Young Bride.

electtrickat1990

I am a younger bride than most at the ripe age of 22, BUt i love my fiancee more than anything! But i was wondering if i could get help on things to get we are a year away from our wedding, Just wondering if you guuys could help. Ideas maybe? I don't know, my bridesmaids and maid of horor are my oldest friends from high school. We need dresses, only thing i have actually done so far was gather the flower bouquets from Ashley Rose. I live in Michigan, so anyone nearby maybe?

tiny speck

Have you set a budget and guest list, and booked your venue(s)? Have you looked for a photographer, caterer, officiant, or other big vendors yet? I would think you'd have those things in the bag a year out especially if you have set a date, but from your post it doesn't sound like you have.

You will get more local advice from your local Michigan board, which you can find through the link on the left. This board here is international.

Good luck with your planning and congrats on your engagement!

OliveOilsMom

The Knot budgeter and checklist tools are very helpful in organizing and staying on track with your wedding planning.  Once you have set a budget, go through the items in the budgeter and remove all of the unnecessary items you don't plan on getting for you wedding.  Put your budget amount in and see how it allocates your money.  Then stick to it.  The checklist will help you know when to book certain vendors. 

And come back here to ask any other questions about how to plan!

kmmssg

Hello fellow Michigander!  I'm a 3 time MOB from Lansing.

First - you don't need BM dresses for months yet so don't make your girls spend money now for a dress that will hang in their closets for a year.

Ask each of your BM's privately what their budet is for dresses, including alterations.  Find out who has the lowest budget and that is your max dress budget.  If you find a dress you like and you say, "Oh, I love this dress!  200.00 isn't too much is it?" they will all say no problem because they don't want to hurt your feelings and tell you it is too much.  That is why you ask each one privately and THEN start looking at dresses.

No one looks at BM shoes so just give them the color (hopefully something they already own) and go from there.  If you insist on particular shoes, hairstyles, nail polish, or makeup, you pay.  If you let them do their own thing, it is their responsibility.

Plan this way:  1.  What is our budget?  2.  Who will we invite?  3.  What can we afford to properly host our guests?  Allow about 60% of your budget to go to the reception - food, drinks apps, linens, centerpieces, cake, favors if you have them, etc.

Make sure  you budget in service fees and gratuities.  With my first daughter I forgot to budget the gratuity for the caterer and got a 750.00 surprise when I got the final bill.  My Bad!!

Do not pay attention to the lists of BM and MOH duties on various sites.  They were written decades ago for young ladies who didn't work, go to college, etc.  Times are much different now and young women do work, do get masters and doctorates, do have very full lives.  The duty of your girls is to buy the proper dress, show up on time, and smile for pics.  Anything else is voluntary on their part.

Above all, remember that your wedding is one day and  you want your friends to be around for life.  Treat them like the gold they are and not like wedding slaves.

Oh, and remember above that, you know all this time and energy you are spending planning for that one day wedding?  Spend far MORE time planning your marriage so it will be successful and loving.

Good luck.

ashpac05

My fiance and I are 26, and I was engaged at 25 and will be getting married at 27. Were students, with retail jobs and it's all about budget for us too. We waited two years to look over our budget and guest list and i have found that doing a DIY wedding is most affordable and finding a venue for ceremony and reception that lets you bring in your vendors was the way to go. I recommend looking for a venue thats city owned, it's a lot cheaper. I live in orange county and getting married here is probably a big price difference but I'm not sure. By going through a city I found a place where the ceremony is only $600 and the reception is a little over a grand. (compared to other places where it was 4,000 just for the ceremony and the reception was additional priced. We have found a caterer ourselves that worked with our venue so it gave us discounts and packaged that really helped as well. I am making my own invitations which is quite easy for me as I go to school for graphic design so if you can find people to help you out with making things its really a lot more affordable. I also found my own wedding cordinator for the reception so everything gets set up the way i want and other things get taken care of. And she was my friend too! She loves wedding and is very organized so its a win/win situation! If you can just find people to help pitch in, and either pay them or give them a very nice gift once everything is done, it really does help out a young couple.

I hope this helps!

beautiflaw

I got married at 22 and we are the happiest couple we know! His parents got married when his mom was 16 and they are still together. My mom got married at 18, and my parents would still be together if my dad hadn't passed away. You can still have a successful marriage in spite of being married young. Just be open to the fact that you will grow and change in different ways all throughout your marriage, and the things you like now might not be the things you like in 10 years.

If you have a year to plan then that means you have a year to save! My best advice is to try to pay for everything yourselves. That way you two get to have the wedding you want. The person with the money is the person who dictates what happens, and you want to be the one holding the credit card.

One thing I tell all my girlfriends who are getting married is to go to a counseling session with their fiances before getting married. A marriage counselor can hep you set reasonable expectations and open up discussion of things you never imagined you needed to talk about BEFORE you commit to forever. Communication is the foundation for a good marriage, and its best to talk about any problems and how to deal with them before they ever come up. My friends who have taken my advice have told me that they think counseling saved their relationships. I know its benefitted mine tremendously.

I wish you all the luck in the world! Congrats!

mandibride2be

I am a young bride as well currently 22, will be 23 when we are married.

It's much harder to spend on a wedding when you are a young couple.  Sure eveyone wants there wedding to be beautiful, but what is beautiful is the actual commitment itself - so don't be caught up in the expenses of it all ! 

But of course with any wedding you will probably spend on at least SOMETHING so.....I would say first thing first is to set a date (which it sounds like you did) and talk budget and guest list. The first big check you should accomplish is your venue. This is important before looking at other vendors because possibly the place you choose doesn't allow you to pick outside vendors. Then from there pick the "bigger vendors" officiant/photography/music/food etc. I would suggest  for vendors using the knot's website for this and/or go to your local board. That is how I narrowed down venues for my destination wedding. 

And i agree with beautiflaw diy is the way to go ! And it could be a great way to get your future hubby involved! It's a great way to save on those cute little details of the wedding, and it incorporates both your personaliities!