ROLL CALL!!!! (Engaged and Married Girls please comment!)

KCLindgren

I’m recently engaged and excited to meet you all!  Let’s introduce ourselves (married girls welcome to chime in!).

First name and city where you live:

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married:

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!):

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

 

Here's mine:

First name and city where you live:  Kristie  --  Gales Ferry, CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé:   8 years!!!!  High school sweethearts

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!):  June 29^th, 2014   Branford House, Avery Point  

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  I got engaged in May.  I’ve booked the venue, DJ, photographer, and MAYBE our officiant.
Advice…?  I try not to talk to my fiancé daily about the wedding.  Instead I give an update maybe once a week and I ask his opinion on things then.  He gets tired of hearing about the wedding details day in and day out!  Haha   Instead, I bug you ladies on the message boards!  And I ask married friends for advice : )

jessicaleigh13

First name and city where you live:  Jessica-- East Lyme CTHow long you’ve been dating your fiancé:  2 and 1/2 yearsDate of wedding and location of reception (include city!):  Haven't officially booked but looking for Sept 13th 2014 at the Mystic Yachting CenterHow far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Got engaged in late April. We are looking at venues and caterers now. I already know which photographer and DJ I would like to use but need to settle on a venue/date. We are also expecting a baby in December so we are baby planning as well as wedding planning. Therefore I can't dress shop for awhile which I'm bummed about

cofkel

First name and city where you live: Kelly Glastonbury, CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We have been together for 3 1/2 years and go engaged a year and a half ago

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): July 13th 2013 (5 days1) Saint Clements Castle Portland. CT

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

 Done, just waiting for this weekend and I will be married. My photographer, Kiva Sutton from Annandale Photo is awesome, love my engagement photos. Saint Clements has also been amazing to work with. My DJ is Kevin Williams from Power Station events, I have only heard great things about him. My dress is from Mariellas, they were awesome, I did not find my dress on the first appt and they were awesome when I came back for a second. I visited A LOT of venues, met with multiple photographers and went to four dress stores so if anyone is looking for opinions let me know. Last but not least if you are looking for on site hair and makeup Larissa Lake is absolutely amazing. I have been in multiple weddings she has done and booking her was one of my best decisions,

KCLindgren

Nice to meet you, girls!  Good luck with the wedding, Kelly!  Make sure to come back and post reviews!

jennyp37

First name and city where you live: Jen from Bristol

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: we've been together for 3 years

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): 10/10/2014 Aria in Prospect!!

How far are you in the planning process?  I've got the "Big 3" (IMHO) done. Ceremony/Reception, Photographer (Lindsay Vigue) and DJ (DJ Kurt). We're on to transportation, florist, and hair/makeup.

I've just noticed (seriously just noticed!) that I didn't include my dress as one of the big 3! I definitely have my dress, ordering it from Wedding Embassy, it's from Allure's Romance line. I've found myself very scared of all my friends when they walk down the aisle or post their wedding pictures that they'll be wearing the same dress!

Betje81

First name and city where you live: Liesbet, New Haven, CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: just over 5 years

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): Aug 23, 2013 at Wadsworth Mansion, Middletown

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?  All the big stuff is obviously done.  Just down to the small details- favors, table #s, card box, etc.  Most DIY stuff.    Tips-  Take your time when choosing all your vendors.  Don't feel rushed into choosing someone because you feel you need to have them picked by now.  It's your wedding so you want to make sure you are happy with all your choices and weren't rushed into anything.   

Check out Eric Brushett for your photographer- he is very budget friendly and he is AMAZING!!  (so is his wife, who is his 2nd shooter!).

MoonlightSilver

First name and city where you live: Linda from Western CT area

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We dated 7.5 years before the wedding, and we've been married a year.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): June 16th, 2012 at Mystic Aquarium

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

Married! My tips are to book your big vendors fast, realize that a lot of the small details wont matter after the wedding (so care about them, but don't become obsessed or risk your health with worry!), and have fun the day of! 

