Newly Engaged & Already Overwhelmed!

qtsayuri

Okiedokie! My fiance and I have been engaged for a little over a month; he proposed with dessert because I have such a sweet tooth! We are both ecstatic and excited for our December wedding! Since his job involves tons of traveling, most of the major decisions are for me to take care of. Fortunately, my family is nearby and have been absolutely wondeful in helping and guiding the way to sane and sensible decisions. Because we set the date for 9 months out, and a month has already gone by, I feel like we are super beind in the planning We have a date, venue, caterer, stationary people, and I found my dress! In general, balancing lots of different things is no problem - that's life, right? This past week I have been extremely sick and all this 'time off' has kind of hit home to the fact that maybe I've spread myself too thin at the exact time in life when I shouldn't have ... ? I work a full-time job in the crazy demanding funeral industry, I am also a gymnastics coach, and am working on my second bachelors degree. In a nutshell, I'm at an impasse and am finding that maintaining balance is near impossible. Is this common and, if so, please share your thoughts/insights/advice! ps. whenever I'm about to go cray-cray, I just look at my beautiful ring, smile, and remind myself all this stress is more than worth it!

AddieCake

You're not behind if you have all of that done already. By "have," do you mean you have put down deposits, secured your date, etc? Does "found" your dress mean you have tried it on and purchased it? 

Congrats and happy planning!

qtsayuri

Thank you, AddieL73! It's certainly the most exciting time of my life (so far)! Yes, we have already secured a date/venue/caterer/local stationary company, and I purchased my dress on the second day of shopping! Just booked rooms at a local hotel for our many out-of-town guests. We've 'tasted' two different bakeries and are just not super thrilled with either so we're still on the hunt there. Kind of lost with flowers. We'll be shipping in a lot of flowers from Hawaii but still need to find a local florist to help with bouquets and bouts. Waiting to honeymoon until next year because of our schedules so that's one less thing. Still need to find DJ/Band and register. Save the Dates are going out next month. Is there anything else we need to get done/begin finalizing at this point? We're so lost and trying to get things settled sooner than later since 80% of our guests will be coming from very far away and transportation will be very pricey for them. Any thoughts/suggestions/advice is happily welcomed!

kerbohl

I think you are well on your way, and have time to figure things out.  I had to do a ton of wedding planning really early in my engagement because I was leaving the country for seven months, and sometimes I get freaked out that I'm behind (I can't really do much when I'm overseas), but I have found having deadlines really helpful.  You don't need to do everything all at once, you can figure things out as you go along.  And you have your FI to help you a little - he may have a job with lots of travelling, but you sound like you have a lot of your plate too, so he can find the time to help.

doubleSS07

It doesn't sound to me like you are behind.  It looks like you have most all of the large items taken care of which is important in the beginning.  I'm now mostly fiddleing with small decor items and I haven't even sent invites out.  I didnt see mention of photographer...are you planning to hire a professional?  They tend to book up quick and I found out the hard way in my area apparently hair and makeup vendors do as well.  I found that keeping lists of what I need to do and then breaking a few things down to each week has helped me keep from being too overwhelmed and it's nice to see all the checkmarks!  Good luck with everything.

wifemothereventplanner

You are completely on track and normal. Slow things down if you need to and let go of some decisions by having your mom/sister/friend make them. It's ok. Your day will be absolutely perfect!

qtsayuri

@ kerbohl and wifemotherevet....- Thank you for reminding me that it is okay to ask others close to me for help! I'm finding that I really need to be cognizant of not taking on too much myself and allowing others to help. In my line of work, I rely solely on myself to make sure things are taken care of so I need to make sure I'm not allowing that mentality to cross over into wedding planning!

@ doubleSS07 - Yes, we are having one of our managers (of a store my fiance owns) and his wife handle all of our photography! We've already sat down and  discussed with them that they are there on a professional capacity and they're very experienced professionals who have been running their photography business for years now, very exciting! My hair styliest has already been booked as well as my face lady! Yes, my face lady! She does a wonderful job with my makeup since I don't typically wear any Completely agree with your list idea and check marking once tasks have been completed. The tracker on The Know has been a good starting point and I ended up buying a second calendar booklet to help keep track of appointments, deadlines, etc. To everyone who has taken time to read and give their opinions/advise, a huge thank you! I greatly appreciate your time and thoughts!