So you’ve booked your wedding day in Cyprus, you’ve received your confirmation email, flicked through all the lovely colourful brochures – but now what? Where do you start?

Take a deep breath, relax, and remember – you have a wedding planner.

The very first thing you need to do is talk to your planner. Put together a quick email, or pick up the phone and have a quick chat. Once you meet the person who will be helping you plan your big day, a big weight will be lifted off your shoulders.

You don’t need to make any big decisions at first, just have a little talk about the ceremony venue you have picked, the ideas you have so far, and get to know each other. Your planner will be your guru, for all things wedding related over the next year or so.

Ask as many questions as you need, until you fully understand the layout of your hotel or venue, the timings of your day and the whole process of the planning. Your planner has all this information, and once everything is clear in your mind, you will feel much more relaxed about arranging a wedding abroad.

When you have talked through all the options with your fiancé, read the brochures, looked at all the images on the website and the Facebook, it’s time to start making the first decisions.

The best place to start is with your wedding reception. If you’re not getting married at a hotel that is only one wedding a day, it is very, very important to secure your venue early. Venues and restaurants do get booked up quickly in Cyprus, as it is an extremely popular place for people to get married.

Once you decide on a venue, contact your planner by phone or email (we recommend email so you both have everything is writing) and ask them to secure this for you. You will need to advise them of your proposed menu and estimated guest numbers (don’t worry these can change on the run up to your wedding, nothing is set in stone) and a €100 payment (this may vary depending on venue) will also be needed to secure the date.

If you know that you would like a hair stylist, a photographer, a DJ, a decorations company or any other suppliers for your big day. Ask your planner to secure the dates for these for you. You don’t have to decide on packages at first, but do secure their services.

Once you have your date secured with the primary suppliers, now comes the fun part!

How do you want your wedding to look and feel? Are you going to go for understated elegance, relaxed boho chic, or fun and whimsical?

Pinterest is a bride’s best friend! Create boards of ideas, and pin every time you have a few minutes to yourself. You can pin on your coffee break, pin on the bus, you can even pin in the dentists waiting room!

When your dream wedding starts to take shape, share your favourite ideas and pins with your planner. Send images individually, or put together a mood board to help your planner understand your vision.

You can choose décor, flowers and cakes from brochures to match your ideas, or if you send you board to your planner she can get prices for similar things and you can work from bespoke – it’s up to you.

It can seem like a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be. Use your planner, let her do all the work for you. Let her run around and secure the suppliers. Let her source the right shade of flowers and the centrepieces you’ve fallen head over heels in love with. It’s what she’s there for.

When it’s time to put together your legal paperwork, your planner has a handy checklist you can use. You can also send it to her, to look over and check it all looks ok.

About six weeks before the wedding it will be time to tie everything up. You will need a final guest list, a table plan and confirmed timings of your day. Your planner will finalise your invoice, send you a link for the balance of everything and put together all the final details for your in-resort wedding advisor.

The weeks on the run up to your wedding should be relaxing. All the preparations have been done, everything is in place, the bills have been paid and your legal paperwork is ready. You’re all set!!

The last few weeks of your single life, are for celebrations with your girl and guy friends. Shopping for holiday clothes, and looking forward to exciting times ahead with your fiancé.

This is how your wedding plans should be. Relaxed, organised and stress free!!