Also; a great idea my husband and I had: pick one song that you two love, and ask the DJ to play it randomly during the night. My husband was on one side of the room, I was with friends on the other, but when I heard this one song he loves start... I KNEW I had to find him on the dancefloor. It was a great way to pull us back together!

Favorite Vendors:

Studio1923 - photographer

Stylish Blooms - Florist

DJae Melee - DJ

mrsrutkowski

First name and city where you live: Laura, Newington

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: it'll be close to 5 years on our wedding day

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): Aug. 2, 2013 Cascade, Hamden

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  I'm pretty far since I have less than a month left. I'd say be more like a guy when planning. Every task I did, I researched every option, looked up reviews and took forever to decide. My FI had a couple jobs and he would ask a friend or search the internet quickly and call then make a decision so fast and they've all been great choices. It was much less stressful!

demkoj1

First name and city where you live: Jeanine, Stratford

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: 9 years 

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): 5.26.13 Oronoque Country Club

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? Just remember to take every single moment in because it's over before you know it. 

 

KCLindgren

It's nice to hear from everyone!  Thanks for sharing!  Good luck to those whose weddings are fast approaching!

Button5807

First name and city where you live: Button, New Milford

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: 2 years & 2 months

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): August 24th, 2013 - Backyard, New Milford

How far are you in the planning process? Not as far as I expected to be 64 days out... I have a dress and a venue, DIYing decorations is in process, cake planning in process. I can't get my JP to call me back, I can't get the tent & rental place to call me back. The menu is nearly complete though.

Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  I'm so glad we decided to make it a short engagement I'd kill myself if it were any longer. Planning is awful. 

deanna5776

First name and city where you live: Deanna Myrtle Beach, SC but from Wolcott, CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: we have known each other since we were 16, dated when we were 19 started dating again 4 years ago and got married May 24th

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): May 24, 2013 Aria Prospect, CT

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? Like everyone says sit back and take a few minutes to see what you have done its mind blowing, well it was for me to see something go from being steel beams to the awesome venue it is now. Its over faster than you know it!!!!!!! Book your favorite vendors fast they book quickly!!!!!

 

[Deleted User]

First name and city where you live: Nikki from Mystic

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: Just over 1.5 yrs actually dating... I played hard to get for a while before that.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): Sept. 2014 at Bill Miller's Castle in Branford

How far are you in the planning process?  Venue/catering booked (so far Lisa, my event coordinator at Bill Miller's, has been great), colors picked (shades of purple and blue), dress acquired (I went to Mariella's Creations in Rocky Hill and they were fantastic!), photographer booked and invitation design painted.

shanhou3

First name and city where you live: Shannon, New Haven

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We dated for about 7 years before we got married

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): June 1, 2013 at Pequonnock Yacht Club/Sage American Grill in New Haven

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? 

Married - my best advice is don't sweat the small stuff!!   I'm going to say that again because everyone tells you that and you start to tune it out after a while so, really.... DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!  I would say to book your big vendors whenever you're ready (the sooner the better of course, but on the other hand if you book too soon you may risk a change of plans or other snafus), but then try your best to TAKE A BREAK from planning.  Take a break from The Knot, Pinterest, etc. until your wedding gets a bit closer.  You and your fiancee will be so much happier this way, and you will be less stressed.   It's easier said than done, but it will be worth it!!

For me at least, having too much time to plan was actually worse than being rushed - I was overwhelmed by the endless options, the back and forth brought on too many annoying conversations with my mother and others involved, and in the end I really didn't end up deciding on the bulk of the smaller details until a couple of months before anyway (and at that point it was much more fun, and easier to make decisions because the wedding was so close!).  Of course it can be fun to imagine how things will look, think about your colors and how you want things to feel, and look for ideas... but I'm just saying that doing that for MONTHS before you even really have to order these things can really drive you a little nutty.

