You know, it’s kind of unreal with what’s happened in our country and our world these past few weeks. It seems like things went from 0 to 100 so quickly and a lot of us are just trying to keep up. I hope all of you that are reading this are staying safe and healthy! And if you’re an essential worker, thank you so much for your service during these hard times. You are all so appreciated!

On today’s blog, I was originally planning to post my next You’re Engaged? Me Too! blog for the series. Though with what is going currently with everyone staying home and social distancing, I thought it would be better to talk about what you can do at home to plan your wedding!

Raise your hand if your days have started to run together and you really don’t know what day of the week is! Days at home have become repetitive. You’ve watched all of your movies and shows you wanted to watch, and unfortunately have already ate your quarantine snacks. But, you have a wedding to plan! And what a better way to plan, than the comfort of your own home?

Start Looking For Your Vendors and Book Them!

With vendors postponing their events in March-May right now, a lot of later 2020 and, now 2021, dates are being taken. This is especially so for Fall and Winter of 2020 dates. If you haven’t started looking for your bigger vendors — such as caterer, photographer, videographer, etc — DO THAT NOW! I would recommend to start scrolling through sites such as Weddingwire and The Knot to find vendors in your area. You definitely do not want to lose out on booking the vendors you really love!

Design Your Invitations

You know, weddings today are so much easier to plan than how they were back in the day. I know it isn’t the same, but back when I was 13, I had my Bat Mitzvah. This was in the 2000’s, and then, you had to go into a store and design your invitations with the person there. Then you’d wait forever and then finally they would come in. Unfortunately for us, they were wrong. So we had to get them fixed and waited longer.

Today, you can literally design your invites and order them within minutes — without having to leave your home! And they come in pretty quick too. Here’s a few sites I would recommend checking out:

Minted — they can even address your envelopes for free!

Ann’s Bridal Bargains — check this out for amazing invitation deals and savings on Save the Dates.

Shutterfly — they are always running deals, so look out for those.

TinyPrints — amazing quality!

Order Your Favors

Another thing you can personalize in the comfort of your own home? Favors! And a lot of times, they can be ordered from the same sites listed above, so that you have a common theme. Some examples of favors you can get are beer can koozies, mints, magnets, and shot glasses.

Pro Tip: If you’re looking for a cheaper option, check out Amazon! They offer a lot of bulk favors that you can purchase for a cheaper cost. Just be mindful that Amazon is currently putting medical supplies as their main shipping priority, so it will probably take longer to get your stuff. If you don’t feel comfortable purchasing online and having it delivered, add everything to your cart! You can always purchase at a later date.

Make Your Guest List

While at home with your fiance to be, or even through a Facetime chat if you don’t live together yet, create your guest list! If you already have your guest list down, why not run a trial seating chart? While you will definitely have less people once you send out invites and RSVPs come in, it would be a great head start for when you are working on your final seating chart.

Ask Your Girls/Guys to Be in Your Bridal Party

With Zoom meetings and Facetime being so popular right now, this is the perfect time ask your girls or your guys to be in your bridal party! Invite them all to a Zoom meeting, don’t forget to include some champagne, and ask them!

If you want to go the more traditional route, and make something for them, now is the time! You can go with a cute card purchased through Etsy and mail that to them. You can also purchase them candy or something sweet with a card attached. I would recommend checking out Greetabl. I use them for my couples and they would be perfect to ask your bridal party with!

Review Your Vendors

Reviews to vendor at a time like this are so, so important! So, even if you haven’t had your wedding yet but you’ve had great service with your vendors, leave them some love! This can apply to your dress shop, if you’ve purchased your dress already. It can also apply to your photographer if you’ve had your engagement session and your caterer if you’ve had a tasting. Not only would this make your vendors’ days, but it also helps them generate more business in a time where they need it most. You can do this on their social media pages, The Knot or Wedding Wire, and Google (if they have a Google Business page).

–xoxo, Tori