Pearls of Wisdom: Married Brides!

Re: Pearls of Wisdom: Married Brides!

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  sierramist_03

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  1) How long was your engagement? 17 months
  
  2) Did you feel this was just right/too long/too short? too long I think I could have planned the wedding in 6 months but mainly because it was in January and the vendors I wanted were still available.
  
  3) Would you change it? yes If so, how? I wouldn't have had SIL as a bridesmaid but rather but her in the same dress but in black on the groom's side. Everytime we went to take a picture before the wedding the candid ones she was never around.
  
  4) Did you go to any bridal shows? yes If so, was that helpful to you? I went to the Topeka Bridal Show and Manhattan Bridal Show and they were neat but not really helpful since I had most of my vendors but I still wanted to attend to experience it.
  
  5) How did you decide your budget? I don't want to say we didn't have one but we just budgeted what the basics would cost Did you stick to it? I actually think we ended up under what we expected.
  
  6) What was your favorite part of planning your wedding? my favorite part was look at the inspirations and ideas and gathering them. Coming up with the centerpieces and such Least favorite? dealing with family--getting all the tux measurements and the dress meausrements and money.
  
  7) Did you splurge on anything you "had to have"? alcohol and DJ Was it worth it in the end? not really we thought we would need more alcohol than we actually needed. The DJ was definately worth it they did a great job and keep everyone entertained all night.
  
  8) Do you have any regrets? SIL being a bridesmaid see above. The rental company I rented the table linens from was a mess (table cloths were wrinkled, not circles, not white, etc).
  
  9) Did you have anything that worked really well? my aunt did all the silk flower arrangements and they were out great because they were cheaper than the florist and exactly what I wanted.
  
  10) What is your biggest piece(s) of advice for wedding planning? don't sweat the small stuff everything will work out in the end. The wedding day? take a moment and breath with your husband just the two of you.
  
  11) What was life like after the wedding for you & FH? life was a lot of less stressful Did you experience any kind of wedding blues/shock? a little bit because I had filled so much of my time with wedding stuff I had to find something new to fill my time.

  

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  JusLyn678 member

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  1) How long was your engagement? 3.5 years.
  
  2) Did you feel this was just right/too long/too short? For us it was just right.  We were still in college when he proposed.  We both knew that we wanted to be out of school before we were married.  So that 3.5 years was long enough for us to be out of college for a year.
  
  3) Would you change it? yes If so, how? My wedding? I would have been more thoughtful about my bridesmaid choices.  One of them was kicked out a week or so before the wedding for getting in a fight (physical at times) with my MOH on my bachelorette party.  And another I haven't spoken to much since the wedding.  The other 3 were perfect choices, but I could have been better and more thoughtful choices on the other 2.  Another thing I would have changed was spending more money on the DJ.  You get what you pay for.  I got a great deal and I got a crappy DJ.  And the final thing I would have changed (and DH would not) is to see each other before ceremony for pictures.  We did all the pictures we could beforehand with out Dh and I seeing each other...but after we felt so rushed to finish pictures quickly and get to the reception.  You can definitely tell it in your pictures.  And we didn't get some of the ones we would have liked with Dh and I because we were rushed.
  
  4) Did you go to any bridal shows? yes If so, was that helpful to you? Yes, I went to 1 in Columbia where our wedding was.  That was helpful to narrow down vendors.  I also went to the one at the OP convention center.  That wasn't as helpful just because our wedding was 2 hours from there so it was unlikely that we would be using any of the vendors there. 
  
  5) How did you decide your budget?  Did you stick to it? We didn't really have a set number.  We knew what his parents were going to give, what my mom was going to give, and somewhat what my dad was going to help with.  I think my dad and his parents spent more than what they originally had planned.  Overall, our wedding cost more than I ever would have thought even with being mindful about spending.
  
  6) What was your favorite part of planning your wedding? I liked a lot of parts...I am one of the few that actually loved planning my wedding.  I like researching for the best deal, I liked searching for ideas, I liked organizing all of my ideas and telling them to the vendors, etc.
  Least favorite? The seating chart...by far.  We had a plated dinner so it was pretty much a have to sort of thing...and I hated every minute of it.
  
  7) Did you splurge on anything you "had to have"? Open bar.  Our parents wanted to just do beer and wine, but I was pretty adamant about open bar (with well drinks) because we had a lot of friends and family traveling from out of town so I thought it was the nice thing to do for them.Was it worth it in the end? I think so.  Everyone had a great time.  My dad even ended up paying extra to have the open bar extended an hour...so I think he thought it was worth it too.
  
  8) Do you have any regrets? Explained above.
  
  9) Did you have anything that worked really well? Nothing really went wrong aside from the horrible DJ...everything else worked out perfectly.
  
