The Bermuda Triangle

Everyone who has planned a wedding has said that it is super fun. But what they forget to tell you is that at the beginning things are a bit frustrating. You feel slightly lost: there's a lot to be done, and so many directions to start in, so focusing your energy on one can be quite difficult. I'm calling it the Bermuda Triangle effect, and it really hinges on 3 factors: budget, venue, and date. Of course there are more factors than these three that affect everything else that goes into wedding planning, but those are really the big three. When you have your budget set, you know what size of wedding you could have. When you know the size, you know what venues will be large enough. And when you know what venue you want, then you can set your date. Or you can start with a date - perhaps it's one VERY important to you - then you can only work with venues that have that availability. And then you can pick guests - and set your budget - based on the venue size.

**ADVICE ALERT** Commit to one of those three factors and let it govern the rest of your decisions, having a good understanding of the other two.

Audrey and I aren't quite in the clear of the Bermuda Triangle yet. As you all know, we are close to deciding on a venue (come on, you didn't really think I would tell you now, did you??). We don't have a date exactly finalized, but we are pretty sure of when it will be (again, you really think I'd tell you here?!?). So for us, budget was the anchor of our triangle. Sure, there were some venues that were more expensive, and we may have been willing to go with them, but it would have meant cutting back on other parts of the wedding, likely guest list.

Some really great advice that Audrey and I got from a friend is to focus on vendors that can only do one wedding per day. So venue is a big one (unless you're a Vegas chapel), and so is photographer. After we finalize the when and where, we'll focus on the who (as in, who will take photos of us all day?). Stay tuned for more information on that later!