Introduction - Hi Knotties!

dzinegrl

Hi Girls!

I just wanted to introduce myself.  I've been engaged since December 2010 and we have  just now set our date for September 22, 2012!  We are paying for the wedding ourselves and have been working on saving up the money.  We just booked our venue, which is the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.  It's a beautiful budget-friendly venue, and we are both very excited about it!  I work in the art/design field, so their art galleries are perfect!  Any good advice for the early stages of planning?

FebDallasBride

Hello and welcome Do you have any other vendors secure yet? DJ, florist, Caterer?

You should come back tomorrow during hte day when more of us are around too; we'd love to get to know you in our everyday threads (tomorrow is Say Anything Wednesday.)

MarieSD

Hello and welcome! I toured FWCAC myself when I was looking at wedding venues. I loved it, but the biggest galleries were all already booked up for my date -- a year in advance! Are you having your ceremony there also?

As far as advice ... have you looked into photographers yet? That might be the next thing I'd book. 

Also, unless the venue gives you a coordinator to work with you the day of (or even sometimes if they do ...) a day-of coordinator can be a really great asset. They're not as expensive as you'd think. I also did a DIY budget wedding in FW (at the YWCA) and my coordinator handled ALL the setup at the reception, coordinated the catering and bartending staff, managed the flow of everything, did cleanup after, etc. It was 100% worth the extra expense to not have to clean up afterwards alone!

winechic25

Welcome! The ladies here are extremely helpful and full of great ideas and reccomendations! Like Wendi said, depending on what you have or haven't booked yet, The Knot timeline is a great guide to make sure you're moving along at the right pace. Happy planning...

cwaggoner07

Hello and congrats! I am doing a DIY Venue as well, and I think one of the most important things I am spending my money on is a day-of coordinator.

Shay102007

Hi and congrats. What a cool venue to get married at. Good photographers and DJs book up fast so that would be my next concentration

professorscience

Hello and welcome!

My advice would be to look into a coordinator for at least day-of services.  There is a lot that goes into setup and tear down and you and your loved ones should not be worried about that stuff on your wedding day!

AshJohnson30

Welcome and congrats!! You're getting married the day after me!

As you can prob tell already everyone here is very helpful. My advice would be to book photography, videography (if you want it) and DJ soon, those book up fast.

Good luck with all your planning!!

fallbride1109

Hi and congratulations!  Everyone has given good advice so I'll just say ditto.  Our vendor list has some great suggestions so it's a good resource.  And we would LOVE to see ring or dress pics if you have them.   

aeliza06

Congratulations and welcome! There are so many great ideas and good resources for vendors- you are sure to find lots of inspiration. Do you have any furbabies? We love our furry kids around here  

kristan1022

Welcome to the boards! Ditto what everyone else said on what to book next. 

How cool that you're getting married in an art gallery- one of my sorority sisters got married in a gallery and it was modern and classically beautiful all at the same time. 

Happy planning!

dzinegrl

Thanks so much for all of the helpful advice girls!  We are working on booking our photographer and caterer next, as I have heard they book up fast.  We are having several consultations with photographers this weekend...I think it's going to be a tough decision!  I'll have to look into a day-of coordinator, as that would relieve alot of stress on the wedding day.  I do have a precious, little furbaby.  She is a little Chihuahua named Lucy, and loves to cuddle.  I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone on this board!