Congratulations on your engagement!! It is such an exciting time to start wedding planning - but then you realize that it can get a little overwhelming. There are so many things you need to do and it’s hard to know where to start. When having a wedding in Chicago, we know there are also additional factors to consider like parking and traffic. There are so many great things about planning your wedding and the wedding planning journey, but there are definitely things that can be rather difficult. Here are the things that you definitely should do in order right after you get engaged and start planning your wedding in Chicago or the Chicago suburbs.

Celebrate!
This is a time that should be really exciting for you and your love! Your engagement really sets the tone and starts the next chapter of your lives together and that is definitely something worth celebrating. Make sure to spend some time with just the two of you getting excited for what’s to come and for what you’re going to love about this new part of your lives together. Then of course you probably have already told all your family and friends but make sure to be excited with them too! It is really an exciting time for everyone and all of your family and friends are going to be really excited to get to celebrate with you! We definitely recommend just sitting with your engagement for a while before you go petal to the metal and start planning everything. Really soak in your engagement with your love and get excited for the main event to come!

2. Set your Priorities

We highly recommend when you are ready to dip your toes into the world of wedding planning for your wedding in Chicago that you sit down together and list out what is really important to you. Everything that you can think of that is an absolute must should make this list - big and small! Do you want an open bar? Are you looking to have your guests dancing all night? How do you want you and your guests to feel for the wedding day? Is the venue going to look modern or rustic? Is it a number one priority to have certain moments on your wedding day like a first look to really have that intimate moment together, or do you prefer the first look at each other to be down the aisle at the ceremony? And just as important, it is good to know what things don’t really matter that much to you that you might be willing to save money on. Do you need signature cocktails with your pet’s names as the titles, or is this something you can skip? Do you plan on having a reception dress to change into when the dancing gets started? This will really help you narrow down your venues, vendors, and what you will be allocating most of your budget towards. If you want to think deeper about what your priorities are, check out this blog post too about what the difference in priorities does for your time versus your money.

3. Plan your Budget

After you have figured out what things are the most important to you for your wedding in Chicago, the next thing you have to do when you get engaged is it plan out your budget. This blog post will help you figure out how to find a wedding budget that makes the most sense for you. Of course this number is really important and what most people focus on while wedding planning, but you absolutely need to figure out what is going to be possible for you for your wedding day so you know what you can allocate and budget for each vendor and your venue. You can also check out this blog post to figure out the percentages of your budget that you should spend for each of your vendors - after you use these two resources, you should be ready to go for your next step in your wedding planning journey now that you’re engaged!

4. Check out Pinterest

Pinterest is the place most couples will find themselves to be able to dream a little bit more about what your wedding day might look like! Keep in mind - Pinterest is definitely not curated for any particular budget, and some of the things that you see on there might be very different than what is reality. If you’re interested, you can read this blog post that lays out what’s important to know when you’re looking at Pinterest while planning your wedding in the Chicago area. Remember though, this part is also meant to be a little fun! Having a vision for your wedding is going to also help some of your vendors make sure they are providing you with something that looks like what you want your wedding to look like. Make sure you don’t get overwhelmed and set it aside when you’re feeling that way about wedding planning!

5. Put Together your Guest List

One of the most important pieces of information you need to know about your wedding before you start searching for venues and vendors is your expected guest count. What we recommend is that you check out this blog post to help create and then narrow down your wedding guest list. Know that you’ll likely need to cut people at some point from the list that you create right off the bat, so make sure to dream big the first time around while drafting your guest list and know that you can always downsize later when you learn more about the venues you like, the vibe you are going for, and the cost for each guest!

6. Look at Average Costs

Chicago specifically is a very expensive place to get married. Right after you get engaged, there is definitely a time that couples will start Googling the average cost of a wedding in the city of Chicago and get overwhelmed very quickly. We actually wrote a blog post about the average costs that we have seen in weddings over 2024 that you can see read here. It’s really important to know how much things are costing in this time because Google will not really have access to current or realistic data sometimes. Of course there are weddings at every end of the spectrum, so take this with a grain of salt. But this tool is going to be really helpful for you while you are booking your vendors, so you can save this blog or the blog linked above so that while you’re looking for wedding vendors in Chicago that you know the average costs!

7. Look at Venues

After you have done all of this work - you’ve planned your priorities and what’s important to you, you’ve figured out a budget for your wedding, and you’ve looked into the average costs, it’s finally time to start booking your vendors. You venue is going to be the first, and one of the most important, vendors you will start researching! You should definitely check out this blog post for the first 5 steps to do before choosing your venue to get you started, but if you’re looking for some ideas for venues you might like, we have this blog for most unique and cool Chicago venues, this blog for 9 best loft style Chicago venues, this blog for 8 best modern Chicago and Chicago suburbs venues, and this blog for most unique and cool venues in the Chicago suburbs. There are SO many venues in Chicago and the Chicago area and we are certain that you will find something that you love - no matter the style you are looking for while wedding planning.

8. Hire a Chicago-based Wedding Coordinator

The last thing that you should do when you have all of these things above figured out is to get yourself a wedding coordinator. Assuming you like the idea of finding your favorite vendors and you have a vision for how you’d like to have your wedding day, having a wedding coordinator on your side from the start of your wedding planning journey will really make sure you get the best bang for your buck. If you book with us, you have an open door policy as soon as you start working with us no matter how many months we are away from your wedding to ask for advice and answer questions, and it’s much easier to plan a wedding with someone that has already seen hundreds of weddings and knows what works and what doesn’t. Having someone on your side that isn’t your family or friend during your wedding planning process will really make sure that you can focus on actually enjoying your engagement and wedding day and really be present with your family and friends. We will take all of your plans, details, and logistics, and make sure that your wedding day is managed and you don’t have to worry about anything on your wedding day.

If you’re looking for a wedding coordinator, you can reach out to us at our contact page to make sure that you can focus on the fun for your wedding planning journey all the way to wedding day. We want to make sure you aren’t overwhelmed with millions of checklists and resources online and that you have exactly what you need to pull off an amazing wedding day. You really should be able to enjoy the time you’re engaged - not be stressed by it!