If you’re able to plan your wedding like a project manager, and appreciate a method to the madness, you’ll love planning your wedding.
How do I know this? Because I am a project manager. And I loved planning my wedding.
Look, there’s very few things that I can claim to have enough education, credentials, and experience in to actually be considered a professional in the field. Project management is one of them. Project management is something that I’ve worked in for more than a decade, after I went to grad school for the subject. Plus, I hold a project management professional (PMP) credential. So, I will go out on a limb here and say that this is a post that I have some experience in.
If you’re ready to plan your wedding like a project manager, I promise that you will feel in control of your wedding planning from start to finish. This is a good thing. Feeling out of control can be stressful, especially when it comes to wedding planning. You’ve got a lot of people involved, it’s a big important event, and it can be quite costly. Planning your wedding like a project manager is key to actually enjoying the process.
How To Plan Your Wedding Like A Project Manager
This post is going to give you all the tips to plan your wedding like a project manager, from the moment you get engaged all the way up to after the wedding. I will attempt, ahem, to keep it interesting. Learning about project management is no where as exciting as actually applying project management, so I’ll do my best. The goal here is to stay on top of your wedding planning, so it doesn’t get away from you. It starts with the moment you start planning.
Let’s get into it.
THE PHASES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Before we get started, let’s go over the five phases of a project. They are initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close out.
To parallel project management with wedding planning, I want to give some definition for what each phase would entail for your actual wedding. I think this will help as you move into the other sections. Each phase is significant, because there are certain things that should be done in them, providing the right input for the following phases. For example, you can’t properly execute a rehearsal dinner if you never initiate the planning for it.
Here is some more context:
Initiate: The start of your engagement and wedding planning. During this phase you’ll want to think about what your wedding will look like, have a high level timeline, and decide who will be the most involved people in your wedding planning.
Plan: This is where you can start with the action. During this phase you’ll set dates and hire vendors. Most of the actual wedding planning takes place in this phase.
Execute: All your planning will come to fruition. The execute phase may entail the execution of pre-wedding events, like your bachelorette party, bridal shower, and rehearsal. It will also include your wedding day.
Monitor and Control: This is an ongoing phase that takes place at the same time as the other phases. For this phase, you’ll check in with your schedule, budget, and progress.
Close Out: Let’s consider everything after the wedding to be part of your close out phase. Certain tasks will have to be taken care of, and eventually you’ll be able to move on from your wedding and close that chapter altogether.
There you have it. Knowing the five phases of a project is crucial to being able to plan your wedding like a project manager. Now let’s get a little deeper into it.
INITIATE: STARTS WITH ENGAGEMENT
Starting with the day you get engaged, the Initiate phase of wedding planning can be an exciting and fun time. You’re fresh with your wedding planning journey, and there are so many possibilities for what’s to come.
This phase is the foundation for the rest of your wedding planning. During this phase you’ll want to get your wedding vision in order. If you need help with your wedding vision, this is a great post for you. Also, this is the time where you’ll figure out who your major stakeholders, or wedding team, will be. This will include your partner, and maybe close family, parents, or your bridal party.
Another important aspect of the Initiate phase is to set your wedding budget. If you need help with that, I have this post for you. You’ll also want to create a high level timeline or schedule so you can keep yourself on track as you start putting action behind your vision.
Summary of the Initiate Phase in order to plan your wedding like a project manager:
- Get your vision in order
- Figure out who your team will be
- Determine your budget
- Create a timeline or schedule
- Start researching tools
PLAN: THINGS GET REAL ONCE YOU SET THE DATE
I can easily argue that the Planning phase of wedding planning is the most important phase of them all. Let me repeat myself. The Planning phase of wedding planning is the most important phase of them all.
During the Planning phase, you’re going to create the structure for your wedding. You’ll hire vendors, and start coordinating with them. To best plan your wedding like a project manager, you’ll want to stay organized while you plan. This means tracking all of your documentation, either in hard paper form, or digitally. It’s also important to start developing your tracking tools for your budget and schedule. When I was planning my wedding, I used Excel for this, but there are other online tools out there that can be helpful.
The Planning phase also entails working with more than just your vendors. This is the time that you’ll work with your stakeholders (aka the ones you identified in the Initiate phase) about your wedding. Discuss with your stakeholders what you’d like for your vision, and work with them to make decisions and progress in your wedding planning.
One of the most important, and overlooked, parts of this phase is analyzing your wedding risks. This would entail thinking about what can go wrong with your wedding, and determining what you can do to prevent or deal with any issues that come up. If you need help figuring out what can go wrong, this and this are great posts for you.
Summary of the Planning Phase in order to plan your wedding like a project manager:
- Hire wedding vendors and start working with them
- Store your contracts in an accessible place
- Develop tools for tracking budget and schedule
- Review plan with your stakeholders (vision, decisions, progress)
- Analyze any risks and decide how you will prevent or deal with them
EXECUTE: SEE YOUR HARD WORK COME TO FRUITION
Ah, the Execution phase. This is where you get to see all your hard work come to life!
