Hi,
I go to school in Rhode Island- graduating at the end of May, but I'm trying to plan the ceremony in Portland, OR or Seattle, WA where I grew up, my family lives, and I hope to move back to next summer. My fear is that being so far away I may not get to see any venues, vendors, anything in person until a short time (maybe a few weeks) before the date. I really don't want to move the date past early July because I will need to be available to start a new job (and I hate hot hot sweaty summer weddings!). Working on a pretty tight budget I would love to be able to be crafty and do a lot of DIY things for the wedding, but I don't know how to so far away!
I can ask my mom to do things for me but I worry I may get an opinion biased in the way she views things, not usually the same way I do.
Anyone successfully planned a wedding from school without physically being there? Any advice for dealing with the distance and coordinating everything?
I am thinking I may have to skip out on the spring break trip I've planned with my college girlfriends to make an emergency trip home
Re: Wedding location at home (far from your location at school!)
I was born and raised in RI and I'm in the same boat as you- except I'm at Virginia Tech and I'm planning a wedding in Providence!
There is a lot that you can do to ensure it's your wedding day, and you don't have to be physically on the west coast in person to accomplish it. Vendors also have email! I would wisely spend at least your breaks planning and meeting with vendors. FI and I are heading up to RI next week and we're locking in venue, florist, photographer, DJ, etc. it'll be nice beacuse we don't have to worry about anything for at least the next three months until my next break! My mother has also been doing a lot of legwork for us already, with looking into vendors, and for some I trust her (family florist, friend of the family DJ, etc). But ultimately she is very aware that the final say (yea or nay) is up to us- she won't go put a deposit on anything just because she loves it.
it's tough, but it's definitely doable. if the location in the pacific northwest is the most important thing to you about your day, you can and will make it happen. good luck!
40/112
You should ask your fiancee (if he is over there) to go and check them out and give you his input. Otherwise, you either trust your mom with some things and try to organize others yourself.
Don't skip your Spring break, remember that might be your LAST trip as a single lady woman so better take advantage of it.
[QUOTE]Don't skip your Spring break, remember that might be your LAST trip as a single lady woman so better take advantage of it.
Posted by Yadyrra[/QUOTE]
I don't agree with this - if you want to spend your spring break working on WR stuff, then do it. I don't get the whole thing about it being your last vacation as a single lady (woman?) since you are, in fact, engaged - there's nothing I would do now that I won't be able to do once I'm married.
The distance is tough. My family actually lives in Portland and I've been on the East Coast for the past 7 years. I rarely go home, so I can't imagine my wedding depending on it! It's a VERY long trip and it's a lot of money to shell out just to book a DJ and a florist. I agree with PPs, give your mother a little bit of control (but keeping the final vote for you and FI!), making sure she sends you a lot of pictures of every place she visits. And if you don't think she's right for the job, a wedding coordinator would be a wise investment.
As for the DIY, it's kind of tough - if you make a bunch of stuff in RI, how will you transport it to WA/OR? Are you driving or flying home? Even if you're driving, I'm sure you'll have a ton of college stuff to bring home. I think you may have to outsource some DIY to West Coast family, sticking to design on your end of things. Also, it is possible for you to put off the wedding - as long as it's not immediately after you get hired (meaning you may have to put it off a year or so), most employers will have no problem with you taking off for your wedding, but you need to be up-front about it when you interview. If you don't think you'll have something lined up, though, and you may still be job-hunting for a while, it may be better to get married first.
I agree completely, completely with LauraT25. Completely. It's your wedding. Spend your time as YOU see fit. If you don't want to give your mom some power over your wedding... then obviously, you need to do it yourself (or hire a WC!).