Our wedding ended up being NOTHING like what I had originally imagined (we went from planning a big wedding at Lighthouse Point to a small party in a private room at a restaurant on the water, there was last-minute family drama, etc.), and that day I was STILL the happiest person alive and felt like it was perfect!  Nothing could have brought me down from the cloud I was on that day.  I could have been getting married in a garage dressed in a burlap sack.  People always tell you that before your wedding day, and your first instinct may be to brush it off, but really... it's true!  All that matters is you're marrying your love with your family and friends there to witness it, then you're going to eat yummy food (hopefully yummy, if not hey at least you're giving people a free meal lol!) and dance your butt off (to an iPod, a terrible DJ, a good DJ, who cares because everyone's going to dance, it's a wedding!!). Really!  

Congrats all :-) 

SB1512

First name and city where you live: Sara, Wallingford/North Haven area

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We got engaged just before we had been dating for 2 years.  When we got married we had been dating for just over 3 years.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): June, 29, 2013 at Grassy Hill Lodge in Derby CT.

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Done planning, wedding has happened!  Some tips: You will all probably experience some moments of great stress during planning.  It may want to make you pull your hair out and just elope so you don't have to deal with family demands, moms and mother in laws that have gone a little nuts or overboard over the wedding, etc.  I felt this way more than once.  But, at the end of the day I wouldn't change a thing about my wedding and it was all worth it.  My biggest piece of advice is to go with your gut when it comes to your dress.  My dress was an Essence of Australia that was purchased at the Wedding Dress in Portland, CT.  I absolutely loved my shopping experience there and the dress I choose, but I really did not want a train (my dress was ordered with a custom hem so I had the opportunity to order it with the train not there).  I let my mom convince me to keep the train, and I really regret that.  I still loved my dress and the way it looked, but a bustle isn't designed to stay up for hours on end and it kept coming undone throughout the night.  I got really frustrated with people continually stepping on my dress and if I had to change one thing about my wedding, I would have gone with what I wanted, not what someone else wanted.  So when dress shopping, just remember that you are the one wearing it and you should buy something that you like, and that you feel great it, not what someone else wants you to be wearing.

SB1512

First name and city where you live: Sara, Wallingford/North Haven area

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We got engaged just before we had been dating for 2 years.  When we got married we had been dating for just over 3 years.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): June, 29, 2013 at Grassy Hill Lodge in Derby CT.

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Done planning, wedding has happened!  Some tips: You will all probably experience some moments of great stress during planning.  It may want to make you pull your hair out and just elope so you don't have to deal with family demands, moms and mother in laws that have gone a little nuts or overboard over the wedding, etc.  I felt this way more than once.  But, at the end of the day I wouldn't change a thing about my wedding and it was all worth it.  My biggest piece of advice is to go with your gut when it comes to your dress.  My dress was an Essence of Australia that was purchased at the Wedding Dress in Portland, CT.  I absolutely loved my shopping experience there and the dress I choose, but I really did not want a train (my dress was ordered with a custom hem so I had the opportunity to order it with the train not there).  I let my mom convince me to keep the train, and I really regret that.  I still loved my dress and the way it looked, but a bustle isn't designed to stay up for hours on end and it kept coming undone throughout the night.  I got really frustrated with people continually stepping on my dress and if I had to change one thing about my wedding, I would have gone with what I wanted, not what someone else wanted.  So when dress shopping, just remember that you are the one wearing it and you should buy something that you like, and that you feel great it, not what someone else wants you to be wearing.

Mona8

First name and city where you live: Mona, Central CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We had been dating 2 years and 8 months when we got engaged. And it was just shy of 4.5 years when we got married.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): May 26, 2012 at Cascade (Hamden)

 Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

Remember that as nice as all your details will be- the day of the wedding, you really won't care at all. You'll be so happy that you're married to your best friend that you won't even notice the details you spent hours/days planning.

Make sure you eat the day of your wedding.

Smile and look at your husband when you walk down the aisle.

Make it a point to spend time with your husband on your wedding day, no matter how many people try to pull you away.

