HOW TO | PLAN A MODERN WEDDING

Searching for the perfect wedding dress can be quite stressful but planning your whole Wedding is just on another level… Therefore I decided to share some insights into our Wedding Journey and how we’ve planned everything within 12 months. So here’s a step by step guide on how to plan a modern Wedding:

JUNE 2017 (12 Months prior)
About a month after the engagement Patrick and I sat down and discussed our ideal wedding. We talked about what we wanted and how we wanted it. We knew that we want an intimate wedding, modern with no-fuzz, focussing on our love.

– Decide an approximate number of guests
– Draw up a budget
– Find help

Luckily we found the lovely Magdalena from Die Hochzeitsplanerei, who helped us mostly with the logistics and keeping track on the to-do’s. I can highly recommend getting some help, especially when you have stressful jobs or other commitments. It makes life (and the wedding) much easier.

JULY 2017 (11 Months prior)

Magdalena gave us first to-do’s, like searching for the right venue and finding a possible wedding date. We wanted to get married & celebrate at the same location (much easier for logistics + less stressful for the guests) and after 1 month of research we finally found our dream location: The Hermes Villa in Vienna – the summer residence of Sissi (the empress of Austria).

– Research potential wedding and/or ceremony venues (if separate)
– Pick a wedding date (e.g. in Vienna this depends on the venue. If you wanna marry on location you need to be very early, due to limited dates.
– Start planning the guest list
– Pop the question to your bridesmaids/groomsmen

We also booked our favorite wedding photographers Julia & Gil from Germany – who are known to achieve a truly epic wedding photography for your day, they capture intimate moments in the most beautiful way (no artificial posing pics) but also do amazing and super fun wedding videos. So glad we found them!!

AUGUST 2017 (10 Months prior)

Another important thing for every wedding is the MUSIC! We wanted jazz-infused live-music for our ceremony (obsessed with Jazz!!) and a band in the evening + of course a DJ for some serious party-ing. Most of the great bands are booked 1 year prior to the wedding, so make sure to grab your fav band early enough!

– Decide whether you want Live Music or a DJ (or both)
– Book a Band for reception
– Start searching for Hotel Accomodations, Wedding Cakes, Florists

SEPTEMBER 2017 (9 Months prior)

9 months before the Wedding it was about time to think about the invites and save the dates. As visual aesthetes we decided to hire a graphic designer to help us with all the graphics and stationery. We choose Gaby & Kathrin from grafikapartment/grafik studio who designed the most wonderful save the dates/invites/place cards/program/etc for us. Thank you girls for your amazing work!!

– Decide if you want Save the Date’s or just the Invites (depends on the time)
– Start Scouting for Wedding Dresses
– Maybe visit a wedding fair (we went to the Wedding Sparkle in Vienna)

OCTOBER 2017 (8 Months prior)

Cake Testing time!!! We went to the lovely Andrea/ Das Tortenstudio, who makes the best Wedding Cakes ever, and got to test all the flavors, cremes and toppings she had to offer. A whole lotta fun in the middle of a stressful planning phase. We decided on a 4-tier semi-naked cake with a chocolate/orange-caramel filling, which was the best cake I’ve ever tasted!!!

– Order a Wedding Cake
– Start researching for a Honeymoon

NOVEMBER 2017 (7 Months prior)

We finally found the perfect Florist! Kamelia (what a name for a florist!!) and her studio BLOOMENTS made our blooming dreams come true, surprising us with the most beautiful Minimal Flower Arrangements we could ever hoped for. My Bridal Bouquet was made of Freesia (my favorite flowers), Peonies, Olive and Eucalyptus. So so so in love! In November we also got the first Designs for our Wedding Invites (thx again, grafikapartment/grafik studio) and I started my Wedding Dress Journey.

– Book a Florist
– Choose Wedding Stationery
– Organise the Legalities

DEZEMBER 2017 (6 Months prior)

We’ve visited the Location with our maids of honor – to get a first overview about the needed alterations and decorations. We also shipped the SAVE THE DATES

– Talk about Logistics and Decoration (Candy Bar etc)

JANUARY 2018 (5 Months prior)

I finally found my perfect Wedding Dress at Kaviar Gauche (read the full story here) + bought my bridal shoes at Vestiaire Collective (vintage Chanels = something old). We also had the first meeting with the priest and our jeweler. Plus: We’ve discussed about Goodies for our guest and got support from Jo Malone & La Roche Posay.

