When did you....?

itschelsea · July 2012

Hi all!
I just got engaged this past Sunday (!!!) and am thoroughly basking newly-engaged bliss. Other than a few very general conversations, we aren't going to be jumping into planning right now.

So! My question to all of you, how long did you wait after becoming engaged to start seriously planning your wedding? And how long was your engagement? I'd love to know!

sarabear23 · July 2012

Congrats!

I got engaged in May, and was married the following April. I didn't really start planning until July or so, and went dress shopping in August.

AllAboutTheBenjamin · July 2012

We jumped right in because we didn't want a long engagement. We set the date and were married eight months later.

Girlie1030 · July 2012

Congratulations!

We had a short engagement (less than 7 months) so we started planning pretty much immediately.

babycakes8 · July 2012

Best wishes to you!

We started seriously planning (looking at venues and such) about three weeks after getting engaged. It was nice to have a bit of time to just revel in being engaged.

GypsySoul01 · July 2012

We got engaged in February this year and are getting married in February next year. I booked my photographer and venues very quickly after we got engaged (within a month) because they book up very quickly in my area. After that I took a break until this week. Since I'm right at six months out, I decided I had better start working on the wedding again!

libby2483 · July 2012

We got engaged mid-August of last year, and we had our venue booked within a couple of weeks. We will be getting married this August, so we will be engaged for almost exactly a year.

NicoleSahara · July 2012

Congratulations! I got engaged in January and we decided to get married that August. I didn't do much planning until February when I realized I was only 6 months out. It all went pretty smoothly though.

Winnertag1 · July 2012

Congrats on your engagement

We got engaged in December of 2011, we initially set the date for April 2013. changed it to May 2013 & have finally decided on July 27th 2013, we jumped right into planning and then took a break for a couple of months. Right now I'm working on securing my photographer and then we will probably take a break again for a couple of months since we had pushed the date back by 3 months.

So far I have my dress, the venue, the florist, the DJ, make up & hair & I had my photographer but I am not sure if she is available for the day.

texasgurly13 · July 2012

We got engaged 12/23/11 and started planning seriously in January right after we talked to the church and set our date for August 11. We have a short engagement because FI and I wanted to get married before I go into the Air Force. My recruiter quoted me September-October (just signed my contract for October 16), so we chose August.

ETA: I picked my dress in February and got it altered in March. I had my bridal portraits in April.

angelstar975 · July 2012

We got in engaged in January and be the end of February, we had the church, reception venue and photographer booked. I bought my dress at the end of April. Right about now, I need to start working on a DJ, florist, etc.

Congratulations on your engagement!

ETA - Forgot to mention, the wedding is this coming January, so we'll have been engaged a year.

itschelsea · July 2012

Thanks everyone! I think we're roughly aiming for next year, late summer, early fall, but ya know... I've never planned one of these wedding things and I hear it can be quite an ordeal!

I'll relax for a few weeks and then see if we can get the ball rolling! It's kinda hard not to just jump straight into planning mode, I need to remember to relax and enjoy it!

LesPaul · July 2012

Congrats! We were engaged 15 months. We selected the venue about 10 months out and made a deposit soon after. Caterer and florist were booked about 4 months out. I'd say the serious planning happened the last 3 months or so.

tpender13 · July 2012

Congrats! Ditto the PPs that gave you props on your sig pink -- I love your ink! I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next. One of my ideas is a partial sleeve, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to jump into that yet.

We started planning right away. Like some of the others, we didn't want a long engagement either. We got engaged the first Saturday in June of 2010, and got married the first Saturday of that November -- so we were engaged five months.

I would suggest talking to your FI about what you want for your wedding soon. You don't have to start planning right away, but I would suggest at least getting a general idea of what you want, like a winter wedding with about 300 people, or a very intimate destination wedding this fall. That way you'll know that you have plenty of time before you have to plan, or plenty of time to save, or know that you want to start moving on things sooner rather than later.

itschelsea · July 2012

tpender, thats a good idea! One of the things I'm struggling with right now is that I have no idea what kind of wedding I want! Indoor downtown metropolitan wedding, or outdoor garden/lodge style wedding? No idea!

I'm trying not to smother FI with in-your-face-wedding talk but nailing down a style is probably the first place to start.

tpender13 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_when-did-you?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:58053e56-5c85-40ef-8fca-26101e42cf4bPost:1d02d590-5004-47b1-a5fe-a7a7eebf78c8">Re: When did you....?</a>:
[QUOTE] I'm trying not to smother FI with in-your-face-wedding talk but nailing down a style is probably the first place to start.
Posted by itschelsea[/QUOTE]

If you don't know what style you want, then you could start somewhere else, like your guests. Do you envision a very small and intimate affair? Could you not imagine getting married without all of your extended family there? Or maybe there's a place that is special to you and FI where you'd like to get married -- you could plan around the venue. If you really don't know, then just chill for awhile.

I just checked your post history to figure out where I remembered you from -- I mean, duh, obviously you've posted here before. But I totally remember reading your post about your cousin asking your dad to pay for honeymoon tickets. How did that turn out? Was the wedding as much of a clusterfuck as I'd imagine it would be?

blgrout · July 2012

Congrats! We got engaged last August and knew we didn't want a super-long engagement, so we got married in April, so 8 months roughly. We didn't start planning until we were 6-7 months away and had plenty of time.

itschelsea · July 2012

OHMYGOSH! I'd actually been wanting to share that story but didn't want to come in as a newbie and complain...