When it comes to a photographer, I honestly believe you get what you pay for. If you're going to splurge on anything, make sure it's your photographer (we used King Vincent Storm and loved them!).  I would also recommend hiring a videographer if you can. Photos and video are the only thing you'll have to remember your wedding by so don't skimp on them!

Sumler2Be

First name and city where you live: Jovanna in Springfield MA

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: Ive been with my FI for 13 years

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): 2/14/2014 in Norwalk CT

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? Well I jus got the go ahead to get serious so he only thing hats "booked" is the DJ. Im taking it that my venue for reception is not that used because my date is still available

gracediva

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: 

Dating for a lot, a lot of years. 

First name and city where you live: Grace from Wilton.Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): Still looking for my '14 wedding. ... one more appointment next will and then, I will make my final decision. How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? new here. new in the planning process.

lac1252

First name and city where you live: Lori - Stamford

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We've been together 4 years

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): May 24, 2014 at the Inn at Longshore in Westport

How far are you in the planning process? Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share? I like to think I'm a little ahead of the game. We have our venue, church (St. Thomas Aquinas in Fairfield), photographer (Timecut Photography), transportation (New York Trolley Co). I also have my dress which I bought from Couture Bridal in RI. My advice so far is to read lots of reviews and book as early as you can. Also, make sure you get everything in writing! Also the time will fly. We got engaged in October and I can't believe how fast these 9 months have gone.

JodiAriel

First name and city where you live: Jodi, West Haven

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé,/how long you dated before you got married: We dated for 11 mos before getting engaged, got married 7 mos after we got engaged

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): 5/1/2011 at Wickham Park

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? Research your vendors well and talk to past brides (and NOT the ones they give you as references, find ones on your own).  Take in every moment, it's over too soon.  Hire a videographer so you can see all those moments you miss because you can't be everywhere at once. 

Vendors:

Rick @ Boppers - Awesome!

Jane @ Just for You Floral - Awesome!

Val McCormick Photography - SUCKED

Naomi's Salon - Angela is awesome.  Naomi did a great job on my makeup but was late on my wedding day.

banana468

KCLindgren said:

I’m recently engaged and excited to meet you all!  Let’s introduce ourselves (married girls welcome to chime in!).

First name and city where you live:  Anne -  East Lyme

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married:   Proposed at 2 yrs 4 mos, married at 3 yrs 5 mos

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!):   August 4th, 2007.    Married in Trumbull at St. Theresa Church and reception in Monroe at the Stone Barn

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

Remember that it's just a day.   It's an important day but don't put it as the most important day of your life or the rest of your life is all downhill!      

It's really important to remember your guests.   You invited them there for a reason.   That said - eat your food!    Take the 15 minutes and sit and eat.   I loved our sweetheart table for this reason.    We had a wonderful time there as just the two of us even if it was short.   

hkinsley

First name and city where you live: Heather Manchester CT (Soon to be Coventry CT)

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: Going on 5 years

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!):  4/19/14 Gershon Fox Ballroom Hartford CT

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

I have our photographer, DJ, Ceremony space, Venue, Bridal Party chosen, Dress, Some flower girl dresses, Guestlist (sort of)...Officiant picked out (a friend) thats about it. We decided not to do STDs since we don't ahve a lto of out of town guests, and we found someone looking to build from a videography business to do our engagment photos for free (which we hadn't even planned on doing doing so its an added extra).

We are in the process of building a new home, they start framing next week so I'm kind of done with the wedding planning for now, in fact I wish I didn't have anythign left to plan.  Horrible, I know!

LilyRose82

First name and city where you live: Lily, Orange, CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: Close to 5 years.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): Hoping for October 25, 2014.  Planning on something intimate at my Godmother's estate.

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?

