How far in advance did you start planning your Vegas wedding?

mspenn

Futuremrshauger said:

We were engaged July 4th this year and had deposits down in August for our 10/16/2015. I was wondering if anyone is using a travel agent for flights? We are coming from MN and have a majority of our guest coming from here as well. 

We attempted to but it ended up easier for everyone to book themselves as not everyone wanted to stay the same amount of time.  My parents were attending a reunion earlier in the week, my inlaws would not fly on the same flight as us (crazy I know...) my one brother ended up not coming and the other brother and his family came from Hawaii.(He was stationed there at the time).  

mspenn

OK I really hate the formatting on this site

AustralianSam

I booked our ceremony in March 2012 - our wedding is on 15th October this year. We had a slight delay due to a baby... so had to put back a year... but we also had to plan early, because our guests had so far to come

goin2vegas

I noticed a couple of people mentioned sending STD's a year out (which we will do) but I was curious as to how far in advance everyone sent out their invites? While it won't much matter for the actual wedding, it will make a difference on which suite we book for our in-suite reception, as well as the pre or post wedding festivities (we're not sure which one we're going to do yet but we will only be doing one).

I was thinking about adding our wedding website to the STD's and then having a very casual accept or decline section. We will still send out formal invites to everyone in case anyone changes their minds but I was hoping it might give us an idea of how many people are considering attending. What does everyone think of that? I just don't want to get the smaller, more low key suite and then everyone comes and we could have gotten the bigger, more extravagant suite. I'm just not sure what to do.

wrigleyville

goin2vegas said:

I noticed a couple of people mentioned sending STD's a year out (which we will do) but I was curious as to how far in advance everyone sent out their invites? While it won't much matter for the actual wedding, it will make a difference on which suite we book for our in-suite reception, as well as the pre or post wedding festivities (we're not sure which one we're going to do yet but we will only be doing one).

I was thinking about adding our wedding website to the STD's and then having a very casual accept or decline section. We will still send out formal invites to everyone in case anyone changes their minds but I was hoping it might give us an idea of how many people are considering attending. What does everyone think of that? I just don't want to get the smaller, more low key suite and then everyone comes and we could have gotten the bigger, more extravagant suite. I'm just not sure what to do.

I wouldn't count on that. Lots of people might change their minds. There have been times I've received an STD and couldn't go, but by the time the invitation arrived, I was able to save the money, get someone to cover my shifts, etc.

Always plan for 100%. Always. If you get the smaller suite and a bunch of people figure out a way to come, you'll be screwed. 

wrigleyville

aggiespartan said:

We are expecting MAYBE only 50% attendance.  It doesn't make much sense for us to plan for 100% attendance when we know we may only get half that.  That is the issue we are having right now, along with getting told to call back in a couple months.  

To be fair, 30% of our guests told us they couldn't make it, for a variety of reasons. A few of them were "definitely can't come".

They came.

Other brides have similar stories. Never count people out until you get the actual RSVP back.

hmgiffor

I tried to do the casual accept/reject on our STD and only got 4 people who did it I am sending out our invites in Nov with the RSVP due in Jan. I know this leaves room for people to change their minds but I really need numbers as our reception venue only holds 50 people so if we get more than that...I have to change locations and I can't do that with only 2 weeks left (well at least I don't want to). I figure at the 3 month mark..most will have had to already book their flights/hotels. 

Ndelible

goin2vegas said:

I noticed a couple of people mentioned sending STD's a year out (which we will do) but I was curious as to how far in advance everyone sent out their invites? While it won't much matter for the actual wedding, it will make a difference on which suite we book for our in-suite reception, as well as the pre or post wedding festivities (we're not sure which one we're going to do yet but we will only be doing one).

I was thinking about adding our wedding website to the STD's and then having a very casual accept or decline section. We will still send out formal invites to everyone in case anyone changes their minds but I was hoping it might give us an idea of how many people are considering attending. What does everyone think of that? I just don't want to get the smaller, more low key suite and then everyone comes and we could have gotten the bigger, more extravagant suite. I'm just not sure what to do.

I did this. And unlike many stories here, so far, 50% have utilized it so far; either directly or verbally told me. I have the same issue, but have a large guest list so it really matters to determine the suite. I have sent out info on the room blocks and the venue change. It's worked well.

goin2vegas

Thank you for all of the responses! Thankfully I have tons of time to plan........and worry about this lol I will try the casual accept or decline on the webpage once we send out the STD's. Hopefully I'll get a general idea.....or it will be a complete waste of time. Guess only time will tell lol Thanks all!

vegasbride2015

We've completely skipped STD and went straight to invite because we have only a small group of people we are inviting. The invites haven't been mailed out yet, won't be til sometime next month, to give a year's notice (plus I just ordered them). We also do not have RSVP's involved and I should have thought about that. Argh. I will attach a note asking for them to text or email me a RSVP. Doh. Knew I was forgetting something...

americankorean

We started planning a year and a half in advance. Better to get it done early and take some time to just enjoy the engagement than spend the whole engagement stressed with wedding worries, I say.

sasalew

americankorean said:

We started planning a year and a half in advance. Better to get it done early and take some time to just enjoy the engagement than spend the whole engagement stressed with wedding worries, I say.

My thoughts exactly!! We've been planning since Feb 2014 (first deposit was down in March) and wedding is in Oct 2015. Having so long to go means we can just relax and plan one thing at a time, so far we've booked ceremony, photographer and meal. Next up is dress shopping then flights and hotels  We also sent STD's really far in advance (April 2014) since our guests are travelling from the UK - we wanted everyone to have time to save money before booking their flights.