Poor January...

StPaul0102

... such a quiet little month.

I just got engaged last weekend and my finace and I are planning a wedding for next January. We have literally nothing picked out yet but we have a guest list so that's something, right? We've been using a handy google doc that was designed by Style Me Pretty (I think) and it has spots for guest lists and budgets and pretty much everything. 

I've been a bit wedding obsessed since birth and have done lots of day dreaming so I am excited to get to planning but it turns out real weddings have to be paid for with real dollars and that doesn't sound fun at all! 

Where are you lady's at in the planning process? I'm the furthest behind, aren't i? You can just say it. 

StPaul0102

Yep, January 4th! We just got engaged this month so I spent the first few weeks panicking but now that I've got a reception venue and photographer squared away I feel a lot better. 

I live in Minnesota so I get your snow fear! I just keep telling myself that my friends and family are pretty hearty and used to Midwest winters so they'll find a way to make it no matter what.(Knock on wood!)

How did you pick January? People always seem so surprised when I tell them our date! 

snoopycac

I am in the same boat! Just got engaged 2 days ago and am looking at having a Jan wedding. I've been dreaming about my wedding since I was 16 and now I actually get to plan it and I have no clue where to begin. Yikes!

StPaul0102

Aw, congrats!!! I have always been very wedding obsessed too so I know the feeling. It's so different when it's real! You're in luck though with a January wedding. It's such an unpopular time that you don't have to worry about rushing into anything. We haven't found a single vendor who is unavailable on our date yet!

MrsToBe814

Funny enough the only problem we ran into was the church which had been booked almost a year and a half in advance! Everything else was like 'well..we have NOTHING in January' so they pretty much welcomed us with opened arms. And a few discounts We had to switch our original date (Jan 11, 2014) because of the church & I was toying with the 4th! But we pushed it back a week to the 18th. Looks like there are a few wedding buddies here! Congrats to you ladies!

KDM323

January 18th is our "plan" but it will depend on the venue.  I'm really hoping that because it is January, it will mean better deals!

jandsrutherford

We chose Jan 11, 2014, and we live in... (dun dun dun) Canada!
But we love the snow and I'm really looking forward to romantic snowy pictures.
I haven't had any problem with vendors, most of them have some sort of off-season discount.
We also want to keep our wedding small, however we both have a large family. The weather might deter a few second cousins from making the trip (wow that sounds awful).

Have you ladies thought about your day of schedule yet? I think I've decided that we will do pictures before the ceremony (around 3) have ceremony at 4:30ish, then reception at 6. The ceremony and the reception are at the same place, so I don't want our guests to be waiting around a long time before the reception. But I also want to get plenty of photos before sunset!
What is your plan?

kerbohl

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_january-2014_poor-january?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:4664340e-1ddf-4eb9-b1ac-f716b5208d9cDiscussion:040a7001-9e4f-4c18-ae88-52cfe19ac7aePost:a3633fdc-6488-42d3-ae39-6530a382576f">Re: Poor January...</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Poor January... : Oh yes such lonley month....and I live in Massachusetts and we got the most snow ever this winter I am praying we dont get any on my wedding day or I will be sledding to the reception LOL!! I definately got a good deal on my vendors (I said hey - its JANUARY what else are you doin on a Saturday buddy? Thats what I thought....) I didn't do anything from June - December of my engagement and finally got on the ball when I realized my wedding was a year away.  <strong>I feel your pain...once it sets in how much everything is, its no fun. </strong>But take it week by week and enjoy. I take it you are 1-4-14 as well by your ticker? :)
Posted by GinaMelody[/QUOTE]

I second this!  But I'm better now, I just had to adjust what turned out to be a completely unrealistic budget. 

kerbohl

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_january-2014_poor-january?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:4664340e-1ddf-4eb9-b1ac-f716b5208d9cDiscussion:040a7001-9e4f-4c18-ae88-52cfe19ac7aePost:8777d65f-03d0-4a78-a8da-2123bb9b9872">Re: Poor January...</a>:
[QUOTE]We chose Jan 11, 2014, and we live in... (dun dun dun) Canada! But we love the snow and I'm really looking forward to romantic snowy pictures. I haven't had any problem with vendors, most of them have some sort of off-season discount. We also want to keep our wedding small, however we both have a large family. The weather might deter a few second cousins from making the trip (wow that sounds awful). Have you ladies thought about your day of schedule yet? I think I've decided that we will do pictures before the ceremony (around 3) have ceremony at 4:30ish, then reception at 6. The ceremony and the reception are at the same place, so I don't want our guests to be waiting around a long time before the reception. But I also want to get plenty of photos before sunset! What is your plan?
Posted by jandsrutherford[/QUOTE]

Are you going to have a snowball fight for your pictures?  I really really want to.