It was actually really sad. They decided to take photos after the ceremony but unfortunately it took them 3 HOURS! And on top of that, they didn't actually host a reception. So for three hours, the guests stood around drinking water eating ritz crackers staring at each other. I actually had to LEAVE before even seeing my cousin because we had a two hour drive back to the airport that night.

It was so disrespectful to everyone that took time to celebrate with them. Grandparents that have traveled to see your wedding can't normally stay up until 10:00pm waiting for a first dance... Whew! Mini rant but it really ticked me off.

I signed his guestbook "Sorry we missed you!"

tpender13 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_when-did-you?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:58053e56-5c85-40ef-8fca-26101e42cf4bPost:0d66e986-3ae7-4181-be26-d448913e1e92">Re: When did you....?</a>:
[QUOTE]OHMYGOSH! I'd actually been wanting to share that story but didn't want to come in as a newbie and complain... It was actually really sad. They decided to take photos after the ceremony but unfortunately it took them 3 HOURS! And on top of that, they didn't actually host a reception. So for three hours, the guests stood around drinking water eating ritz crackers staring at each other. I actually had to LEAVE before even seeing my cousin because we had a two hour drive back to the airport that night. It was so disrespectful to everyone that took time to celebrate with them. Grandparents that have traveled to see your wedding can't normally stay up until 10:00pm waiting for a first dance... Whew! Mini rant but it really ticked me off. I signed his guestbook "Sorry we missed you!"
Posted by itschelsea[/QUOTE]

Wow... that's ridiculous! What kind of place was the wedding at? For the people who did stick around, did they all just pay for their own way if nothing was hosted? Or did everyone just starve?

itschelsea · July 2012

Apparently the bride and groom didn't have the money for food, so a couple of relatives literally brought ritz crackers and some cheese. Thirty minutes after the ceremony, those were gone and most people were drinking in the parking lot.

Lesson learned. HOST your guests!

amyb140 · July 2012

I started planning immediately because my engagement was only 4 months. Totally doable though the dress and venues were the only things I was a little stressed about.

Megbo2012 · July 2012

Totally recognize your sig. Congratulations!

mbrischoux · July 2012

Congratulations!

We were engaged on August 30, and had our church and venue booked within 4 weeks. I purchased my dress at about 6 weeks, and had all of our vendors chosen by late November (the photography choice took the longest...geez!). By the time our wedding occurred, we were engaged a little over 10 months.

Enjoy wedding planning! Your siggy pic is tres adorable!

LDubHawksFan · July 2012

I'm having a 10 month engagement. FI proposed on Christmas and we were visiting my family in Iowa through NYE, so we agreed not to think about planning or anything until we got home. That didn't stop family from asking.....I will admit that I pulled out the bridal magazines my gma bought for me on the second leg of the flight home though!

Congrats!!!

Gabrielle76 · July 2012

Congrats!

FI and I are having a long engagement, he popped the question last january (a year and a half ago) and our wedding isn't until July, so in the end the engagement will be 2 1/2 years long. We started seriously planning about three months ago.

APDSS22 · July 2012

We got engaged last April (not a few months ago, last year) and I haven't really done much because we're aiming for next September. I did purchase my dress a couple months ago. We're just starting to work on the serious details.

I would definitely recommend perusing wedding stuff and kinda feeling out what you want. It's lovely to enjoy time just being engaged.

jennipea382 · July 2012

We got engaged May 2011 and the first real wedding related thing we did was tour the reception venue in July. We didn't book it until October.. I'd say that's when we "really" started planning. Our wedding is March 23, 2013 so we will be engaged for about 22 months :-)

amorg334 · July 2012

Congratulations

. When we got engaged we had started planning right away. Our wedding is november of 2013 and we wanted to start planning early so we could get an idea of how many guests we would want. If we booked certain venues would we would pay. So we could have a budget and work within it.

achiduck · July 2012

Congrats! I got "officially" engaged last summer it'll be 16 months less a day when we get married.

Within about 2 weeks we had booked the reception venue and church but we're also using a very popular venue. It usually books a minimum of 18 months in advance so we were luck to get the day we did. Once I got those done, I probably waited about 2 months to start booking other vendors. In order we booked: photographer, DJ, string quartet, florist, cake baker, transportation company. But I also knew exactly who I wanted to work with.

ghowlett · July 2012

Congrats! We got engaged in January & will be getting married next June, so about 1 1/2 year engagement. The first thing we did was the guest list. I was super paranoid about falling in love with a venue, but then finding out we couldn't fit. We started touring places in late February & signed a contract in April. As of right now, the only other things we have signed are the DJ & photographer. I'd recommend booking your band or DJ as soon as you have a venue/date. I waited too long & the DJ we really wanted was booked. We actually ended up calling up our venue & bumping our date up a week to get him.

melb2013 · July 2012

Well I'm the crazy girl here... we will have been engaged 22 months by the time we get married.

I "just for fun" went dress shopping the month after we got engaged and ended up buying a dress!

We booked a venue and secured a date 19 months is advance and guess what... we didn't have our choice of dates! I was floored! But I still got one of my top choice dates obviously. Anyway, I didn't do any other planning until about the 14th month mark.

By my one year, I had all my major vendors booked. But it's all be very easy, stressfree, and relaxed because I get to do it all on my time frame. Haven't done much planning this summer because work is crazy in the summers. This fall I'm very consumed with other weddings I'm involved in, so I'm glad we did so much so early.

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