Hiya! I’m Amanda, and I believe planning a wedding doesn’t need to be overwhelming. That’s why I share practical and down-to-earth wedding planning support for NZ brides and grooms wanting an amazing wedding day. Think of me as your fairy-god-sister.
Southern Bride is a website, community and email course (all free, because weddings cost enough already). Our main goal here is to empower you to enjoy your wedding planning. There’s an expectation that your wedding day will be the best day of your life – so why don’t we make those months of wedding planning awesome too?!
Weddings (and the planning of them!) shouldn’t be overwhelming or complicated. Less stress sounds lovely right?
Get your wedding planning started
To get started on your stress-free wedding journey, sign up for a wedding planning to-do list here. This wedding planning checklist is a helpful list of tasks, broken down into roughly when they should be completed, so you can prioritise (because you’ve got other things to do right… like hmmm, a job!)
Wedding Planning Support at Southern Bride: How We Help
Step 1: Amazing PRACTICAL Wedding Planning Advice
Nearly 200 articles that tackle a wide range of wedding planning dilemmas are covered off on the Southern Bride website. Check out our archives for advice on bridesmaids, wedding budgets, dealing with guests, planning your ceremony, the logistics around wedding receptions and more.
Step 2: Wedding Planning Support via Top Notch Vendors
I’m not doing this alone. Two heads are better than one, so I have pulled together some awesome wedding professionals to help with their advice and opinions on tough stuff – this team is called Southern Bride Verified.
These guys sponsor the content on the blog (i.e. help pay for it to be created) which is why we can give so much helpful wedding planning support and advice for free.
They are on hand to answer the tough questions and they’re awesome people to hire for your big day. (If you are a wedding professional and you are interested in joining, leave your details here).
Step 3: Practical, Useful Wedding Planning Templates
My favourite part of event planning (back when I worked in the corporate world) was my templates and processes. So I’ve created and curated a selection of awesome wedding planning diaries, budget templates, guest list spreadsheets, checklists and more available for purchase. Get organised for your wedding, without reinventing the wheel.
But wait, there’s more – Enter Stage Left: The Wedding Planning Support Group
Okay, last thing and I’ll let you go!
Dive into our wedding planning advice now – here’s a selection of our most popular posts to get you started:
One of the most-argued parts of the wedding planning process is the guest list. Each guest who gets that golden ticket (i.e. wedding invite!) is carefully considered. You both want…
We know that giving a gift is expected if you are invited to an engagement party or wedding, but what happens if you aren’t invited? A couple of the Southern…
The bulk of New Zealand weddings serve alcohol, and it’s often assumed it’ll be free. If you’re serving alcohol but expecting guests to pay for their own drinks, that is…
Yay! Time for another present roundup post. I love producing gift guides, because it means I head out on a virtual shopping spree, finding cool ideas and unique presents for…
Planning a big event, like a wedding, comes with lots of paperwork. Whether it’s contracts, price lists, samples or just business cards… you can quickly get overwhelmed by the vast…
Ever wondered what the differences between escort cards and place cards are? Or if they are the same thing, but use different words? Well, the truth is not that far…
Finding a wedding venue is one of the first things that you need to do when planning your wedding. The wedding ceremony site and reception venue is the foundation for…
You’ve been given the honour of being a Master of Ceremonies or wedding MC. Happy dance! Sure, you’ve probably got different emotions about this. You may be thrilled that you…
Have you ever wondered why there are so many wedding speeches? How about why we even have them in the first place? Do you need to have speeches at your…
I regularly ask my Southern Bride Community – “what’s the biggest challenge you’re facing in your wedding planning right now“… the answers can vary, but it’s not usual to hear: “Trying…