If you are among the nearly one million brides-to-be who received an engagement ring over the holidays, it is time to ring in the new year by scratching the first few items off your wedding day ‘to do’ countdown.

Unfortunately for most newly engaged women, the excitement of finally finding ‘the one’ is dampened by a hard dose of stress & anxiety. Sure, you will find about a gazillion wedding planning checklists out there, but they all tend to overwhelm more than they help, & all essentially fail to address the fundamental question: “Where do I begin?”

After you have announced the exciting news & taken some time to bask in your newly engaged glow, it is time to get cracking. Here are the first three wedding planning tasks you absolutely must achieve before anything else. Cross these items off your wedding checklist ? & you are on your way.

Step 1: Decide on a Budget ?

Every decision stems from the wedding budget. Before you can plan anything, you must know how much you can spend & who plans to contribute. Your budget will determine the type of wedding you can have – from how many guests you invite, to where & when you host your wedding, right down to the specific blooms in your bouquet. And with the ever increasing cost of weddings, financing the event is often a group effort; the bride’s parents no longer need to take out a second mortgage just to fund the upcoming nuptials. You will need to talk to your families about who will pay for what, & arrive at a total wedding budget.

Step 2: Tackle the Guest List -

Some ‘checklists’ suggest setting a date & commencing other wedding plans before this step, but the guest count is the most vital decision after the budget. Here’s why: Capacity is one of the most significant criteria in finding a suitable wedding venue ? more so even than style & vision – & you must secure your location before you can successfully plan anything else. Cramming 300 people into a venue that seats 150 will not go over well. You do not need to have the list finalized just yet, but you will need an estimate from both sides of the family (and yourselves) right away to avert countless planning headaches down the road.

Step 3: Set a Site & Date –

Only once you have an estimated budget & guest count can you begin searching for a place to hold your event with any accuracy. Remember ? many reception sites book over a year in advance, so you really can not decide on a wedding date until you have officially booked your venue with a signed contract. Find as many reception sites that meet your budget, capacity & overall style quotient as you can. Then schedule appointments to tour each wedding venue & meet with the manager. After that?it’s decision making time.

As you may have heard it said, once you find your reception site, everything else falls into place. Once you have accomplished these steps, you’ll find the rest of your planning task list a piece of, ahem, wedding cake.

For more advice to help you plan every part of your wedding, visit the complete Wedding Planning guide at Elegala.com

Cori Locklin is editor-in-chief for Elegala.com & Gala Weddings Magazine (and a recent bride!). Elegala is a comprehensive ad-free wedding planning resource featuring a nationwide directory of wedding reception sites & their recommended vendors, along with articles, expert advice, checklists & photo galleries to lead brides through every step of the planning process. Elegala.com is the only resource to offer site-specific planning tools to help brides plan events at their chosen wedding venue.

For a complete guide to creating an elegant & memorable wedding celebration, visit Elegala.com, your ultimate wedding planning resource.