Planning from a distance?

memornar · March 2010

I am planning my Lexington, KY wedding from Houston, TX. It's difficult because my parents don't even live in Lexington. My sister does and fortunately she is a wedding planning intern so that helps A LOT! She and I don't have a lot of the same tastes so she sends emails of pictures and what not. Also my DJ that I booked is wonderful. He has suggested a ton of other vendors and let them know a head of time that I will be doing a lot through email and telephone.

After you select a reception site ask the person in charge for other suggestions.

Kander05 · March 2010

I am in the same boat as you! We are currently living in Norther Arizona and our wedding is going to be back in my home town in South Dakota - 18 hour drive :-(
The most helpful tool for me is finding a local Bridal magazine that is 100% focused local venues, florists, catering, cakes, DJ's, photographers...you get the idea. I would for sure try to see if there is something like that for your location. This magazine has saved my life! Good luck!!

key721 · March 2010

I'm planning a wedding in Colorado and live in FL. i first grabbed a couple Colorado Bridal guides(someone can hunt the GA ones down for you....I have found them at vendor places and such. Sometimes you can google them and have them sent to you, there is nothing like a guide full of vendors to give you photos and ideas.

    My heart was set on a place for the reception, and I took a quick trip out there to see there was a lot of bad things about the place not shown on the dvd they sent me. So that was a bust, but I did pick several vendors in my short two day trip.

   I finally found a great place and a modest price, but didn't want to trek back out there. After talking to several vendors in the area(florists,photographers,officents,) they were able to give me honest feedback so I went with a place I haven't been to yet. One thing is to ask them about several places, see what they think is a great place. Please note that some vendors get kick backs for referring you to a place, so always check reviews online and get plenty of photos.

    I did all my contracts through mail, e-mail, and phone calls. I still plan to go out one more time to finalize menus, and floral selections. So, it can be done.=) I enjoy planning it from afar.
    A friend in your hometown can meet with places and give you feedback, if you trust them enough to be like minded. Or, you can find a planner. Some are really expensive, but I found an affordable one for 540 for day of, and she lets me pay her for extra planning hours I need.

   Bridal Organizers(sold at bookstores) are a must for keeping everything organized.=)

   Good luck, I really have had fun planning my wedding long distance.=) Hope you do too.

bexter_fish · March 2010

Im getting married in Birmingham England and i live in Scotland - thats about 6 hours away - we are now t-3.5 months to go - we have been plannign a huge wedding from afar. Good thing is LOADS of things can be done on the internet and on the phone, jsut make sure you plan ahead - there will be things like venues you need to do in person. Our parents have done some bits for us but most of our wedding we have planned from up here.

Venue - we visited on a trip home - booked it by email and are doing most the prep over the phone apart from one final meeting a few weeks before

Church - we are using our parish church - again phone boking and 1 visit - same weekend as venue (for ease get married in the same place as reception??)

Dress - you can get your dress where you live - i made the mistake of getting it where im getting married and this has been difficult becasue of fitting etc - but it can be done

rings/invites/favours etc etc can be done where you live

Photographer - the internet is your friend! find one and call them - visit if you cvan but if not jsut have a phone call or two - same with cake and flowers

jsut make sure when you are in your home town for the odd weekend you plan well in advance who you need to see and book in meetings. give yourself time to plan - we have been planning ours for 18months but a year is ok - any less is more difficult

Explain the situation to people over the phone - its unlikely you will be their first out of town weding and if you are giving them business people will make exceptions such as out of hours appointemtns ect.

if guests are gonig to have a long travel tehn send invites early - 6 weeks is ok for a weeding down the road but 6 hours away people need more notice - 3-4 months is best epending if your wedding is in the summer break period when people are on holiday!

