Overwhelmed planning a wedding? A leading wedding planner shares top tips

Credit: Bizzy ArnottMatthew Shaw, a leading wedding and events planner and founder of sauveur. - a superb events and creative studio - is here to reveal his Top Tips to help you plan and feel calm, confident and importantly, excited for the big day.

ASK FOR HELP
I would always advise considering if you would like to engage a planner at the beginning of the process. They are true experts in their field and will help organise, inspire, and de-stress the process for you. There are planners available for varying wedding budgets so do reach out and request more information.

TIMINGS, TIMINGS, TIMINGS
Map out your planning process and work out what you do (and don't!) need to do each month. There is a tendency for people to panic and try to get everything confirmed and ticked off as quickly as possible. This is both incredibly stressful but will likely also lead you to questioning your decisions further down the line. It's a process that you can work through and adjust as you do.

NO ONE COMPARES
Everyone has an opinion on weddings and planning and this can often be frustrating and distracting. Try to ignore what your friends may be doing for their weddings, what your parents did for theirs, and what all the inspiration images online are telling you. This will help alleviate stress but also ensure that your wedding is uniquely you!

DO THE MATHS
Budgets are often everyone's downfall. Before you start the planning process, and confirming suppliers, you should put together a clear budget of what you are allocating to each area. You can then collect your quotes, compare to your budget and adjust as necessary. You should always, always, have a contingency in your budget for unknown and surprise costs that appear (they always will) and this will help cushion it and keep costs in line.

PLANNING IS KEY
As you start to confirm details, start writing a schedule for the day. This will help ease the worries of having lots of quotes and confirmations flying around and not knowing what to do next.

Matthew Shaw is Founder & Creative Director at sauveur.