The first thing you need to do before you start off on the wedding planning process is to tell both sets of parents. Traditionally the bride's parents know before the groom's do, but nowadays the order doesn't really matter. Once you have told your parents, go ahead and tell you close friends and relatives. You will also need to consider how to announce your engagement. One way to announce your engagement is through your local newspaper. Alternatively, mail, call or write to your family and friends in order to share with them the good news.

The next important step that you will need to take while planning your wedding is setting the date. If your budget is likely to be a constraint, look at factors like the time of day, the day of the week and the time of year before you set the date as each of these factors can impact your overall budget. At the same time, if you are expecting a lot of guests from out of town, consider their convenience as well. Finally, check out the availability of the venues.

It is important to decide on the tone of your wedding during the early stages of the wedding planning process. Decide if you're having a formal wedding, a semi formal wedding or a casual wedding. Also decide if you want a religious wedding ceremony or a secular one. Also, think about whether you want to have a wedding theme and if yes, finalize on one. Once you know what you want your wedding to feel like, you will find that it becomes much easier to get the other elements of your wedding plan in place.

The next important step of wedding planning is deciding on your budget. Look at how much the two of you can contribute from your personal savings. Also take into account any contributions from your parents. Finally, think about whether you want to take on any debt. Unless you absolutely have to take on debt to finance your wedding, it's a good idea to keep debt to a minimum.

Once you have decided on these key aspects of a wedding plan, it is time to fill in the details. You will need to apply for your wedding license, scout out and finalize venues for the ceremony and reception, finalize your guest list, choose your officiant, finalize your wedding attendants and arrange for the vendors, including your caterer, the florist and the musicians or the DJ. You will also need to finalize your wedding outfits and those of your attendants. You will also need to decide on your wedding program and send out the invitations to all your guests. In the middle of all of this, there will also be numerous parties and other events to attend such as your bachelor and bachelorette parties and the wedding showers.

Through it all keep your sense of perspective and your sense of humor about you. Whenever you face the danger of feeling too overwhelmed, take a deep breath. The good news is that things usually work out at the end and there will come a time when you will look back at these hectic and often crazy days of wedding planning and preparation with a lot of affection. Meanwhile, enjoy these days as much as you can because they only come once.