Planning Your Dream Wedding in 2025
I often connect with couples who are in the early stages of planning their wedding and something consistent I see is that they’re often overwhelmed by the entire process. Planning a wedding in 2025 can be a lot of work and if you’re doing most of the planning yourself, it’s not always enjoyable as you want it to be. While connecting with these couples, I try to share with them some tips and tricks that I’ve seen over the year that are really effective in reducing stress and helping the couple stay unified. My goal with this quick article is to share some of them with you now. Let’s dive in to how to plan your dream wedding in 2025!
1. Setting the Right Mindset for Wedding Planning
The first step in planning your dream wedding is getting into the right mindset. You and your partner should approach wedding planning as an exciting journey, not a stressful task. Understand that this is a team effort, and it’s about making decisions together that reflect your unique relationship. Start by focusing on what truly matters to both of you. Rather than racing to set a date, pick a venue and start locking in vendors, set aside a night where the two of you sit down and both share what their dream wedding looks like.
I recommend writing this down prior to sharing with one another so that you don’t feel persuaded or influenced by each other’s answers. One of you may want a lavish ballroom wedding with 400 guests while the other prefers to elope in Iceland. This doesn’t mean you two aren’t a good fit for one another, but it does show you that there may be some compromises you both need to make.
You don’t need to rush to book a venue or move faster than you both are comfortable with. You’re in this as a team an it’s important that you stay unified the entire time.
Once you’ve mapped out what you both are looking for, come up with some ground rules for how you’re going to make decisions about different things. Does one of you care more about the entertainment than the other? Well, maybe that person should spear head that search process while the other focuses more on what is uniquely important to them. Ultimately, I recommend making the final decisions together so that it remains “your” wedding.
It’s a good idea at this point to figure out if there are other important decision makers in the process. If there are, how are you going to leverage their input as you plan your wedding? There is no right or wrong here, but it’s important for you to have a plan in place.
2. Remaining Unified Throughout the Process
Wedding planning can sometimes cause tension, but it doesn’t have to. One of the keys to success is maintaining unity as a couple. Set boundaries and communicate clearly. Dedicate regular “planning dates” to make decisions together, and always consider your partner’s input before making final calls. Your relationship is far too important to let a single day mess with that. Your wedding day is first and foremost for the two of you… You invite your guests to be a part of this celebration with you, but creating a fun experience for them should never come between the two of you.
Planning Tip: Schedule regular planning dates where you grab takeout, get a bottle of wine and conquer a specific planning task on a given night. Maybe the first one is getting into the right mindset with how you’re going to make decisions and going over what is important to you. Another may be delegating tasks to one another so that you’re sharing the load.
Also, celebrate the wins as they come. This will keep the planning process fun and ensure it’s something you don’t get overwhelmed with.
3. Making Wedding Planning Fun Again
It’s easy to get bogged down by the details, but wedding planning should be an enjoyable process that brings you closer together. Embrace moments that allow you to celebrate your journey. If you find that you’re regularly getting stressed, upset with one another, or you’re simply not having fun with it, hit the reset button, come together and figure out where things went off the rails. I said it earlier and I’ll say it again, your relationship is far more important than a singular wedding day.
Invite Friends to Special Moments: Bring close friends along for tastings, dress shopping, or even DJ selection. These activities are fun and will help create memories outside of the stress of the planning.
Celebrating Milestones: Once you’ve secured key vendors (like your venue, photographer, and DJ), take a moment to celebrate. Life is way more enjoyable when we celebrate the little wins that come instead of simply looking forward to the big events in our lives.
4. Staying on Track with Practical Planning Tips
When it comes to the practicalities, stay organized. Lean on your vendors, especially your wedding planner, venue and photographer, who can help create a timeline and guide you through decision-making. Consider the implications of your guest list and wedding party size, as these factors will significantly impact your budget. Sometimes couples have a large group of close friends that they want to be a part of their special day. You can still honor them without having them be in the wedding party. In fact, one trend I’ve loved is having no formal wedding party. Sure, you have your crew who you have get ready with you, but they can wear what they want, and don’t need to be formally recognized by being IN the wedding. No bouquets, clothing rentals, formal gifts, wedding party transportation, etc. You’ll likely find that this is a breath of fresh air for them also.