My ceremony will be at 11, and then I hope to have the reception go from 1:30 until about 5, with me doing pictures (outdoors - brrr!) in between.  My ceremony and reception are at the same place too, but my pictures will be just outside in  a park across the street, so I'm hoping they won't take more than an hour.  so I'll have my "coffee" hour (my reception is in a church, and they are not letting us have alcohol) at that time and then go straight into the reception.  I'll have games set up to go with my medieval theme, since they often played games at weddings in the medieval period, and that should pass the time for guests while we do pictures. 

krickly09

Im Jan 25th. I was hoping to get good discounts in Jan too, but none of the vendors Ive talked to seem to be taking the 'bait' lol. Although our hall DID take two dollars off a person, so thats something! I know how you guys feel, Im in a suburb of Chicago. So hopefully no blizzard, but some fresh snow would be nice! My reception is at 2, and my reception starts at 530. Its about a half hour driving time away from ea other, so about 2 hours in between. Hopefully we still have daylight after 3 to take some pics outside

I also cant believe how shocked people are when I tell them Jan. Ive had people be like, what, why!??  Because we want to, THATS why! LOL   The people that want to be there, will. I really think it will be pretty. One of my 'themes' is vintage lace. So I think that there will be some really beautiful pictures.

What are you guys choosing for your flowers??

kerbohl

Aaaahhh, vintage lace!  That sounds really pretty!

I am actually going as flower free as I possibly can.  I have gotten flower free ideas for the bridesmaids, something instead of corsages for the mothers, and I am trying to find something different for boutineres.  But I think I will have to have a single flower for myself - I mentioned to my mom that I might not hold anything and she sounded really disappointed, so for my mother I might hold a single carnation, or maybe even hydrangeas.  I just thought that, since both parents are walking me down the aisle, how would I be able to hold a flower with them being arm-in-arm with me?  But I guess I'll figure it out. 

Also, well-done getting $2 off per person for your venue!  The only deal I got was my photographer - nobody else was taking the 'bait" for me either.  I'm going to try to talk down my caterer, though.  He gave me the impression that there is indeed wiggle room. 

terin22

We are doing the 18th! And its slowly coming together. Its a never ending process it seems like one thing after another. And im doing a brooch bouquet for me and we are also going least flowers as we can.

krickly09

Thanks, kerbohl!   I like that youre being creative with your non flowers, I love when people put more unique touches. It makes weddings more memorable and more tailored to personalities.

I am calling some DJ's today, fingers crossed for a good deal. This is the last 'big thing', and I am so releived for that part .We are paying for it on our own, and most of the prices i hear for things are outrageous in my opinion. The 'wedding business' seems to make a huge chunk of change, but I am determined to have a nice wedding on a small budget. Im creative, so Im sure I can find a way to get the cost down on all the little things like favors....etc. Everytime I see a webiste that you can search weddings by budget, our budget category makes it seem like all we can do is a picnic with potluck dishes. (which theres nothing wrong with at all), but sometimes I see their pictures and Im like what did you spend the REST of the budget on!!?? So hopefully we can stick with our budget when its all said and done.

Anyone have any DIY ideas that you love? We were able to cut down alot on our reception decorations by not using flowers-we're doing lots of candles. And I found a DIY way on Pinterest to make lace patterns on the candles, and/or the votive holders that the candles are in, so Im pretty excited about that. Plus, dim lights and candle light will make it look more romantic in there. Our venue is a castle, so I feel like it will look nice with that.

kerbohl

Your venue is a castle?  Oh, I am jealous!  There are no castles in the area that I am getting married in (the closest is an hour and a half away), so despite having a medieval wedding, it will be sans castle.  Well, sort of - my FI has a castle backdrop that he uses for school presentations that will be part of the decorations.