– Buy a Dress / Shoes / Bag and start thinking about accessories
– Meet with Priest
– Decide on prayers, readings and music for mass
– Pick Wedding Rings

FEBRUARY 2018 (4 Months prior)

We finally booked our Honeymoon woohoo! Furthermore we’ve booked our favorite ice cream Dealer VEGANISTA (the best gelato in Vienna!!) and a bus shuttle for our guests. I can absolutely recommend to get an Ice Cream Booth at your Wedding – our guests had so much fun picking their favorite flavors. Thx again, Veganista!

– Book your honeymoon (flights, accomodation, insurance)
– Arrange Shuttle Service or Taxis for the guests
– Buy a Wedding Suit → groom

MARCH 2018 (3 Months prior)

A lot happened in March – it was definitely one of the most stressful months. I had my first Wedding Dress fitting, we printed our Invites at CARISSIMO LETTERPRESS (thank you again for these beautiful letterpress prints!!), ordered a Cake Topper at DIE MACHEREI (picked a translucent acrylic lettering) and a Wedding Album for the Photobooth. We had to go to the Notary (Patrick is German, so everything was a little complicated) to arrange the legalities.

– Ship your Invites
– Order Cake Toppers and Decoration
– Is the paperwork sorted?

APRIL 2018 (2 Months Prior)

Had another fitting at Kaviar Gauche and my first hair trial with the wonderful Andreas Wild – head stylist at JOHN FRIEDA LONDON (more about that in Part 3…)

– Book a hairdresser
– Organise a makeup trial and book a makeup artist

MAY 2018 (1 Month Prior)

It’s getting serious…. We had the final meeting with the HERMES VILLA regarding the menu and the final fitting for the dress. We also had last meetings with the priest and the registrar + a dancing course with the maid of honor/groomsman. And let’s not forget about the dozen orders of decoration stuff… My favorite supplier was DIE MACHEREI, My Minds Eye, Wedding Avenue and Ginger Ray.

– Final Fittings & Meetings
– Check Decoration
– Presents for Guests
– Have a menu & wine tasting with your venue
– Organise accessories & jewelry
– Organise a program & menu cards & place cards
– Book Beauty Treatments

JUNE 2018 (4-2 weeks prior)
The Countdown is on! Time to pack all the Decoration and Shenanigans into Boxes (felt like moving) and prepare the Goodies for the guests. Thanks again to Jo Malone for the best smelling goodies (travel candles with our favorite scent English Pear & Freesia) and La Roche Posay for refreshing Water Sprays and SPF.

– Finalise details for Ceremony
– Final Wedding Dress Fitting
– Complete any Wedding DIY
– Review final RSVP List and
– Send must-have shot list to photographer

1 Week Before the Wedding

I was quite relaxed a couple of days before, because thx to my wonderful girls (THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES) and Wedding Planer Magdalena I felt on top of all the tasks. The day before the Wedding I checked into our love nest – the RITZ CARLTON VIENNA, which made the Wedding even more special. The hotel treated me with a relaxing massage, a big bottle of my favorite VEUVE CLICQUOT ROSÉ (which we also served at our reception) and an extra wedding dress service (steaming and preparing the dress for the big day). After the Wedding our room was decorated with flower bouquets, a personalized wedding album (all the staff wrote something for us – how lovely is that??) and our very own bath robes. A truly magical stay – thank you so so much for the hospitality, RITZ CARLTON!!

– Finalise guest list & schedule & seating plan
– Final meetings with the Band (discuss play list)
– Finalise Stationery
– Get manicure, brows, massage & all that jazz
– Do Wedding Rehearsal
– Pack an overnight bag for the reception

And then it was about time to get married. We had the most wonderful, unforgettable day with our friends and family. It was intimate and personal – with lots of fun and good music (even our priest sang a song, but that’s another story) – just how we wanted it. All I can say is: Love is such a wonderful thing.