  10) What is your biggest piece(s) of advice for wedding planning? Definitely do your research before settling on anything.  And the "Bridal Bargains" book is a great tool.  AAANNNDDD, have a binder or something organize all of your things  (contracts, information, etc).The wedding day? Don't feel bad having to delegate last minute things to get done.  People are more than willing to help you out, you just have to ask.  And take a private moment with your new husband at some point to enjoy the moment together.
  
  11) What was life like after the wedding for you & FH?  Pretty much the same.  We had already lived together for a few years before getting married.  The stress level did not really drop off because we bought a house a month later.  :l Did you experience any kind of wedding blues/shock? A little bit.  I really enjoyed planning and spent a lot of time doing it so I was kind of sad when it all ended and I had to find something else to do. 

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  kimberli kravitz

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  1) How long was your engagement? Techincally it was 2months.....We technically got married in August 2006 but didn't have our actual wedding until May 2008.
  
  2) Did you feel this was just right/too long/too short? Just perfect. DH deployed less than a week after we got married.
  
  3) Would you change it? If so, how? The engagement no, the JOP ceremony no, the actual wedding yes! it was a disaster lol.
  
  4) Did you go to any bridal shows? If so, was that helpful to you? We went to one in Topeka kinda just to do. We had everything planned but the limo.
  
  5) How did you decide your budget? Did you stick to it? We picked a number we thought was fair. We tried our best and i think we got really close but i didn't really keep track.
  
  6) What was your favorite part of planning your wedding? Least favorite? Dress shopping........ Dealing with our photographer
  
  7) Did you splurge on anything you "had to have"? Was it worth it in the end? The honeymoon! Yes worth every freaking penny!!!!!
  
  8) Do you have any regrets? I have many. I wish I would have shopped around better. I think the only thing that didn't go "wrong" on the actual wedding day was my dress and the limo ride afterwards. Everything else had one hiccup or another.
  
  9) Did you have anything that worked really well? nothing really comes to mind.
  
  10) What is your biggest piece(s) of advice for wedding planning? The wedding day? Shop around. Once you find something you think you want to book or have. Think about it for a day or two before you commit.
  
  11) What was life like after the wedding for you & FH? Did you experience any kind of wedding blues/shock? No real wedding blues or shock.  Our life, bc of the army, is pretty crazy. I would say that was more of a shock than actually being married.

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  Mrs. Guthrie

  

  December 2009 edited December 2011

  1) How long was your engagement?  9 months
  
  2) Did you feel this was just right/too long/too short?  It was just about the right amount of time.  I had enough time to shop around but couldn't procrastinate too much.
  
  3) Would you change it? If so, how?  The engagement?  Well, I wish it could have been a couple of years ago but really the timing was right since I now know 100% that my now husband was ready to be married.
  
  4) Did you go to any bridal shows? If so, was that helpful to you?  I went to one small one in my town.  It didn't help too much but I did get to try the cake I was going to get there.
  
  5) How did you decide your budget? Did you stick to it?  We picked a number that I thought was half the national average (don't know if it really is or not).  We actually came in just under it I think.  It got a little crazy at the end because my mom would just buy stuff so I'm not sure I tracked those numbers well.
  
  6) What was your favorite part of planning your wedding? Least favorite?  Favorite was picking out the dresses, mine and the bridesmaids and flower girl.  Least favorite was everything else.  I kept worrying that I wasn't getting the best deal. 
  
  7) Did you splurge on anything you "had to have"? Was it worth it in the end?  Biggest splurge was the reception hall.  I could have gone cheaper but really, I'm happy with the way I chose.  We did not have to decorate anything!  They set it all up for us.  I did go in on Friday afternoon and drop off some stuff but overall, it was little work.  I had considered a local VFW or something like that but it would have been ugly and I would have had to spend more for decorations and spend more time working on making it look good.
  
  8) Do you have any regrets?  No, not that I can think of.  The day went great.  Very little issues.
  
  9) Did you have anything that worked really well?  Having a reveal.  I did not want to do it but FI talked me into it.  I am so happy we did it.  After I saw him and cried, I felt so much better and was able to relax.  My MOH said my pictures after I saw him were so much better than the pictures before I saw him.  I did not cry during the ceremony and I think I would have had I not had that special moment with him.  Then we were able to do 95% of the pictures before the ceremony so that made the reception flow better.
  
  10) What is your biggest piece(s) of advice for wedding planning? The wedding day?  For planning, go with your gut.  I was always second guessing myself looking for the best deal.  Look at your options and make the best decision with the information you have and then forget about it.  For the wedding day, do a reveal.  See the above question for the reasons.
  
  11) What was life like after the wedding for you & FH? Did you experience any kind of wedding blues/shock?  Well, we have only been married 10 days so I don't have much to talk about.  I moved into his house and sold my house (officially yesterday) so it is nice to be able to see each other every day and get to have time with each other even though things have been crazy busy.  I am thankful that the wedding planning is over with.  I didn't enjoy it a whole bunch.  However, now I don't have an excuse to be on the computer when I should be helping with stuff around the house. 

  

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