Your DIY lace patters on candles sounds awesome!  I'm hoping to DIY my invitations, but I'm actually not very creative with such things.  I can sew outfits, and I can write 80+ pages for a thesis no problem, but that is the extent of my creative skills.  Fortunately for myself, FI is very  creative . . . so I shall suggest DIY stuff for him to do . . . I know he wants to do something for our cake topper, so that will be DIY of some sort.  We're  also thinking of making the napkins at the place settings look like little scrolls, but that is still something to be figured out. 

krickly09

That will be cool though with the backdrop! I love your medieval theme! My FI and I love all that. He calls us 'old souls'.   Im wanting to DIY our invites too, but I dont really know how either. I figured that if worst comes to worst, I'll type it up in some calligraphy font and paste it to a kind of champagne color cardstock thats a little bigger, so it looks like it has a border. And then possibly wrap it in lace before I put it in the envelope. Hopefully it doesnt look like I slapped it together willy-nilly or something. Thats what Im afraid of it turning out like. But we'll see. A DIY cake topper would be really cool. Do you know what kind of cake topper you have in mind? The scrolls are a really good idea! I love it! You could make it look like a marriage announcement

kerbohl

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_january-2014_poor-january?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:4664340e-1ddf-4eb9-b1ac-f716b5208d9cDiscussion:040a7001-9e4f-4c18-ae88-52cfe19ac7aePost:3192e188-6dac-4074-a9c5-e215133d1905">Re: Poor January...</a>:
[QUOTE]That will be cool though with the backdrop! I love your medieval theme! My FI and I love all that. He calls us 'old souls'. :)  Im wanting to DIY our invites too, but I dont really know how either. I figured that if worst comes to worst, I'll type it up in some calligraphy font and paste it to a kind of champagne color cardstock thats a little bigger, so it looks like it has a border. And then possibly wrap it in lace before I put it in the envelope. Hopefully it doesnt look like I slapped it together willy-nilly or something. Thats what Im afraid of it turning out like. But we'll see. A DIY cake topper would be really cool. <strong>Do you know what kind of cake topper you have in mind? </strong>The scrolls are a really good idea! I love it! You could make it look like a marriage announcement
Posted by krickly09[/QUOTE]

He wants to do Faramir and Eowyn figurines that he makes himself, because it is my favourite love story in LOTR (though my favourite love story in Tolkien's entire body of work goes to Beren and Luthien), and he proposed as Faramir. 

Your invite fears mirror mine - I'm hope mine don't look too slapped together, but I figure keeping it simple but elegant might avoid that.  I like how you want to include lace in the invite too - it'll really tie together your wedding theme. 

jnurse19

Hey everyone! This board is pretty quiet but up until like a day or two ago the board never worked for me. We're getting married Jan 10th. We are pretty good on planning we've been 

engaged for over a year already

krickly09

Thanks, Kerbohl. Im really excited to see what I can come up with in terms of the lace and things. Here's an idea of what I might go with......






this one is the kind of lace that my dress has...





I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that idea for your figurines! oh my goodness, how romantic!! I love that it has meaning to it too

kerbohl

In Response to Re: Poor January...:
[QUOTE]Thanks, Kerbohl. Im really excited to see what I can come up with in terms of the lace and things. Here's an idea of what I might go with...... this one is the kind of lace that my dress has... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that idea for your figurines! oh my goodness, how romantic!! I love that it has meaning to it too
Posted by krickly09[/QUOTE]

Wow, those invites that so pretty!  Those are going to be phenomenal!

kerbohl

In Response to Re: Poor January...:
[QUOTE]Hey everyone! This board is pretty quiet but up until like a day or two ago the board never worked for me. We're getting married Jan 10th. We are pretty good on planning we've been  engaged for over a year already
Posted by jnurse19[/QUOTE]

Welcome!  I had issues with the board for the longest time too, but it is apparently all fixed.

Quite the long engagement!  Did you do it that way because you really wanted a winter wedding, or is that how it just worked, or what's the story?  If I had wanted a summer wedding, I would have been engaged for almost two years by the time the wedding rolled around - I'm doing a two year program overseas and I was only home for a few months in the fall, so since FI wanted to propose he had a small window.