The Basics

pinkflowers4

Hi girls! I am in the process of starting to plan my OBX wedding for next summer. Ive been searching online for everything from homes to photography and its over whelming! any suggestions of good ides?? any suggestions would be apprecaited!

sangriaMaria

Hi Pink!

Welcome and you've picked a great place to have your wedding.  Here are a couple of good places to start.  In particular, check out the vendor links.  There is a wedding expo January 6-8, 2012 in OBX that many have said it extremely helpful. I missed it and planned my wedding in 4-5 months.  And then research. research, research.  Think about what kind of wedding you want.  Small, big.  Indoors, outdoors.  Event home, venue.  Stick around, there is a lot of help on this board.  Some of the other girls/guy will chime in soon, I'm sure.  We also have a FB page where we exchange lots of ideas and post a lot.  Search for OBX 2011 Knotties (it doesn't matter when you're getting married).

http://www.outerbanksweddingassoc.org/

http://obxbrides.com/

Krhoy20

Welcome Pink!!!
As Maria mentioned, you've chosen a great place to get married. My wedding is coming up in 2 weeks(9/20). If you can find any vendor reviews(scroll down a little) they are very helpful and will help you get started. You first need to decide what you want

I'm using an Event Home as the reception site and ceremony site is directly in front of the house on the beach. If you have any questions regarding this avenue, I will be happy to help. The brides/grooms on here are so very helpful. All our weddings are so different, so you should get a variety of opinions and ideas on here.

Good luck and happy planning!!!

ldybug78

I'm not sure what I would have done without this group- they are all fabulous!  You've picked one of the best places to get married.

rebecca2929

Hi Pink!

Welcome to the group.  Congratulations on your engagement.  The ladies/guy on this board are really helpful and you'll get a lot of ideas from them.  You're right, it's very overwhelming planning a wedding.  I planned ours in 5 months.

I suggest checking out outerbanksweddingassociation.com.  You'll find tons of vendors there.  You could also call the welcome center and see if they'll send you brochures and the outer banks bride magazine.  There's also another one but I can't think of the name right now but they're free.  You can also read our vendor reviews.  Several of us got married within a few weeks of eachother so you can just scroll down on the main board and read the reviews.

Phillyboy06

Hi Pink and welcome to the board! :-)

The OBX is an AWESOME place to get married.  You picked well.  I actually am currently here on vacation and we have visited a few venues and caterers so far this week, oh, and can't forget our cake tasting yesterday at Great Cakes!!!  Yummy! :-)

Like other brides have said, first you need to decide what direction you would like to go. Event home?  Venue?  "One stop shop"(yes we visited one in Wanchese called Mallards Marsh, it's through Beach Ball events).  Also, budget wise, how much are you looking at for a budget?  That can also determine in what direction you will go.  We started out going in an event home direction, but then when we started pricing them out, figured that they would be as much or more than venues, so we have our location for our September 2012 wedding down to two venues, The Sanderling Inn in Duck, or today we visit The Whalehead Club, which I think is in Corolla.  It's all in what you are looking for.

Also, like Maria said, the wedding expo is a FANTASTIC place to go to to talk to the vendors and sample some of the tastes of the various caterers.  We are not sure if we will need to attend this in January as we might have everything picked out by the time we leave the OBX this Sunday.

We are here to answer any and all questions, and if you need a grooms perspective or guy questions answered, i'm more than happy to oblige.  :-)

Happy planning and welcome again!

pinkflowers4

thanks so much for the info everyone! i have a feeling im going to be addicted to this board for the next few months!!!

jendem8

Welcome!  Do you have a date in mind or are you still unsure?  My date is June 22 and there are a few other girls who are next summer as well. 

If you have any questions feel free to ask!  My fiance and I are pretty far in the process, so I can certainly give you tips.  Luckily, many of the married brides stick around here and help those who are still planning, so they have tons of advice as well!

ChrissieK5

Hi pinky!  Welcome!  These girls on this site were practically my wedding planners!  I got recommendations from them, checked these people out, and went with what was budget friendly.  Also, that website that Maria gave you helped me out a great deal!  I am planning from Pittsburgh, PA and have never even been to the OBX!  I planned strictly on reviews and price.  And I'm just hopin it all works out.  We leave one month from tomorrow for our wedding week!  Good luck, and like eveyone said, just ask your questions.  Someone is always able to help.  The vendor reviews help a bunch too!

pinkflowers4

we are getting married sept. 12th 2012! i have barley started planning but am so excited to really get started!

WestCoastGirl05

My advice...

When looking at vendors... keep your head about you... I love the outerbanks... and a lot of vendors are going to be really helpful... BUT... there are going to be a lot that see that yoru planning a wedding and are going to start seeing dollar signs!! Be practical with the money you spend... after all you work hard for it... dont feel like you have to limit all of your vendors to the OBX... for instance... I am ordering flowers in bulk as opposed to getting a florist... and saving  A TON of money!! Dont get too stressed... (though I totall understand it... I have just over 2 months to plan my wedding) ...
 
remember you have lots of time... and certain things dont need a decision right away.... it helps if you prioritize.. certian things you'll want to do soon... like getting a dress...

One final peice of advice... youre gettin gmarried on the beach... let the beach speak for itself... you wont need to do a lot of over the top decorating for your wedding because the natural beauty of the OBX will cover a lot of that

HAPPY PLANNING!!

RussoWill

First and foremost, come up with a budget and plug your info into the knot wedding budgeter. I put in $3000 less than I had as the total because I knew I'd go over my budget haha.  After that, you have some numbers to go on when you are talking to people. Reviews definitely help. if you need info about any vendor, just post on the board. Chances are, someone had used that vendor and cen help you out.

Good luck with your planning. Definitely don't procrastinate! I'm 6 days away and we're watching the Skins game wrapping wedding party gifts and rolling silverware for the wedding. Definitely wish I'd done this a month ago!