You’re officially engaged. All your friends are excited for you and asking you when the big day is going to be. You can’t leave them hanging forever, so you make that date. Now you’re committed to making your commitment and this is where things get fun, expensive and sometimes stressful. Lesbian weddings have unique challenges. Because of that, it’s even more important to start planning early. Ensure that on the day, you are able to relax and enjoy the experience.

Set your budget

Weddings can be very expensive; even DIY ones, so set your budget firmly in advance and decide your priorities even before you start to plan. This is not unique to a wedding where two women are getting married. It’s the most important consideration for all couples planning a wedding.

Wedding venue

wedding-venue

Once you’ve agreed on a budget, decide where the wedding will be held. Whether you want a small intimate wedding or a huge event, you need to find a location that makes you feel happy and comfortable and that will welcome you and all of your guests. Finding a lesbian friendly venue must be a priority. You do not want to ever feel awkward or have to answer inappropriate or insensitive questions when you are planning your wedding.

Lesbian friendly wedding planner

At this stage, you may even wish to hire a wedding planner or consultant to help you. It may seem like a big investment. But a really good lesbian friendly wedding planner could save you a lot of wasted time, frustration and even money in the long run. They will already have relationships with lesbian friendly cake makers, caterers, DJs and the other vendors you may wish to hire for your wedding. This will be particularly important in finding you the right officiant to make sure that if you are having a legally recognized wedding, all the paperwork is done correctly.

On the other hand, you might make this a community and family event. Rope in the people nearest and dearest to you and do it DIY style in your own back garden. Especially if you want to spend your money on your honeymoon instead. Again, this is something you should research carefully to ensure that, as lesbians, you will be safe and welcome at your honeymoon destination. What can be fun is to combine a wedding and honeymoon by having a destination wedding.

What to wear

dressed-lesbian-couple

One of the things that seem to stump couples most at lesbian weddings is what to wear. Those planning a more traditional style wedding may opt for a classic tuxedo and wedding dress combination. However, not all lesbians are not traditional. The one rule about what to wear is that there are no rules and that’s both exciting and confusing. It’s exciting because as brides, you can express yourselves on your wedding day any way you wish. It’s confusing because the options are limitless. The best advice is to make sure that you respect each other by both making an effort not only to look your best on your special day but to compliment your bride and help them to look their best too.

Guest list

Your guest list may be the biggest challenge of all. No matter how worried you may feel about hurting someone’s feelings, do not forget that this is your special day and no one else’s. So, do not feel obligated to invite anyone who won’t be able to fully celebrate this special occasion with you. Everyone present should be completely supportive of you both.

Everything else is open for consideration. Little details such as who walks down the aisle when and with whom can all be organized with a sense of fun and individualism. If you have wedding parties, these do not have to be conventionally gendered and planning how they’ll dress can be so much fun. Do get a great wedding photographer as once the day is over, the photos will be all you have left to remember the day by. That’s definitely worth a good investment. Most of all, do all your planning well in advance. That way you’ll have nothing to worry about on one of the most important days of your lives except committing to one another for the rest of your lives.