A couple questions...

missmelanie81

Im feeling a bit stressed. We have 4 months to go and I feel like we have a ton to do. Argh. Anyways...I have a few questions.

1. We are registering this weekend. We are doing Bed bath & beyond and Target ( Yes, I know some brides have issues with them, but with are our family and friends I think its a good decision) Anyways, Do we register for the same kind of stuff at both stores? Like we want a steam mop. Do we register for it at both stores and just take one back if we get two?  My guess is a bunch of guests will only shop at the target one, so they might not even look up the BBB one.

2. We are 4 months out. Should I be ordering our invites soon? I planned on sending them out sometime in the middle to end of march.

3. We are meeting with a florist saturday. I dont know what a reasonable budget is. Flowers isnt a huge important detail for me. I want them kinda simple but nice. I dont need centerpieces or anything extra like that. Just 5 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, Bride, 2 moms and a God mother. Is $300 a reasonanble budget?

Thanks!

db1985

If you register for something at one store, I wouldnt register for it at the other.  It could be a pain to take it back and the point of the registry is to avoid duplicates.  Maybe divide your list and register for bedding and dishes at BB&B and other household items at Target?

You should order invites by the end of this month.  Usually they take a few weeks to print and ship and then you will need time to address them.  Invites should be sent out approx 8 weeks before your date (sooner if alot of your guests are out of town)

For flower budget it depends on what kind of flowers you are doing and whether they are exotic or out of season.  Our flowers will be about $400 for bride bouquet, 4 BM, toss bouquet, 9 bouts,  and 7 coursages.  We are doing roses and gerbara daisies.  It will be cheaper if you choose an independent florist vs a big shop

Meegles4

1. Don't dual register for items. We registered at BBB and Crate & Barrel. Honestly, most of your stuff will be at BBB. We used Crate & Barrel for "special" items, like some funky platters, fun pillows, fun glassware, etc. I'd suggest doing the same with Target. Use it to supplement what you put on BBB. Target would be good for board games, fun decor/picture frames, outdoorsy stuff (if you're into that), tools, etc. You can also use the registries to price compare. For example, we ended up putting our coffee maker on the C&B registry because it was cheaper than BBB. Maybe Target will have a better deal on sheets than BBB so you'll decide to put them on the Target registry. Since BBB was our main registry, the C&B one was significantly smaller (like 30 items compared to 150 at BBB). That's OK. Another thing with registries is you can change them after you do them, and you can do it online. I can't tell you how much I've added/deleted since we did it a few months ago. The key is to just get it started and then you can tweak it if you need to.

2. I'd definitely order invites. Even if you have them early, it's one less thing to worry about. And that way you also give yourself a cushion if there's a snag in the process.

3. I can't help much with flowers, but I'd think your budget is reasonable for what you want. Good luck! If you're working with an independent florist, make sure she'll agree to do bouquet-only receptions. That was my initial plan, but the florist we met with (Michele Nonis) doesn't do that because it isn't cost-effective for her. She ended up being reasonable so we decided to just add centerpieces, but it's certainly a question I didn't think to ask up front.

Milsey32

1. Don't register for the same stuff. And compare prices! We registered at Target and BBB. If it was the same price, we'd register for it at BBB because they always have those 20% off coupons. Also, don't forget to check reviews online on items. 

2. Yes, order invites. Give yourself time incase there is a screw up with the order. 

3. I think it's a reasonable budget if you're not tooooo picky.

emarston1

1.  We registered at both places and initially we just registered for everything we liked (even if it was duplicates) and then chose between the two which we liked better.  So after we came home from our marathon registering, we sat down with both lists and deleted a bunch of stuff.

2.  Middle to end of March is good for May 19th.  We sent ours at the beginning of March for May 21st last year but that was because I absolutely could not wait any longer even though I should have

And yes, I would be ordering soon to ensure nothing gets screwed up.  Plus it takes awhile to address them, etc.

