NEED HELP!! WHERE TO START!!

amasian25 · August 2010

WE HAVE RECENTLY JUST GOTTEN ENGAGED I HAVE ALREADY CHOSEN A WEDDING DAT FOR NEXT OCTOBER HOWEVER I DONT KNOW WHERE TO GO FROM HERE!!! PLEASE ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED! THANKS

smsimpson · August 2010

If you look under My Knot and then under My Checklist, it will give you an idea of what needs to be done and in what order. You can check things off as you go and check off the things that don't apply to you. You can also add your own reminders.

I would probably start with finding a a venue since I hear some places are booked over a year in advance for weddings. That didn't really apply for us because we're getting married in Dominican Republic. Hopefully this helps and if not, hopefully some of the other girls will be able to help.

Good Luck with your planning

christinelyn0131 · August 2010

First, get an idea of what you want from a wedding. Then, book your ceremony and reception sites right away. Start looking at dresses you might like. This next year is going to go by really fast.

quotequeen · August 2010

You need a budget, a general vision of your wedding, and a rough guest list. Then you need to determine whether those three things match up, which will require doing some research to figure out how much your vision will cost to implement for your number of guests. If they don't match up, you need to decide which of those things you're willing to compromise on - increasing the budget, scaling down the vision, or reducing the guest list - until you get them to match up. Then you can book your ceremony and reception venues.

sjmchambers · August 2010

Go buy a good wedding planning book if you're DIY. Look at several and see what seems the most complete and helpful to you. Then start flipping through magazines and books for ideas and rip 'em out and put them in your binder (half-price books is good since the mags are so expensive). Soon enough you'll have a vision of what you want. Talk to your friends for ideas, talk to the parentals about a budget (if they're contributing at all), and make sure to get some input from your FI. Remember it's his big day too! And have fun

trix1223 · August 2010

Please turn off the all caps. I'll be happy to answer you even if you don't shout at me.

The very first thing, before you do ANYTHING, is to establish your budget. Because from the budget will come every single other decision you'll be making.

Unless you know how much you have to spend, you can't decide how many people you can host. You can't decide what kind of reception to have: venue, food, ancillary costs.

Your budget should reflect what you and your FI can afford. If no one offers to help you pay for the wedding, assume they're not. If someone offers to pay for any or all of your wedding, don't count on the $$ until you actually have received it and have deposited it into your account.

I can't tell you the number of posts here from brides wanting to know:
A) How to ask parents to pay for the wedding

How to cut back because parents who promised $$ have now withdrawn the offer.

So budget. It's not romantic, and it's not fun, and it's not princess-y, but it's the root of every decision you'll be making in the next 14 months. So budget first, then you'll be able to make the romantic, fun and princess-y decisions.

Congrats and GL

jmkes · August 2010

Congratulations amasian, this will be an exciting time for you. Like pp's said - first figure out how much money you have to work with. Then think about what kind of wedding you want to have for that amount of money. Do you want a lot of guests? Keep in mind that you will need to feed them. If you don't have a big budget then you may have to do just cake/desserts and punch. Do you want it small and intimate? Look for venues that offer elopement/small wedding packages.

Don't ask anyone for money, don't count on people to give you money unless they offer it to you and actually give it to you.

When looking at costs keep in mind that little hidden costs will come up: vendors will usually have additional charges on top of their flat fee. Dresses usually need alterations; you'll need special undergarments, jewelry, shoes.

Use the message boards here. Lots of ladies have great ideas and you can bounce your ideas off of us to get opinions. GL!

Oh and like pp said - take the caps lock off of your computer. It's viewed as shouting or yelling. You'll get a warmer response from people if they don't think you're yelling at them.

Mioh1 · August 2010

Start researching what kind a wedding you want. Setting what's important to you, do you want to spend a lot of money on flowers or having a really nice reception location more ideal to you?

deepcovejackie · August 2010

What Trix said. Start with budget first. Have the wedding you can afford, and you'll feel way more relaxed during the planning.

NEED HELP!! WHERE TO START!!

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