Newly engaged and freaking out!

LadyCupcake

Hi, I'm Jessica and new to the Knot (duh, just got engaged and I'm freaking out about planning my wedding. Only a 10-12K budget with my huge family is starting to seem overwhelming and I've only been engaged 3 weeks! ha! But as you can imagine, my mom's putting ideas in my head every day and is wanting us to find a venue, yesterday. I'm sure the mom stressing the daughter out is nothing new. lol.I'm planning on a mid December 2010 wedding but if I can reserve a place by this Dec. I should be ok, right? Right? Like I said, I appreciate any advice because I'm clueless and am SO looking forward to chatting with you ladies!

oliviosis

Welcome and congrats on your engagement! A $10-12K wedding is totally do able! I got engaged in mid Nov 2008 and my wedding is Dec 5th 2009. I booked my venue in Dec. If you are getting married in a church, reserve that first and then your venue. My top two choices were already booked but there were still plenty of places available so don't stress too much! Good luck! Everyone here is really friendly, feel free to ask away. Oh and check out the Dec board. I'm on the Dec 2009 board but there may be a dec 2010 board as well!

BeccaC1234

First of all....take a deep breath! Second....congratulations! A $10-12K budget, as pp said, is plenty. Check out the budget brides board for ideas on how to save. They have lots of great tips. What kind of wedding are you wanting? Do you want a venue to hold the ceremony and reception? Or are you planning to get married in a church? If you have an idea of what you are looking for, we can make suggestions of places to look and prices on a lot of stuff. Happy planning!

MBLove

Congratulations on your engagement and welcome to the SA Knot board!! As the other girls have said, your budget is totally workable and this is a great place to come for tips on how to save money. Just take everything one at a time--the venue is usually the first order of business. Everyone here is great and we are all happy to help! Watch yourself on the national boards because some of the girls can be very rude. Happy wedding planning!!

linzlars

Welcome to the board and congrats! A little over a year is a really good length for getting everything done, so try not to freak out. And you chose an awesome month to get married in - I'm a Dec 2009 bride. ) I think one of the most important things to remember while planning is that this should be a very happy and very fun experience for everyone. Try not to let everyone else stress you out too much (I know, easier said than done) and just enjoy the whole experience. Oliviosis had a great idea in checking out the Dec 2010 board to meet all the brides there. Feel free to stop by Dec 2009 to ask us questions since we're all toward the end of planning a winter wedding. I also agree that the 10-12K budget is very doable, especially if you're willing to do some DIY projects. Definitely start looking around for venues/churches when you can, but there should still be plenty out there for you. If you can tell us a little bit about what you're looking for I'm sure we'll all love to help make recommendations!

TexasAmanda

Congratulations on your engagement! The early days of the engagement were the most fun. I loved looking down at my new sparkly ring and then saying, "We are engaged! We are getting married!" ). I got engaged in May 2009, and we are getting married January 9, 2010. That gave me just 8 months to plan, and really only 7 because I did not do much the first month. It has been enough time for everything so far, and right now I'm about completely done with all of the planning aside for the small details! Our wedding overall will cost just under 10,000. You have enough time and enough money. Something that will work in your advantage is that you have picked a winter wedding date, everything was open for our date when we started planning! Happy Planning! HTH.

rmfriedman

Welcome to the San Antonio board and congrats!!  You have plenty of time!  No worries!

marissa54

Congratulations on your engagement and welcome to the board! I'd give my own advice but I think the ladies pretty much covered it all ; )

LadyCupcake

Thank you all sooo much for the advice and warm welcome! I've been super busy at work so I haven't been able to get on here but seeing as how there's so many pros on here, I need to get on more often :)I don't plan on a church wedding - my fiance and I are not very religious so we're looking for a venue that will have an area for the ceremony and reception. That's been the hard part with our guest count. It's been a fun process so far though. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you! Jessica

jenb1205

I would check out Spring Hill Events Center if you are looking for ceremony/reception at the same place. I feel like their catering is pretty reasonable too. I've been to 2 fall weddings there and they were both gorgeous!

LadyCupcake

Thank you, Jen! I actually just emailed them recently and am waiting to hear back