When it comes to wedding planning, the Execution phase is more than just your wedding day. It’s really any event that you had to plan for. So, Execution could also mean your pre-wedding events like bachelorette, bridal showers, welcome party, rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner. This phase can overlap with your Planning phase, as some events may be executed while others are still being planned.
For the Execution phase, you’ll want to have a solid schedule and communication plan to ensure proper execution. Be sure to let all your important stakeholders know what the plan is. This means they are aware of where they need to be, what they need to bring, and what to expect. You’ll also want to have all your resources gathered and organized, so your wedding-related events have the right items at them.
And, of course, be ready to execute on any of your risk-related mitigation plans while in the Execution phase. For example, one risk you might have identified is a rainy wedding day. Your mitigation plan might have entailed renting a tent. On the days leading up to your wedding, you should be checking the weather and then making the call on whether or not you need that tent.
Summary of the Execute Phase in order to plan your wedding like a project manager:
- Have a solid schedule created
- Be sure to communicate the plan to all your stakeholders (partner, family, wedding party, vendors, guests, etc.)
- Gather all your wedding day resources and items
- Review your list of possible risks, and mitigate if needed
MONITOR AND CONTROL: ARE YOU ABLE TO STICK TO YOUR PLAN?
Technically, when it comes to project management, the Monitor and Control phase kicks off when the Execution phase starts. However, since we’re relaying this to useful application with wedding planning, let’s pretend that Monitoring and Controlling starts a little earlier, during the Planning phase.
Basically, in the Monitoring and Controlling phase, you’ll want to see how your execution goes compared to your plan. Are you sticking to the vision you set forth? Will you go over budget? Are there any risks to your schedule? That sort of thing.
Since we’re talking about how to plan your wedding like a project manager here, I’ll lay out some practical examples for you. When you start booking vendors and get closer to your wedding date, be very vigilant with your budget. Be sure to track every single dollar you commit to your wedding. And, check in with your schedule. Are you staying on top of to-do items? Or do you need to “catch up” before your wedding day? Staying true to your budget and schedule are crucial to stress-free wedding planning. This is why the Monitor and Control phase is so important. It allows you to “catch” issues before they happen.
If you find that you are off track in an area, talk to your partner. Go over ways to either get back to your budget, or complete tasks. Remember to lean on your stakeholders, if needed.
Summary of the Monitor and Control Phase in order to plan your wedding like a project manager:
- Looking at how your wedding is shaping up to be, compared to your wedding vision
- Tracking your spending, comparing it to your budget
- Checking in with your schedule and to-do list, making sure you complete what you need to in time
- Going over ways to get back on track with your partner, if needed
CLOSE OUT: YOUR WEDDING DOESN’T END ON YOUR WEDDING DAY
Ahh, the Close Out phase. The wedding is over. This means you’re done, right? Well, not so fast. There are things to do.
The Close Out phase starts when the wedding ends. During this phase, you’ll want to do all the things you should do, once your wedding is over. For example, pay your vendors in full. Give them tips, if applicable. Clean up your wedding venue, or at least pack up all your items. Send out thank you cards. Change your name. Go on your honeymoon. See, there are lots of things to do in the Close Out phase. By the way, if you want a more full list, this is the blog post for you.
Yes, you can sigh a big sigh of relief during the Close Out phase, but don’t forget there are still things to do. Go ahead and enjoy the next chapter of your life, but don’t skip out on what’s left wedding-wise. Finishing it up and moving on will feel way better than letting things linger.
Summary of the Close Out Phase in order to plan your wedding like a project manager:
- Complete all the post-wedding tasks
- Enjoy being married
THE GIST OF HOW TO PLAN YOUR WEDDING LIKE A PROJECT MANAGER
I hope by now you have a solid understanding of how a project manager would plan their wedding. If not, let me break down some major takeaways for you:
- Have a solid plan. You’ll want to create it early, and you’ll want to check in with it as you go on your wedding planning journey.
- Never forget about your team. Your partner, family, friends, and vendors are all major stakeholders in your wedding. Communicate with them, and bring them into the planning and decision making.
- Get organized and track everything. Of course, do this in a way that works for you.
- Keep your eyes off your budget. Budgets can get away from you if you’re not paying attention.
- Create a risk mitigation plan. Never wait till the last minute to deal with issues.
THOUGHTS ON HOW TO PLAN YOUR WEDDING LIKE A PROJECT MANAGER
Friends, I’d like to welcome you into the project manager club. If you’re following the five phases of a project, and planning a wedding according to those phases, you’re officially project managing your wedding. Project management can be stressful, and very rewarding. I’d like to believe that weddings are among the best projects to plan and execute. Happy wedding planning!
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