Short Engagement help?!

Knottie84888622

So, the future hubby is graduating from Grad School come May (yes, 2015), so we decided that we wanted to get hitched before graduation so all our friends that are also graduating will still be in town. 

Given that we got engaged on Halloween, (yes of this year) I'm realizing that is not a whole lot of time to do anything. Oi!

So far, we have the dress, general theme and idea and guest list. We are finalizing the venue within the next couple weeks. 

Save the Dates are ready to go out, they are just waiting for the pictures that we are taking this weekend. 

All our family is out of town so we are keeping it small, low key, and simple. No more than 45 people. 

Y'all have gotten a lot done in comparison. 

hurricane mode, starts now. 

mrssursely

I highly, highly recommend that you wait until the venue is booked before you send out save the dates. Also, don't send a save the date to anyone that you aren't 100% sure you're going to invite.

I don't know what your budget is, but I would look on Craigslist daily for good deals on a suit, decorations, linens, etc. Costco has a great selection of flowers, you just have to order a week or so ahead of time.

I highly recommend getting the knots book of lists to help keep you on track. Looks like you just need to figure out your vendors and then hopefully you can relax for a bit.

Knottie84888622

I can't wait till we get our venue set in stone. I feel like then I'll finally be able to have some fun with this!

small ish budget, and planning a wedding on a Sunday is helping stretch that budget a ton!

Good call on the venue! We're checking out a few places this weekend so hopefully by next week we'll be "full steam ahead"

I had'nt thought about Costco, but I know people that have gotten their flowers from Publix and Trader Joes. 

Thanks!

lmcooper86

You can do it! A few years ago my FSIL got engaged in September or October and they got married the following May(very early in the month). It will take some focus but you can absolutely pull it together in that time frame.

Definitely don't set anything in stone until you have your venue booked! Having the venue booked is the only way to confirm your date, so don't book anything for sure until that's settled.

In the mean time you could contact vendors that you're interested in working with and find out what their availability is for May. Although some vendors might be booked by this point (photographers often book up early) if someone you'd like to hire isn't available ask them for referrals. They might have associates or assistants who aren't as well known and may still be available. Then once you have your date finalized with the venue you'll already have a short-list of vendors that you know have your date available.

Definitely get a planner/organizer. You can get The Knot's planning app on your phone (iPhone and Android I think). The Knot also has a great planning binder *including a planning timeline/checklist for 4 - 5 month engagements*, which might be a great help for keeping you on track!

happilyeverthacker

I love your gif. 

And thanks for the advice. 

but, really, I love your gif. 

lol

amelisha

Honestly, you've got almost six months and that is plenty of time for a smaller wedding as long as you find a suitable venue. 

If I were you, I'd be doing venue, caterer, officiant, photographer, and save the dates as my first priority, in that order. Then you know you have the when and where locked down and you can take your time with the other stuff. The only real concern is that venues and vendors might be booking up already, and so you may need to look at a few options, but seriously, I don't think you need to panic. 

lmcooper86

@happilyeverthacker Haha thanks! Wedding planning is giving me a lot of eye roll practice.

Knottie84307448

Hi! First post here!

We just got engaged on December 10 and we are getting married on May 16! Just over 5 months! A very short engagement but we are only having about 20 people, we are getting married at my dad's house and we already know what food we want to serve and who our officient is going to be!

I just wanted to say hi to all the other beautiful May brides out there! Good luck in your planning!

sames52915

You can do it! we are planning everything in 11 months, I know that is longer than you have, but honestly I think I could have had everything done if I had less time. There isn't much we have left and its mostly because I did have the time to spare.

As everyone else is saying, venue is the most important! Once you have that you can get everything else done pretty quickly. We booked our venue 3 weeks after getting engaged (and the first week he refused to even discuss any planning, so I guess we really did that in 2 weeks?) And 3 weeks later I had my photographer, dj & florist all set. So just do you your research, and have everything set in your mind that you want to do  -once you book the venue you can jump right in to booking everything else. You already have your dress, and its not a huge guest list, so the rest of planning should go nice & smooth! Good luck!

floridabride44

Like PPs have said, don't send any sort of STDate until your venue is booked!

Also, maybe consider not even sending STDates? By the time you get your photos (if you're doing an engagement shoot with a professional photographer it may take a couple weeks to get them back) and then order the STDates, it could be a month from now before you're ready to send them. By then, you'll be about 2 months away from having to send your invitations. Maybe focus your money/time/energy on ordering invitations for your May wedding, rather than STDates? You could just use word of mouth to spread your date to your guests once you've locked in your venue.

Good luck! We got engaged in August and are planning a May wedding, and our short timeline stressed me out. But you can do it! 

brittanykaylachandler

We got engaged Nov 1, 2014 and getting married May 1, 2015! You can do it! I didn't even do save the dates... dates are spread through Facebook and word of mouth usually. I think it's an extra cost that's not necessary (unless your wedding date is two years in the future!).