To have no clue how to plan a wedding?

[FancyChops]

What do you even do first?
Book a venue?
Apply for marriage license?
How do people automatically know this stuff and I don’t?

Congratulations!

Yes, it can very easily feel overwhelming. Firstly though, I would have a chat with your fiancé about what type of wedding you want. Close to home, or abroad? All your friends and family, or small and intimate? Everything else depends on those decisions. If you feel easily overwhelmed, I would stay clear of bridal magazines as they can very much make you feel that you should be doing things a certain way. Just remember that it is your day and you can have and do whatever you as a couple do or do not want.

There are plenty of people out there who will take all your money to have the "must haves" that you don't need. You want to marry, job one. Talk to the other about how you would like to do that and what is REALLY important. The wedding day or the marriage.
Do not spend more money than you can afford to lose. This is not, I repeat not the most important day of your life. Choosing the right person is the thing that matters, not a huge Look at me showing off day. You might get a drift from where I am coming

YANBU! I hired a wedding planner for this very reason and it was the best money we spent. We more than saved the cost of her fee in the money she saved us by knowing how to negotiate and who to get discounts from. I have no idea how people plan a massive expensive event (assuming that's what you have!) with no professional help.

If a wedding planner isn't for you I would focus on a venue first as they will often have an in house team who can guide you on other bits. And wedding magazines have useful stuff like timelines and checklists which will probably help.

Congratulations on your engagement and good luck planning!

I don't know if there's a right way or a wrong way! We talked about a budget first and a guest list because that really dictates the cost and suitability of venues. We talked about the sort of feel we wanted to our wedding and then looked for venues that seemed to fit that.
We had a date in mind but when the church we wanted couldn't do the date we wanted we had to have a regroup.
After that everything just sort of fell into place. Bear in mind that most suppliers take bookings for things quite a way in advance.

Plan your budget first
Then list the people you HAVE to and want to have there
Then think about a time of year and location if it is important
Then find a venue that can hold the number of people you want at the budget you have set
Then do the marriage license bit
Then book the people you need/want on the day - photographer/church/celebrant/florist/make up artist/band or DJ - if you have a specific person in mind (by all means you don't have to have all of these, just if you do, book them).
Then look for a dress
Then look for bridesmaids
Then grooms suits/invitations/decorations.

Above all else - stick to your agreed budget

Look at venues only after you've agreed a budget, then pick a venue and date, the rest such as photographers, florists, band etc all come after in no particular order. Huge congrats by the way 😀

Get budget in mind then Google confetti.co.uk for different components to consider like cars, flowers, photographer. Hiring a dress is cheaper than buying. Buy well in advance as ordering your size or version can take months. Or, some dressmakers will customise or bling up off the peg High Street dress say from Monsoon's wedding collection for you:my dressmaker friend does roaring trade in altering/customising off the peg bridesmaid/ wedding dresses with more bling, embroidery/beading and sashes to match your colour scheme etc . (Boutique designer wedding shops often charge over the odds for alterations & customising). Venue needs booking year ahead as they get booked up so quickly.