lexi29 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I know this is different for everyone, but for those who are engaged or want to get engaged how soon did you start planning the wedding? I just got engaged and it was a total surprise (well he'd talked about it but I didn't think he was serious) and my fiance is all excited (more excited than I am it seems) and wants to start planning the wedding. He says he would like to get married either this fall or next spring. I"m just trying to get used to the idea that I'm engaged! All I've told him is I'd like an outdoor wedding and I think his son should stand up front with him (and he agreed to both ideas). But he is concerned because I'm not going crazy planning all the details. I'm not even interested in a serious discussion at this point because I'm still getting used to the idea. I'm happy but its a little overwhelming right now. He says he'll leave the wedding plans up to me but he wants to discuss them now and plan everything already. He keeps asking why I haven't made a guest list yet. (we got engaged not even a week ago!!) Is this normal or am I the one dragging my feet? Link to post Share on other sites
blind_otter Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Depending on how fancy you get, I say start planning a year in advance. Good photographers get snapped up really fast, as do the good florists and good venues. Don't assume you'll be able to reserve what you like right before the wedding. Have you even set a date, yet? Link to post Share on other sites
hotgurl Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 well if you want to get married this fall or next spring you should start planning no. Venues book 1 year in advance 2 if you live in a city and want a hot place, tents caters etc.. all go pretty quickly. I am getting married in July and am 1/2 way through. I have all but 2 vendors booked with deposits etc... Link to post Share on other sites
Aloros Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I'm getting married next spring. We were originally planning this fall, but it was just too soon! I'm looking at the month of April, which I didn't think was very popular, but one of the places I looked at and liked had already booked the date I wanted. Crazy, huh? First thing, get your fiance and write out a tentative guest list. This will help you figure out approximately how many people will be coming - which will affect what place you choose to hold the wedding. Then, using the internet and any referrals from friends, start calling places and setting up appts. to see them. Think about the questions you want to ask them. I sat on my butt for a while after getting engaged, especially since I'm not the kind of girl who dreamed about getting married, but I realized the sooner I get these things done, the less I will have to worry about as the date gets closer. Congratulations and good luck! Link to post Share on other sites
laRubiaBonita Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 congratulation! and let me tell you i am in the same boat. i was pleasantly surprised with my SO's proposal the first of february. so it is still very new for me too. he is super excited, and he wants to get married this year. we live in the DC/ Baltimore metro areas, aka- things get booked here at least 5 months to a year in advance... so get deciding on what type of wedding and where. first thing to do is make a list of peeps to invite, so you can get a general idea of how much space you will need, and a general idea of what would work well with the number of guests. what we did was made the "ideal list" of people we wanted to invite, and from there you can kinda add or delete, also we have subsections of our list, like people we will invite, but most likely they will not be able to come. second, start looking at places. it is best to have a date in mind, but you may have to settle with the dates the place has avaliable. you need to have a budget in mind, and let me tell you wedding are not cheap! the least expensive place we looked at, was $3,000, just for 4 hours at a place. a lot of the venues we looked at also require that you use their caterers, or only from a list of their approved caterers... which you can tack on another $6,000 for that! a church can be less expensive, but that is a personal thing. it is a little overwhelming, but after looking and deciding what we wanted/ could afford, things are a little better. i came up with a plan to have the wedding- ceremony and reception at my parents house. they have a large yard, parking will not be big deal, we like our neighbors.... we are going to rent a tent, tables, chairs..... but then you have to think about table linens, plates, cups, forks.... and we need to do some landscaping and house fix up. after some discussion with both our parents, i think i will have the ceremony in our church, then the reception at home. it will still cost us at least $10,000 i am sure, but i could not see plunking down that much just for a place and food. our date is Sept. 13, 2008. i have used the knot, but that site is so freaking commercial it kills me, they at least have listings of things that i probably never would have thought of, so it is a good place to start. i bought my dress off ebay, and i have an appt. to have it altered. i have no clue about colors or any of that stuff yet..... it is alot! we are probably going to hire a day-of planner, cause i do not want to have to worry about stuff that day. good luck, let me know if you have any wonderful epiphamies! Link to post Share on other sites
vander Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 (edited) We just got engaged and set our date in April 2009. We were lucky to get a booking at a place we liked -- they were booked through July 2009. But beware the hidden costs. I'm in tears right now. The $1,000 garden rental they posted on their website was misleading ... I didn't know there was so much more to pay. The prices did not include several massive fees and equipment rental (you HAVE to use their vendor for equipment rental). But my dad went behind my back and paid a 50% unrefundable deposit to book this place. I'm in tears right now, because I just found out it is going to cost $8,000 just to rent the garden and have tables and chairs. If we choose the cheapest caterer (which has to be on the list of "approved" caterers), the cheapest photographer, cheapest florist, cheapest everything -- this will easily be a $25,000 wedding. I never wanted to spend this much money. I wanted an inexpensive, informal event. I would have been perfectly happy to simply visit the justice of the peace for free. I'm extremely upset. Although I love my father, I know he had good intentions and I know I'm extremely blessed to have such a generous person for a father -- I'm absolutely devastated that he spent that much money on me! He'll never be able to retire ... I never wanted my parents to pay for anything with this wedding. SO ... Be careful with prices. $1000 really means $8000. Don't commit to anything until you have heard and read everything. And set the funding rules with your parents and fiance early. Decide who will pay for what. If your parents insist on paying, and you don't want them to pay, then don't share any details of your plans with them. That was my mistake ... Sorry I didn't mean to overwhelm you ... I just don't want you to get caught in the stupid trap I fell into. Edited February 29, 2008 by vander Link to post Share on other sites
sarah05 Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I too am engaged. We spoke to the priest and set up June 13, 2009. I am still unsure about the guest list. But I do need to book the place for the reception. I want a small wedding but the guest list just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. Oh well, I just want to be married already. It seems like June 09 will never get here. PS There is a website named weddingchannel.com. You set up a profile and it has a timeline in which to do everything in. I also bought a wedding planning book at Hastings. So that might help! Link to post Share on other sites
starlet Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I can across this and thought I would share it with you ladies. This is a contest to get married on a red carpet movie premiere! Seems fairy-talish, but somebody has to win. Oh-and the best part..McDreamy will be there, you get $10k and a paid honeymoon to Paris and Venice. Good luck ladies! http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/madeofhonor/contest/index.php Link to post Share on other sites
annarbor Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Cute that your fiance is so eager. I too have heard a year at the minimum - depending on how fancy-schmancy you want your wedding to be. But venues get booked quite a bit ahead of time so at least lock down the date and the reception/church soon. So one of my friends has started planning her wedding too and has gotten so stressed out about the money and the planning that she decided to enter this contest. Pretty crazy, huh? It's actually kinda a sweet deal b/c aside from getting married at the movie premiere you get a free dress, travel, rings, honeymoon, etc. Just goes to show you that everyone does this differently!! Link to post Share on other sites
curiousnycgirl Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Lexi - How can you be asking this quesiton?! I thought you put a deposit down on a place already for Sept 27th (or was it 29th?). You've got to hustle! Link to post Share on other sites
Author lexi29 Posted March 17, 2008 Author Share Posted March 17, 2008 Lexi - How can you be asking this quesiton?! I thought you put a deposit down on a place already for Sept 27th (or was it 29th?). You've got to hustle! I posted this topic Feb. 27th. When I posted (somewhere else) that we just put paid for the reception hall that was this weekend (March 15th) Link to post Share on other sites
curiousnycgirl Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Oops sorry! Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts