As you begin planning your wedding, you'll need to start with the basics: who, what (style), where, when and how (much).  While these issues are somewhat related to style, they also factor heavily into the planning process.

Who - You'll need to come up with a preliminary guest list.  You can pretty well count on it being far to long and needing lots of pruning.

What (Style) - Your wedding style will largely influence the planning process and degree of formality.  A Zen wedding will most likely be less costly than a full-out Glamour Queen celebration, just as informal weddings tend to be less expensive (this is not set in stone, mind you) and have simpler location requirements than formal weddings.

Where - How many people you'll be inviting, how you envision your ceremony and reception will directly affect your location, which in turn affects every other aspect of the planning process, from setting the date to planning the budget.

When - Your date will somewhat be determined by where you want to get married, as some locations are booked eighteen to twenty-four months in advance.  Also, some highly in demand wedding vendors can be booked up solid for months.  Make sure to do a little preliminary research so you'll have some idea of the lead times involved.

How (Much) - That's very sweet of your parents to offer to take out a second mortgage on their house, but really, do you want them to have to work until they're seventy-five?  Chances are you can plan the wedding you want at a fairly reasonable cost if you are just willing to do some research and compromise a little.

This part of our series of planning advice and excerpts from Beverly Clark's "Planning a Wedding to Remember".  Visit frequently, subscribe to our RSS feed, or sign up for our e-mail alerts to make sure you don't miss a single one!

Reprinted by permission from Beverly Clark, "Planning a Wedding to Remember, 6th Edition", Wilshire Publications.  "Planning a Wedding to Remember" can be purchased by clicking this link.