3.  Depending on the florist and flower, this may or may not be doable.  My bouquet was $150 by itself and each bridesmaid's was about $75 I believe.  Then $10 for bouts and $15 for corsages.  I honestly don't know if this is good/bad because there weren't a lot of florists in the Lansing area so I'm not sure what the prices are around Detroit.

ETA:  Also, the florist will be a ton of help when it comes to finding cost effective flowers but still give you what you want.  The most important thing when having a budget is keeping an open mind which it sounds like you have

Meg1036

1) As others said, don't register for duplicates.  It'll just be a lot of hassle later taking things back.  Plus, guests who got you a toaster wanted to get you a toaster, not a store credit.

2) Order invites this month, and mail at the end of March.

3) That may be reasonable, depending on the flowers you use, but also might be a little low.  My bouquet was $125, the bridesmaids were $65 each.  Bouts were $10 each, and corsages were $25 each.

Sue-n-Kevin

3. We are meeting with a florist saturday. I dont know what a reasonable budget is. Flowers isnt a huge important detail for me. I want them kinda simple but nice. I dont need centerpieces or anything extra like that. Just 5 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, Bride, 2 moms and a God mother. Is $300 a reasonanble budget?

I didn't have to deal with items 1 & 2, so I'll answer #3.

I ordered the flowers you mentioned from www.costco.com. Their white rose wedding package was $399. Their standard package includes:

- 1 bridal bouquet
2 BM bouquets
1 toss bouquet
6 corsages
6 bouts
3 centerpieces
1 "rose petal bud" (what this actually is: a small bouquet bundled together so you can pick off some rose petals for the flower girl..........I actually used it as an extra floral arrangement, I think on the cake table)

They will allow you to switch out any of the centerpieces for a bouquet, so I got 1 centerpiece and 2 additional BM bouquets. The corsages & bouts are not negotiable. The toss bouquet is an adorable white carnation bouquet in a lacy frame with long ribbon and stems.

They were amazing. Each of the roses in the bouquets, bouts and corsages had white pearl heads inserted in the middle of the bud. I got a lot of compliments. You have to order them to arrive 3 days before the wedding, handle them the way the dvd says(yes, it comes with a dvd), and they looked lovely for well over 2 weeks after the wedding. Order them at least a month before your wedding.........I sorta messed up and contacted them 3 weeks before, but they were fine with it. EVERY review on the website is 5 stars out of 5.

I'm only mentioning this because you may not find what you want at your price point. You can also get them in dark pink, light pink, red, yellow, off white, or 2 colors mixed.

Link here: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11184875&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|3605|90371|24845&N=4045482&Mo=20&pos=1&No=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=24845&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC38256-Cat90371&topnav=

kmschwartzkopf

1. Register for whatever you want to...either way you will most likely make returns and exchanges. I registered at kohls and BB&B, I didn't register for duplicate items but people still got me items from one registry at the opposite store. I returned a ton of items, not because I didn't want what was bought but because I wanted other items or more expensive items more. Items from you registry don't carry sentimental value from your guests because you chose them so no one minds when you return items. Besides, you don't really discuss it with the gift giver.

2. Invitation timelines depend on where you purchase them from. I agree with the other comments to order early to reduce stress specially if you are ordering them without ordering a sample first. Mine were done by a family friend who does hand made invitations so she knows exactly how long it will take her, with larger companies and printers, they quote you an approximate timeline.

3. I am using a event and decor company (petit fleur) for my flowers rather than a florist because it made sense in my case. I need double the bouquets than your wedding, (11 BM and GM!!!) My cost for just the flowers is $1000 so $400-$500 is probably reasonable. Another difference with my vendor is their set amount for pretty much any flower. I don't get charged a higher or lower budget based on the flowers I want. However, she has a mininmum amount to do a wedding and I am using the vendor for all of my decor and centerpieces. Something I am doing to save money is reusing the BM bouquets as part of table centerpieces for 1/3 of the tables. Just look around for what fits your needs, I spoke to 5 different vendors and asked for all the same items. The pricing difference between vendors was outrageous, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive was $3000.