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

After you've announced the exciting news and taken some time to bask in your newly engaged glow, it's time to get cracking. Here are the first three wedding planning tasks you absolutely must accomplish before anything else. Cross these items off your wedding checklist – and you're 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 and who plans to contribute. Your budget will determine the type of wedding you can have – from how many guests you invite, to where and 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 coming nuptials. You'll need to talk to your families about who will pay for what, and arrive at a total wedding budget.

Step 2: Tackle the Guest List –

Some "checkslists" suggest setting a date and concluding 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 important criteria in finding a suitable wedding venue – more so even than style and vision – and 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'll need an estimate from both sides of the family (and yourself) right away to avert countless planning head down the road. Not sure where to begin? A wedding guest list guide can help.

Step 3: Set a Site and Date –

Only once you have an estimated budget and 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 and overall style quotient as you can. Then schedule appointments to tour each wedding venue and 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 completed these steps, you will find the rest of your planning task list a piece of, ahem, wedding cake.

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Source by Cori Russell