Is it right time to be planning a wedding??

heyitzsarai

Me and my fiance' has been engaged for almost 2 years and we have FINALLY set a date because we've been saving up lol.. The oirignal date was 04/28/2012(I really love that date but I dont think I'd have enough money saved by then because I have soo many other bills right now ) so we decided on 08/04/2012. Since that is like a year and some months ahead of time I was wondering when will it be the right time to start planning?? Since I changed the date I was thinking maybe I could wait until around Sept of this year maybe?? IDK..I'm honestly clueless when it comes to weddings since every one in my family has gotten married at the courthouse so any help will be appreciated!! I'm also thinking about giving in and going to the courthouse myself lol..

lil_miss_latinist

First things first, you need to set a budget. You can have a beautiful wedding for very little money (ask the Budget Weddings board!). How much can you realistically expect to save between now and then? Don't count on money from parents or family, so that if they do offer, it's a lovely surprise, and if not, there's no hurt feelings. To figure out your budget, I would decide how much you are willing to save each month and multiply that number by the number of months you have until the expected wedding date. Then, subtract 15% of that, so that you have a cushion for unexpected expenses. Using that number, you can plug it in to The Knot's budget calculator (under My Knot) to get an idea of how much you should aim to spend on different expenses.

Next, you need to find a venue. You don't technically have a date until there's a deposit down and contract in hand for wherever you plan to have the ceremony and reception. I would work on that this summer. Right now, you can be compiling a guest list to see how large a venue you need-- ask your FI, parents, FILs who needs to be invited.

Once you have your budget and your venue, search for other vendors (photographer, caterer, etc) and your dress with careful attention to your budget. With any luck, you'll have a little money left over from that cushion to start your married life with. Remember that going to the courthouse and having dinner with your family and new husband afterwards is a perfectly wonderful way to start a marriage, and all that really matters at the end of the day is that you and your FI are married. Good luck, and best wishes!

SCBojangles1138

You can start planning early, but be flexible. Some things may change since you're starting this early and you've got to roll with it. That's what I've had to do. Take PP's advice - its good.

Best of luck!

heyitzsarai

Thanks for the advice! lil_miss_latinist, you made some very VALID points and I like them alot!

eastTNbride

We booked our venue a year and a half in advance and ended up saving more than $500 just on the venue because they had a rate increase. By booking in advance and putting a deposit down, it locked us into the lower rate!

It's never really too early.

harpistmom

How is your planning going?  Are you neeing any other vendor information?  I am a harpist in the Chattanooga area and would love to talk to you about music if you are interested!