1-3-1 Vision & Priorities
Defining Your Vision & Identifying Priorities – You and your fiance will share your dreams about your wedding day, and take the first step to defining your vision. In addition, you will each start to identify your priorities and share what is important to each of you.
SmartBride™ Checklist: Overview
Print out the overview checklist, and follow along so you don’t miss any important steps.
Click here to download the Defining Your Vision Overview PDF!
SmartBride™ Checklist: Defining Your Wedding Vision Step 1 & 2
Print out this checklist, and start filling it out with your fiance.
Click here to download the Defining Your Wedding Vision Step 1 & 2
VIDEO: Defining Your Vision & Identifying Priorities
To ask questions, or comment on this content, visit the Members’ Forum: sub-forum Wedding Vision!
The most important thing you need to do when you start planning your wedding is to define your vision. What do you want your wedding to look like or feel like? Do you envision a grand formal wedding? Or do you envision an informal family atmosphere full of love and laughter? Or maybe, your vision is somewhere between those two extremes. Both you and your fiancé will have your own ideas of what you always thought your wedding would be like. It is time to share that vision with each other.
Print out the SmartBrideTM Checklist for this module is called Defining Your Vision Step One and Two. In Step One, we ask you and your fiancé to sit down and share with each other how you have always imagined your wedding to be. Brides often talk about their wedding dreams, so we suggest that the groom go first and share his thoughts on what he has always envisioned his wedding to be like. Although not talked about often, men DO have dreams about their wedding day. Be open and receptive to each other’s ideas. Just think about what you have shared with each other, and observe where you are the same, and where you differ.
When you are ready, move onto Step Two of your SmartBrideTM Checklist. Here we ask both you and your fiancé to identify the 10 things that are most important to each of you—in order of importance. For example, the bride might think the style/theme/colour and décor is the most important thing, so she would place a number 1 next to that item. The groom might think the music is the most important thing, so he would put a number 1 next to music. In the first section of this step, you will number, in order of importance each of the 10 main areas of your wedding.
Below this section, is space to put other things that you might think are important for your wedding that will help express your personal style. Here, we just ask you to put a check mark next to those things that you think are important. For example, you might find that personalized vows are important to both of you. There is also space to add things to the list—-for example, maybe using a family antique car for the transportation is important to you, or incorporating ethnic traditions. Just add it to the list and put a check mark beside it.
Most couples have full time jobs, and the days of the bride planning the wedding while the groom does nothing is long gone. Often the groom is willing, but doesn’t know HOW to get involved. By following our SmartBrideTM Checklists, both the bride and groom will share in the wedding planning process. Sharing the duties is a loving and considerate thing to do, and it allows the couple to build a strong bond of mutual respect.
Our experience in working with couples show us that most men like to get involved, and they have specific things that tend to be their area of interest—choosing the band/music, transportation, liquor choices, and photography, for example. In addition, many grooms like to get involved in the reception food choices and they like creating a personalized wedding—one that makes a statement about you as a couple. Most men welcome the opportunity to plan the wedding with their fiancé and many feel that the wedding is therefore much more meaningful.
Print out the SmartBrideTM Checklist called Defining Your Wedding Vision Step 1 & 2, and share it with your intended. This is the first step of planning your wedding, and what better way to start than sharing your wedding vision with each other.
When you are ready, move onto the next video where we will talk about Step 3 and 4 of Defining Your Vision.