General Tips

JJandBayy

So, do y'all have any general advice about "real life" wedding planning. My FI and I are doing it all ourselves and none of our family or friends are interested in helping or giving advice (a blessing and a curse). Anywho, any advice for planning the wedding and reception? We need help with practically everything. We're wanting a budget outdoor kinda coutnry/vintage wedding. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

erinlin25

Don't plan anything until you have a budget.  Start there.
Looks like you guys have an idea of what you want the wedding to look like.   Make a tentative guest list so you know how many people you want to accomodate; then look at your budget again and figure out if you can accomodate all of those people and at what price.  Then you need to look at a venue and take into consideration everything is comes with (all inclusive or do you add for catering, tables, linens, etc).  Figure out the bottom line and per person cost before you commit to anything.  (my first venue seemed like a great deal--then we met with the coordinator and got the final estimated tag and quickly changed our minds)  Things definitely add up in wedding world.  Have some ideal dates in your mind, but you can't set the date if the venue is unavailable.  Each thing will lead to the next but those are the major milestones to figure out before anything else is done.  The knot planner helps me stay on track at least for the most part.  Depending on your area some things book way in advance, others not so much.  I will have planned my wedding in about 9 months once I get married.  This works for some people, other people need more time to save, plan, prepare.  Depends on what you are working with and/or against. 

Good Luck!  Its a fun process, but can get overwhelming.  I've found it nice to have goals to get done, but I don't let it take over my world.  Don't talk wedding all day everyday.  You'll go crazy and drive your FI nuts!  Give yourself days/weekend off here and there.   

Unknown092113

I agree with PP. Start with what you are willing to spend and a guest list. From there I would visit venues in your area. Each venue offers things and once you find the one they usually have staff that can help you with any questions along the way....

good luck/congrats

JJandBayy

We were wanting to have the wedding and reception on his family's property so that should help with the cost. We're looking at about 70 guests (more than we anticipated but only the closest) so idk how much to expect to pay per person. But thank yall for your help, it's nice having other ppl's opinions sometimes:)

JJandBayy

Hmm, very good points. And lots I hadn't thought about... How many portapodies do you think we'll need, there's only 1 bathroon in the house.

bunni727

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_general-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:0e207982-abd1-421a-bdd1-862c46e1b491Post:820f6151-385d-4623-a0a7-1b9cb44e3489">Re: General Tips</a>:
[QUOTE]Hmm, very good points. And lots I hadn't thought about... How many portapodies do you think we'll need, there's only 1 bathroon in the house.
Posted by JJandBayy[/QUOTE]

That will depend a lot on time of ceremony and reception. An afternoon ceremony with cake and punch will not generate as much bathroom traffic as an open-bar, dance-til-midnight extravaganza. I'd at least have two stalls, but you may need more.

We had a similar feeling in mind for our wedding, so we decided to have it at a local park. $50 shelter reservation for the reception, and no charge for ceremony site. We used picnic tables that were already there, so we only had to rent a few extra tables and enough chairs for the ceremony.

JJandBayy

We were thinking about having the wedding at like 2 in the afternoon and we don't want to have alcohol but to make up for it we wanted to have our own kind of "drink bar" with just a whole bunch of non alcoholic beverages (multiple punches, teas, ect)

Sierra524

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_general-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:0e207982-abd1-421a-bdd1-862c46e1b491Post:839904c9-28e4-49ad-a6da-8b33eb6661d1">Re: General Tips</a>:
[QUOTE]We were thinking about having the wedding at like 2 in the afternoon and we don't want to have alcohol but to make up for it we wanted to have our own kind of "drink bar" with just a whole bunch of non alcoholic beverages (multiple punches, teas, ect)
Posted by JJandBayy[/QUOTE]

Thats a great subsitute for alcohol. Alot of alcholic drinks can be made without alcohol in them, but still the same taste. If you are thinking about having it at like 2pm, you may not need to provide a full meal...make just like a cake & punch thing?

bunni727

Cake and some non- sweet snacks (veggies, cheese&crackers, etc.) with your drink idea would be lovely for a 2pm ceremony. It would also cut down on the need to rent or buy things that go with serving a full meal: fewer tables (for the food, guests still need a place to sit), no chaffing dishes, no servers to hire. 

reppunzel

In addition to the great suggestions above, it really helped FI and me to decide what our priorities were.  A book I read suggested making a list of your top 3 or 5 "musts" ...  we wound up doing two lists, one our top 3 tangibles (fresh flowers, photography, that sort of thing) and top 5 intangibles (time to really talk with people, sacred feel to the ceremony, etc.).  Then we combined them to come up with joint lists for both.

This helped us to decide how and where to spend our (tight) budget.  There were still some difficult decisions, but overall, it always helped to be reminded of what was important to *us* (vs. what the wedding industry tells you are "musts"). 

Candip04

Go to a bridal expo, but go with a purpose. We went looking only for caterers and DJs. If we went just to browse, I would have gotten so frustraited by the crowds and would have been completely overwhelmed.

Take it ONE step at a time. Only focus on accomplishing one goal at a time. First we did a prelim. guest list, then looked for venues. Then we revised our guest list, then looked for a photographer. Now we are ready to book a caterer, followed by a DJ. From there, we will focus on attire and such, and finally... details (first, centerpieces, then other decor, etc).

That being said - you should come up with your color scheme, theme, or overall vision or "feeling" you want to have, BEFORE you do anything i mentioned above. That way, it will give you some guidelines to work with and will help to keep you on track. Oh yeah, make sure you have a prelim. budget worked out before you start looking and venues/vendors.

Of course, keep your eyes peeled for amazing deals. While looking for venues, a groupon for wedding plannning services came up and we jumped on it (saved 50% off the cost of the planner and she is fabulous!). Bridal expos will also offer you coupons and deals.

Hope this helps!