Catholic Weddings

Just Starting Out...Needing Some Help!!!

Hi everyone, this is my first time coming to this site and obvoiusly my first post here. I'm Catholic and so is my fiance so no worries there....but I have absolutely no idea where to even start planning! :( We are having our wedding next June and I'm having trouble picking colors too. We are getting ready to do our engaged encounter weekend here in the first part of April. I'm looking forward to it, even though I've heard both good and bad.

Can anyone help me to get going? Suggestions? Things to avoid? Comments? I'd really appreciate anything! Thank you!

Re: Just Starting Out...Needing Some Help!!!

  • edited December 2011
    We did an alternative to the engaged encounter, however, it gets rave reviews everytime someone posts about it. So, look forward to it. Most brides say that it brought them even closer to their future husbands and was an amazing experience.

    As far as your colors and whatnot, I'd highly suggest clicking through the knot's albums of weddings and just look at a little bit of all the color options they show. Be open to a lot of ideas at this point. You over a year out so you've got the advantage. Oh, and don't be "that" bride that HAS to have a theme- the theme is "wedding." LOL.

    Also, the knot offers a really good planning guide that breaks down basically what you should be doing 12 months out, 9 months out, etc. You don't have to follow it step-by-step but more of a general guide.

    GL and congrats!!!
    Anniversary
  • edited December 2011
    Congratulations!

    You've got lots of time, so good for you for starting early! I'd say start with getting your reception site, church, caterer, etc. nailed down if you don't already - since you're getting married in June that's a very busy month (duh).

    I also checked with other vendors - hotels, table and chair rental, etc. - to see how far out I should reserve things given the wedding date. That really helped me nail down my personal checklist.

    Oh, and have fun dress shopping too! Yay! I think that was the funnest part so far!

    Linda
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  • edited December 2011
    Ditto PPs. The first part is the hardest, because the first few things are all inter-dependent on each other: find the Church (if you don't have one you attend already), the reception site, and put together at least a rough guest list so you have an idea of how many people you want to accomodate and work out a budget in the midst of all of that. We thought we'd only be able to invite like 150-175, but we scraped together enough to afford like 220 (we both have kind of big families and a lot of important friends in our lives so guestlist has been the hardest thing for us). However, we're reaching the cramped point at our reception site and if people RSVP with more than who we actually put on the invite, we're going to have to make some unhappy and awkward phone calls because people just won't fit (if everyone says yes, etc). So I think those four things are the most important to work on up front.

    After that, you have plenty of time. I was advised though to look for a wedding dress before Christmas time because once you get close to 2012 (for me it was 2011, since I'm getting married in August), everyone freaks out and starts making a push to find a dress, especially over the holidays. I found mine in October - easy peasy. I thought it was good advice.

    By the way, Engaged Encounter rocks. Have so much fun!
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  • mica178mica178 member
    5000 Comments Fourth Anniversary 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    As the PPs said, the beginning of the engagement is the most stressful since that's when you're trying to get the biggest pieces of the planning (budget, guest list, ceremony site, reception venue) set.  Once that is done, you can relax a bit.  I found the Knot's website helpful for checking out what brides did with their wedding colors, but using Google is also helpful -- sometimes you'll find a collage of pictures from a single wedding all with the same color scheme.

    I'm glad that you're doing the EE early in your engagement.  Among other reasons, it's easier to deal with any issues that arise sooner rather than in the last few panicked months of your engagement (not that I'm suggesting that there will be issues).  Also, it's nice to meet other couples in the area who are going through the same planning nightmares.

    Congratulations and welcome!
  • newlyseliskinewlyseliski member
    1000 Comments Fourth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    I think the other ladies covered most of the logistics... so welcome and congratulations!!
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