The internet is your biggest friend - followed by your mobile (sorry cell phone!)

book a few days locally jsut befiore the wedding - im having a week off before jsut to make sure everything is in order and iv traveled down and everythings ok. 6 hours isnt that far jsut be organised and youl have a fab wedding. Rememebr not to get stressed - it supposed to be fun.

jeska67 · March 2010

I am planning a California wedding and live in Iowa, it has been hard and I won't have the luxury of seeing anything until the week before the wedding!! I picked out my dress and used a large chain wedding place for the bridesmaid dresses so that made it easier for the bridesmaids!
My mom has been doing a lot for me, I have the same difficulty with planning in a small town that doesn't have a lot of choices! My mom has made me make first contact with all the vendors which was annoying at first but has really helped with my voice to get heard, and so that I feel like I have a part in the planning. Most vendors have been able to keep in contact with my via email. The biggest advice I would give is to pick your battles and to be as specific as possible with the important stuff. I have been finding pictures of flowers that I like and ones I hate and sending them to my mom so she knows what I want. She is also very good at running everything past me. Good luck!

soccerkris · March 2010

I think there are more long distance planning brides than most people thought. My FI and I live in AR and are getting married in my hometown in Wisconsin. I saw the venue before we were ever engaged which really helped. I planned a trip home for 10 days (over a long holiday weekend so I only had to take 4 days off of work) and I did everything that week. Figured out BM dresses, cake, photoghapher, florist, DJ, viewed the church again, and check out tuxes. Like many of the other LD brides, do so as much research online. I figured out so much before I ever went home. Book your appointments as soon as you know you are going home and who you want to meet with. Do as much as you can on your first few trips so you are not stressed out in the end. Remember, the early bird gets the worm and in our bride terms, you get what you want before someone else books it! Good luch. It really is not that bad unless you make it stressful.

L3ONA · March 2010

I live in Bahrain in the Middle East. My family and I are from Scotland and we are getting married in my finace's town in Ottawa, Canada. I have managed to do everything online and have used my mother-in-law as a point of contact if required.
It has also been really easy coordinating all the guests by setting up our own website.
Just get stuck in and you'll soon get into the swing of things.

NJSL · March 2010

We're planning our Pittsburgh wedding from the Finger Lakes area of New York. My hometown is about a 2 hour drive from Pittsburgh, so it's not like my grandparents (they're the only ones left that live in my hometown) can easily make the trip for me. The first thing I did was do a TON of research to get a realistic idea of what things will cost before we had the budget talk with each of our parents. We're going down to Pitt in a couple weeks for a long weekend, we have 10 appointments to visit possible ceremony/reception locations. Then we're going back down 2 weeks later with my parents to sign a contract with a place, do tastings with caterers and attend a bridal show to get info on the rest of the vendors we're going to need. We're also planning on asking whatever venue we book with to recommend some vendors and check them against the recommendations on the local board here. I really don't know how anyone planned weddings before the internet!

XxScytheSelenexX · March 2010

I was just proposed to last week. My Fi is in the army and stationed in Germany. We're having the wedding in NH where we both used to live (I'm in NY lol.)

We still have a long while to plan but he won't be here for a lot of it.

I've been looking online but haven't found any photographers or caterers and such that I like so far. Any advice or suggestions?

Siobhan50 · March 2010

Live in CANADA, being married in FLORIDA May 8..hired a wedding planner, who made has assisted with organizing everything. Her fee is very reasonable, I figured in the costs saved by hiring her in trips, phone calls etc and it has been a savings. I also have a good friend who lives in Florida and she has helped with things as well. I was able to check various vendors recommended via internet as the planner gave me choices/recommendations. Still a little nerve racking, but I would be just as anxious with local vendors here at home...
Staying organized, agenda, business cards and spreadsheets definately helpful

Westbury2010 · March 2010

Hi there,
I'm from Montreal, Canada, getting married in NY. My fiancé is there already so I got him to do all the dirty work

. But seriously, what helped us is simplicity.
First determine budget and # of guests, and take into account prices will vary depending on the area. Forget themes and frou frou things, it will drive you crazy.
Then find vendors that include all. We chose a beautiful reception hall that will include everything but the centerpieces. So I don't have to worry about linens, decorations, cake, etc.
As for photo/DJ, start the search with the list of preferred vendors from the reception hall. That narrowed our search and the photo/DJ know the hall inside out, as well as the RH vouching for them. Might be pricey, but i've heard too many horror stories from people trying to cut corners on important vendors...
I bought my dress here in Montreal.
And I'm not having bridesmaids all all that stuff, too complicated and not necessary at all. My MOH will choose her own dress, and I'll just try to match the BM's tie colour to her dress.
KISS is my moto: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Planning from a distance?

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