11 months and 2 weeks to go - what's next to focus on?

barryter

Hi everyone!

I haven't posted in a long time, but now that's it's past my year mark, I'm starting to freak out about my planning timeline. What's are some steps I should be focusing on as of now?

What I have so far:
Venue
Church
Photographer
Dress

From this list, which item is a red flag I should focus on now and what items can wait until my 6 month mark?
Videographer
DJ
Band
Florist
Bridesmaid dresses
Invitations (not doing save the dates)
Hair/Makeup Artis
Hotel Blocks

Thanks for the tips!! I'm starting to feel the planning pressure

mandybear7

My invites were DIY, so I actually started those really early.

You seem organized and have a good list going, so I would just pick away at each of those.

barryter

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better. Now that it's the year mark, the family is nudging me to start the process again. I feel like the creative aspects of planning have so many decisions involved, i'm overwhelmed!

Rempala2B

I only had less than 9 months to plan the whole thing and now that I'm almost 2 months away...I'm finally starting to freak out a little!  But, needless to say...you can do it and you have plenty of time!  Honestly, I would start with the bigger stuff first, so probably the order you have that list is good:  DJ, Band, Florist then BM dresses and so on.  Especially the first 3, for availability purposes   HTH!

mbf124

I would get moving with the videographer, band and hotel blocks.  Bridesmaid dresses I'd do about 9 months out, just to give your girls plenty of time. Looks like you are on track! 

MobKaz

My daughter's wedding is on the same day as yours!  Congratulations :-)  Because we are all teachers (myself, bride, groom), our goal is to accomplish as much as possible over the summer, as the wedding date literally falls the same week as the last week of school .  We have also booked church, venue, photographer, and dress.  We have also booked DJ, photobooth, and just this week began the hotel booking process.  We spoke to the florist that we would like to have and got some ideas but honestly, she said she really did not need to meet with us until after the first of the year.  Our concern with the florist, however, is that she is a "local" versus a "big box" company---as such, she only books 1 or two weddings per weekend.  We wanted to be that "one".  We have decided against the videographer, and are not having a band.  We don't feel any real urgency for BM dresses as those tend to be in stock continually with very few changes to any particular line.  All of the BM's are within an hours drive and none of them should have any issues finding mutual weekends to go shopping together.  We have started to research hair/make-up but don't feel a need to "book" anything right now.  The goal is to "tidy-up" the theme/vision of the wedding and possibly take advantage of as many sales this season as possible.  Things that may not change....such as shoes for both the bride and BM's, clutches for the BM's, some of the OOT non-perishable items, BM's "emergency kit" gifts, etc., we are hoping to purchase now.  Our other issue, besides a possible cost saving one, is that because the wedding is so early in the summer season, many of the things we may need may not necessarily be available when we need to shop next Spring. 

The bride and groom have looked at types/styles of invitations to narrow down choices/preferences so that when ordering time comes it won't be such an involved process.  The main favor has been selected, and they are brainstorming ways to incorporate everything.  They found their floral centerpiece holder, normally $25, on clearance at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $10!  When you order 20 of something--it adds up fast!  This is what I mean when I say they are trying to take advantage of current sales (and the availability of parents with a basement!). 

Good luck!  Stay organized---stay sane!  Keep it fun :-)

jessNlane52804

I would maybe focus on the DJ next. If you are feeling overwhelmed, I recommend taking planning one step at a time. Just pick one thing and focus on it, as soon as you finish you can move on to the next thing. I have planned our wedding one thing at a time and there has only been one time at the 3 month mark when I felt overwhelmed.

luckyjoanna

My list is almost identical to yours! Although the DJ and Florist are probably the 2 big things you should focus on, you (and I) should probably pick out bridesmaids dresses first. The florist usually works around the color of the actual bridesmaids dresses, so without those picked out, you can't fully commit to flowers.