I am planning my wedding and I don’t know where to start?
I am planning my wedding and I don’t know where to start?
Any brides out there who can give me any tips on where to start on my wedding planning…also if you know of any ways I could save money
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if you want to be married within a year and by a church, start with the church.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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You probably ought to start with WHERE the wedding and the reception will be AND what times….
thats a start…
start looking for places to have the ceremony.. usually that determines the date..
but think of what season at least.
after you have the date..
then reserve a hall for the reception.
thats definately where you should start.
you need to set a date, then work your way with the cherch, ballroom, dress, tux, decorations, food, so on.
Saving money…ah those two little words. First set a budget. Do this by calling around and getting quotes. my entire wedding and honeymoon is totaling 10 grand. I splurged on our honeymoon and not so much for our wedding. Figure out what you want first. Do you have a large family? Small family? How many people do you want at your ceremony/reception? The smaller the cheaper…keep that in mind. Ah and another great thing to do is open a CD account Risk Free. This will let money earn interest at a pretty good rate while you save money for the wedding. Good luck! Also go to http://www.theknot.com lots of good advice.
You and me both!!! lol actually after I attended my first bridal show, I was in the groove!! Just take time and get your date first!! Save money NOW!!!! just a little each paycheck if you can. A little will go a long way!
Start by remembering that literally all you need to get married is a groom, a license, and an officiant. The rest is only as complicated (and expensive) as you choose to make it.
If you choose to have a wedding, then run, don’t walk, to a bookstore or library and find copies of “Bridal Bargains” (Denise Fields) and “Miss Manners’
Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior” (Judith Martin). Read these from cover to cover before going to Modern Bride or the knot or any other commercial mags/sites that will try to tell you that you “need” all sorts of ridiculous fripperies. Then you’re ready.
Happy planning!
theknot.com
Love it. It has been incredibly valuable to figure out what needs to be done and keep me on track!
buy a 1/2 dozen wedding magazines or books and start reading. there will be a million things you never even thought of. alot of these will have monthly to do lists or check lists that will help you get started.
Start with the biggest details, then work your way down to the little ones. For instance, pick an approximate date and then your theme/colors. Then get the location for wedding/reception(depending on where that is it might decide your date for you), the priest, the dress, etc. The littler things, like what centerpieces you use will be dependent on those, and aren’t really important in the long run. Get the essentials done first.
There are also a bunch of wedding planner books, and the site in my sources has a basic timeline so that you have an idea of what you should have done by a certain point.
As for saving money, schedule in advance, and do things like making the centerpieces and the flower girls baskets yourselves. Some of the best weddings I’ve been to were backyard weddings. Of course, the backyards were gorgeous(one had a vineyard) but if your folks, or your fiances are well to do I’d consider it.
I started with setting the date which required nailing down what month I wanted to get married in and then calling churches and reception halls to see if they had dates available. After that I made up an approximate guest list so I could start planning stuff to buy and make for it. And in meantime I got educated. I bought books for weddings on a budget and just started planning out where I could cut costs. If you are a crafty person, there is a lot you can make yourself. I made my own save the date magnets, invitations from scratch, centerpieces, floating candles, pew bows among other things.
You just have to prioritize what you wouldn’t mind making yourself and what things you don’t want to stress yourself out with doing yourself.
Good luck and congratulations!
Well, the first thing to do is go to the book store and look at their selection of wedding planning books.
Look at the wedding planning lists and calendars that they have - pick the book that looks the most suitable for you.
You will find that the books are mostly geared for big, expensive weddings - but they work equally well for smaller, less expensive weddings - just adjust the timing and select things suitable for you.
The best thing in those books are lists that give you a good place to start planning - and a place to keep notes and keep track of your progress.
They will include things like scheduling: church - hall - caterer - florist - dress - rehearsal dinner - photographer.
The lists have alot of useful details that you may not have thought of - and give suggestions on when to start planning and good questions to ask of the vendors.
Once you book the church - they have alot of suggestions on how to run the ceremony. When you book a photographer - they will have tips and suggestions on how to schedule photographs. Florists will have suggestions - start making contacts and plans - use the book as a guide. You will find alot of people with good suggestions who will help you along the way.
First, sit down with your finace and your families and decide on the budget. What’s the total amount that you will have to spend. Take 15% of that and put it away in case there are budget over runs. Take half of it for the reception and the rest is what you have for the ceremony, your dress, flowers, cake, etc. Then, I would look at the calendar. Mark out any weekends or months that aren’t good for you, your fiance or either of your families for whatever reasons. Look at the months that are left and decide on the date of your wedding. Once both those things are done, you can start planning. Decide on a basic number of guests that you want to invite so that you make sure that your ceremony and reception sites will hold the number of guests you want to invite.
