because if you have your heart set on a specific venue, they may not have the date you originally planned.
"I would say more so target a season," Li adds.
She also recommends holding off on buying a wedding dress or wedding outfit until you have the venue booked.
"Your venue is sort of going to dictate the style of dress that you buy."
Book vendors in the right order
A photographer taking photos of a bride and groom on their wedding day.
Yevgen Rychko | Dreamstime
Booking vendors in a certain order may not seem that big of a deal, but it's actually quite important.
You want to start with the service providers that will be there in-person on your wedding day like musicians, a make-up and hair artist, photographers and videographers.
Doing too much at once will prevent you from spending more in the end.
For example, you want to start with getting your band or DJ before inquiring about lighting, audio and visual elements at your venue.
"A lot of the venues have an AV in-house provider and so I wouldn't go and book AV and lighting and sound before booking your musicians because you first need to know what the requirements are from your musicians to book the proper equipment and lighting needs," Li shared with Narcity.
"A lot of times if you do that first then you have to go back to the AV company and rework your quote."
Li says the design part of the wedding can come next, which includes flowers, a wedding cake, draping, and transportation.
Create a 'day of' timeline
As you work with your vendors Li recommends having a "day of timeline" so vendors know how much time they'll have for their work and so you can determine how long you'll need them for.
"When you inquire with let's say a photographer, they're going to want to know what your ceremony time is, your cocktails, dinner, what's the general day of timeline, so that you can determine how many hours of coverage you need," Li explained.
"That's really crucial to your budget too is deciding how many hours of coverage, what package you need."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