Alot of our close friends have recently married and I have received feedback and advice from them.  I'm still in the beginning process for planning.  Not sure we want a church wedding it's a difficult situation with family.  For DJ DJ Malee has been a hit and Mike Connolly has been too but we haven't really made up our mind about having a DJ vs. Band.  For photographer I planned on contacting Val McCormick.  All of our friends used her and all were very happy.  I met her from the weddings she did that I attended and I liked her as well she just makes me feel comfortable.  For flowers the highest recommendations were Jane, I met her and liked her as well.  She was such a sweetheart!  Melissa from Stylish Blooms, I have not met yet but was highly recommended to me. I wasn't very fond of the work of the videographer they all used and will be reaching out for recommendations.  We are still not sure we will be booking one.  We also need to a few recommendations for caterers.  So much planning ahead! 

swiftangel

Think this is a great post and very helpful! 

I’m recently engaged and excited to meet you all!  Let’s introduce ourselves (married girls welcome to chime in!).

First name and city where you live: Andrea Wallingford, Ct

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We have been dating for 8 years (When we get married it will be 9 years)

Wedding date is: June 27,2014 at Aqua Turf in Southington 

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? DJ is Entertainment Unlimited New England ( he is great love him, so easy to work with) I too and using Val McCormick for a photographer. I can tell you she is so personable and works with in a budget. I am using Amy Lynn Colt foreverinbloomflowers.com we wanted to use high end silk flowers. She creates storyboards and emails them to you if you can't get to the store. She shows you your colors and flower suggestions that would work. I was way off on what I picked I thought it would match then when she put my colors next to it I was off. She is available all hours and is quick with responding back to questions. I am not sure about our cake yet or limo service. I have my niece and nephew who are in the wedding and need car seats. The party buses don't have seat belts the only other option is two limos not sure I want to do that. I have no idea what I am doing for church decorations and am looking for ideas. Any suggestions ??? 

 

 

buddysmom80

I'll play!

First name and city where you live: Andrea, I live north of New Haven

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We've been together for three years this month, we got engaged December 2013.

Date of wedding and location of reception (include city!): December 12, 2014 in Wallingford.

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? We have the venue, DJ, photographer, and officiant booked. We have our reception decor nailed down, just need to work on it this summer. The cake is included with our venue so technically that's booked too. Now just have to work on apparel and ceremony decorations.

jnetbean

First name and city where you live: Jeanette - New London, CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We have been together for 8 years and got engaged in June 2013

Wedding date is: October 4, 2014, at Rocky Neck State Park

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? I have booked the reception/ceremony site and will be signing the contract with the caterer within the next week. Rocky Neck provides you with a list of 7 approved caterers so the amount of research I had to do was limited. I have been spending a tremendous amount of time researching photographers and have not settled on one yet. I appreciate everyone's feedback on the forums - a lot of the photographers I have contacted have come from recommendations on here!

kirby400

First name and city where you live: Joanna near New Milford CT

How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We have been together for almost 8 years!

Wedding date is: September 2014

How far are you in the planning process?  Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share?  Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful?  I have venue and photographer. I'm DIYing the invitations with clipart and fonts from dafont.com. I have some decorations from black friday and post-fall sales. We got engaged at Christmas but I was getting ready!

Jswinsick

Hi I'm Jen, and I'm in Bristol

My fiancé Leif and I have been together five years and have two beautiful girls ages 3 and 18 mos.

We are getting married 6/28/14 at Anthony's Ocean View in New Haven. My dream was a beach ceremony with a laid back style clambake reception. I currently have my photographer, videographer, dJ, dress, accommodations for the weekend booked, bridesmaids dresses on order, ummm, invitations, and many DIY projects to get going on :-)

MightyMe

Hi! Michelle from New Haven area. Engaged August 2013, wedding April 2014. We can't wait!

Llikotdesserd

First name and city where you live: Lauren, Branford

 How long you’ve been dating your fiancé/how long you dated before you got married: We dated a little over 2 years before getting engaged in june 2013. 

Wedding date is: June 13, 2015- Lighthouse Point 

How far are you in the planning process? Any tips about vendors or the planning process you can share? Married girls—can you tell us one or two things we MUST do to make our day wonderful? We have venue, our band (Pulse Party band, check em out!), and have decided on our photographer but havent made the arrangements yet. Next up is finding my dress and a caterer!