First you’ll want to decide if you are going to want a destination wedding or a local wedding. Then does local mean where you and your fiance live now, where your family lives or where his family lives. Once you decide the location and time of the wedding then you need to reserve where you want the ceremony to be. Then, start looking at reception sites. Use friends’ suggestions, the yellow pages, places you’ve heard of, any ideas you, your fiance or family members have. Think inside and outside the box. Ideas for places are halls, mansions, historical homes, parks, places that do nothing but meetings/receptions, etc., hotel, your parents home, etc. Is there a place that’s special to you and your finace that could accomodate your reception? Do you want it inside or outside. If you decide to have it outside, be sure to have a plan B at the site in case it rains or snows.
Once you have those things done, I would start deciding who you wanted in your wedding party and start making a guest list. Then start on thinking of wedding colors, themes, look at invitations, wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses, flowers, favors, the style of wedding that you want, informal, formal, inbetween, etc.
It sounds like a lot but http://www.theknot.com has a great checklist that is really helpful for keeping you on schedule/track with the planning process. Also, I would look on Yahoo for wedding lists for brides. There used to be a really great one that was extremely helpful and very supportive.
I looked for the group I was a member of but couldn’t find it. Here are a few members only groups that look like they may be helpful. With them being member only, it should cut way down on the spam.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OurFrugalWeddings/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wedding_Planning/
HTH
Congrates!!
First you should start with the church. Next the reception hall. Everything else you can shop around for best prices. Also you should send out “Save the Date cards or magnets” to let your out of towners know about the wedding in time. I am getting married July 2009 and ordered mine online at Best Buy Imprints.
Good Luck :)
The first two things you need to do is set a budget and a date. Then work from there.
It takes a lot of research & time to get all the info you need. (i.e. ceremony site, reception site, DJ, caterer, bakery, etc.).
If you have a large wedding, I would suggest one of those wedding planner programs. I used one and it helped out tremendously. You can even arrange how you want your tables set up and who’s sitting at what table on it. Then if you need any info printed, it prints out all itemized. Be careful though since some programs are generic.
Here’s the link to the free trial one I used. It’s called iDo Wedding.
Good Luck & Congratulations!
First of all, you will need a bloke who is prepared to marry you!
Well I think the best place to start is decide where and what time of year you would like to get married. Pick a few dates with your fiance and decide if you want to get married in a church, hotel, or other facility. Run these dates by your church coordinator or wherever you decide to check on availability. Decide with your fiance where you would like to have the reception. Having the reception at the church would save you a lot of money, but most churches do not allow alcohol, which may or may not be a big deal to you. Other places to have a reception use their own catering, which can add up because they will have a food minimum (often $ 5000 or so). However, there are a few that allow outside caterers and other vendors (such as alcohol and bakeries). If you choose something other than the church for the reception, I would highly recommend finding a place that allows outside caterers/vendors. Once you have a ceremony and reception site picked out, lock in your date and put down your deposits on both. When you have this set, pretty much everything else falls into place. You can save money by making your own centerpieces, buying flowers wholesale, and finding friends and family that can help out. Maybe your family or your fiance’s family knows a friend that is a photographer, DJ, or florist. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, since weddings can get really expensive!
Here are the steps:
1. Make a notebook. You’ll need this for ideas, pictures, etc. It will save you so much time, and from forgetting important things or people.
2. What is your budget? That needs to be set before you even eye a roll of ribbon.
3. Sit down with your fiance’ and a pad of paper. Discuss your wedding vision, and the must and must nots. The former gives you better insight, and the latter saves you un-needed stress later on.
4. Start a guest list draft, and get an idea of how many you will be expecting.
5. Start looking at venues-ceremony, rehearsal dinner, reception. If you see one you like, and meets all of your needs, don’t hesitate to snatch it up.
6. Start thinking of your wedding party. How many attendants you each want, and roles that you can give other special people.
7. Vendors–from flowers to catering. Start sampling their wares. If you find a cake baker, photographer, florist, o cater you like book them. You need to do this at least a year in advance of the wedding.
8. Start looking at dress styles and cuts, but DO NOT buy until 8-10 months before the wedding.
If you want any money saving tips, or special ideas I have made lists of both for previous Y/Aers.
Congratulations, and good luck!
start with relaxing and just start on your wardrobe,pick the dress that u really like and try not to be so nervousand ecited to much
listen girl im on the same path you are in im trying to plan my own wedding for this year im just trying to look for a good job to save all my pay checks for the wedding, but i recommend you to get alot of information on the things you want for your wedding, get a binder and start writting ideas down like colors for the wedding, the cake, DJ, Food, Reception place.
ok good luck i wish you the best