Newbie/Few Questions

Ambybambi1125

Hey Ladies,

Just got engaged over the weekend (awesome ring, awesome fiance!) and the maddness has already begun. Any initial tips or advice would be welcomed! 

First question how soon did you start looking at dresses?

So happy to have this as a resource!

goatlady12

Welcome, and super exciting!
First thing is first, figure out your budget!  And then lock down a venue and date.  My engagment will only be 8 months long and I will tell you venues book up fast.  Do you already have a date or season picked out?
I started looking for my dress after I booked my venue.  Mine took about 2 months to come in, but I've heard of it taking longer.  I think dress shopping is recommended for 8-10 months before the wedding.
Using this website and facebook made me find a lot of deals.  Ask around, referrals are the way to go! 

SSaltzman87

I would look at venues, and then figure out your budget. Most say figure out your budget, then look at venues but I say the reverse because most people don't know those costs ahead of time and then they see how much it is and have to completely rework the budget, KWIM? Not that you won't have to rework your budget as things come up, but I think you'll be better prepared for the bigger costs (food, beverage, venue rental, cake/desserts etc). Plus of course figure out who will all contribute- if it'll be just you and FI, and/or either set of parents contributing.

There are many ways to work with ANY budget, just have to be smart and resourceful. 

As far as a dress goes, I'm a complete oddball. I got engaged a little over 2 years ago and will be getting married in almost 8 months. I just went to my local DB 2 weeks after I got engaged just to try on a few dresses and see what I even liked, ended up finding one I loved and it fit perfectly other than being too long. That dress happened to be $99 and got it that day! I still love my dress, I try it on every so often at my parents' house lol :-P

wittyschaffy

I basically ditto PP.  We had to figure out our guest list more or less first so that we knew how big of a venue we'd need and booked the major stuff first (reception and ceremony site).  

They say to give yourself 6 months for a gown to come in but mine took much less than that.  

trixie549

I went dress shopping three weeks after we got engaged. I wanted to book our venues first, so I would be able to find a dress that looked appropriate for the location and season of our wedding (a gigantic satin ballgown isn't the best choice for a summer barn wedding - not my situation, but I've seen it before). 

The Wedding Shoppe told me that it would be 6 months before my dress came in, so I was completely shocked and happy when it arrived after only 2 weeks!

beckyh77

I got engaged on June 2 of this year. The first thing we did is gather a loose guest list and then we secured our reception venue. We didn't have a particular date set in mind, just thought May/June of 2013. Of those 9 Saturdays, we were the 8th (!) of 9 brides to book. And that was before the end of June. Our date is 5/25/13 and after booking our reception venue we were shocked at how soon things fill up. As of today we have these booked: DJ, photographer, florist, tuxes (good deal at Savvi). Ordered my dress at the Wedding Shoppe and bought my ring (random coupon from Jared saved us the sales tax). We will have our caterer chosen by the end of this month. My bridesmaids will have their dresses ordered by Thanksgiving probably, not sure. .