Jumping back to your planner, venue, and photographer though- between these three, your planner and photographer (if you have entire day coverage) are going to be the only two vendors who are with you the entire day. They want to make sure your day is smooth, stress free, and efficient. Lean on them by having them help craft your timeline, building in buffers and setting realistic expectations.
Vendor Advice: Rely on your photographer, planner, and venue coordinator for expert advice on timelines and what works best on the day-of. Their experience can save you time and avoid potential issues. Some vendors can talk a big game on a consult call, but reviews don’t lie. Many vendors actually have a handful of past couples who want to make themselves available to connect with prospective couples and offer their feedback. At the end of the day though, go with your gut and make sure they are someone you actually will enjoy working with on your wedding day.
Guest Count and Budgeting: Reevaluate your guest list and wedding party size to ensure you’re not overcommitting in areas that affect your budget. These two levers are the biggest in terms of what your budget will ballon too. A save wedding planner will have a planning calculator that actually shows you the additional cost for each person you add- Think about hotels shuttles, meal, alcohol, favors, place setting, decor, invites, rentals, etc. It can add up fast. I’m not advocating for cutting grandma off your guest list… But do you really need your mom’s sorority sisters on your guest list who she hasn’t seen for 9 years? Think about it.
5. Embracing 2025 Wedding Trends
Weddings are always evolving, and 2025 brings a host of exciting trends that you might want to consider. In fact, we wrote an entire article on photography specific ones a few weeks ago that you can find here- Wedding Photography Trends for 2025. Unrelated to photography though, we’re seeing trends like:
Sustainability: Consider a wedding that reduces waste by choosing eco-friendly vendors, decor, and materials. Think locally sourced florals or upcycled décor. No, we’re not advocating for everyone whittling their own utensils for their meal, but cutting things like plastic wear, glitter, and food waste can make a big impact. Consider opting for non-disposable or biodegradable plates, cups and utensils for your meal, opt for bio-degradable confetti so that curious animals aren’t harmed. Also, plated meals are always nice, but when couples opt for meal stations, there is far less food waste because people can control their portions better. Who is complaining about wedding leftovers too?
Intimate Weddings: Smaller, more intimate weddings are gaining popularity. If you want a more personal experience, consider an elopement or micro-wedding that focuses on close family and friends. This will reduce so much planning stress by itself while saving a considerable amount of money. Look, large weddings are a lot of fun, but some couples look back on the excess with a bit of regret at times and wish they would have opted for a more low-key event. In fact, if you ask most wedding pros, they’ll tell you that if they were getting married all over again, they’d have a micro-wedding, bring in an amazing photographer, and celebrate the day in a relaxed way with their closest people.
Technology: With the continued rise of virtual and hybrid events, consider incorporating technology like live-streaming for guests who can’t attend. I’ve seen this done several times- especially during that time we don’t speak of in 2020-2022… Digital save-the-dates can be nice too as they can introduce your guests to a digital hub for your wedding. There are several services that offer this to couples.
6. The Final Stages: Wrapping Up with Purpose
There are always a few things that pop up last minute in the planning process. Most of these things will reveal themselves in the last month or so. I recommend having a few people who you can trust to be on call the week of the wedding to help out. Last minute runs to Target for something, moving cars around, picking up snacks for the wedding party, etc. These people will be invaluable to you. Also, make sure to schedule final calls with your photographer, DJ, planner and venue. These calls are so important for them to be on the same page and make sure nothing has changed last minute.
From time to time, I have couples who simply don’t make time for this and it absolutely affects their day. People aren’t where they’re supposed to be at the right time, schedules run late, and there’s simply more stress throughout the day. You can easily avoid this by having timeline calls.
Final Tip: Be prepared for the unexpected. Weddings are beautiful but often unpredictable. Keep a flexible mindset and enjoy the day as it unfolds.
Final Final Tip: I am here for you every step of the way. Please reach out with questions, for advice, vendor/venue recommendations and so much more. I want your day to be absolutely perfect for you. Happy planning!
I hope this was helpful for you in planning your dream wedding in 2025 in a mindful way!
