Love, we are told, is a battlefield–and so is the business of marriage. Brides today get maybe a day or two to show off their rings and be excited before friends and family start breathing down their necks about wedding plans. All too soon, excitement turns to anxiety, blissful breathlessness becomes panic, and the typical bride becomes buried in the dining-room-turned-wedding-headquarters, where she sets about making wedding plans for a full 7 to 12 months! What’s worse, a lot of the details must be decided fairly quickly after the engagement. For example, most wedding reception venues, whether they’re the best wedding places or cheap banquet halls, are booked at least nine months to a year in advance of the event.
With all these T’s to cross and such high pressure time constraints, the internet has become more vital than ever to the process. Fully 48% of couples research venues and other details online while making their wedding plans, but this can lead to an equally overwhelming amount of choices, all professing to be the best. We definitely recommend using the internet for speed and convenience, (not to mention helpful customer reviews by past brides who have planned, vowed, and conquered). However, another lower tech tool called a logic model, might be equally useful before diving headfirst into the Google search fray.
A logic model is a visual note-taking tool used across multiple industries to organize one’s thoughts and evaluate the effects of a planned enterprise. There are many different templates out there, but an effective “Wedding Plans Logic Model” might begin with a bubble explaining the situation, for example “Ashley’s Wedding, 6/17/2018.” Then, an arrow might lead from left to right to a column titled Inputs, in other words, what do we, the Ashley’s wedding musketeers, need to put into this event. (Money, time, research, staff, etc). A second arrow would lead to a column entitled Outputs, and this is where you could get specific and make a “to do list” about which banquet hall rentals, florists, photographers, and unique wedding places to contact and by what date. A final arrow can lead to a terminal column entitled “Outcomes,” and this could be a running list of places decided upon, how much money spent per each thing, date booked, etc.
Making a logic model before doing anything else wedding plans-wise is a good strategy to lay everything out visually and feel that you have control over the process. We are confident that this flexible low-tech tool used in conjunction with the internet is a successful recipe for a well organized, low stress planning experience. So go ahead-Google logic models first and foremost, find a template that works for you, and conquer your wedding.
