How far in advance did you start planning your Vegas wedding?

vegasbride2015 · September 2014

I'm wondering if I am alone, I started planning my wedding a month ago and we already put down a deposit on our venue, and are closer to having almost everything (minus the flights, his tux and a few other minor things) booked. Our wedding isn't until 10/1/2015.

Or maybe my mantra should be "you can never start too early!"

amelisha · September 2014

We got engaged last month and are getting married in May 2015 and I've already booked everything. It's Memorial Day weekend so I know it'll be busy, so I just thought I'd do it all as soon as I could. Plus I felt safer telling our (16-20) guests to look into travel arrangements with stuff actually booked, lol.

vegasgroom · September 2014

You're definitely not too early. We sent our save the dates at a year once we decided on Vegas and then did a scouting trip at just under a year out. We had our venue and photog booked about 11 months out.

tasa4508 · September 2014

We set the date 3 months ago and will be married on Oct 11. I've been all set for about 2 months. We took a couple nights to research online and lock down venues that we both agreed on then booked online and secured with deposits.

What took the most time was deciding what we're going to wear! You could easily book a vegas wedding in a couple days...however availability depends on what's going on and the time of year. If you're flexible on your choices your fine but if you have your heart set on a set location, dress, ring, etc. then you need to build that timeline into your planning. It also depends on how many people. We're a party of 20 not including us or our 2 children.

Our plan:

Stay at The Flamingo in a suite

Hair & makeup in the room the day of

Ceremony at Graceland Chapel (with Elvis) at 2:30

Limo Party Bus for a 4 hour strip tour stopping for photos (Bentley & Wilson Photography)

Dinner at Maggiano's in the Borolo Room at 7:00 until 11:00

After party still TBD but we're thinking somewhere avoiding the 20 somethings where we can dance

mspenn · September 2014

We were engaged in February 04 and Married October 04. I think I had everything booked by end of March 04 so I could send out the save the dates.

aggiespartan · September 2014

We are getting married in December, and we're having trouble planning a lot of things until we get a more clear number on the amount of guests.

Also, the cake and flower people told us to call back in November. We are on the calendar, but nothing is set.

vegasbride2015 · September 2014

I am totally excited which is another reason why I started so soon. Best of luck to all the brides!!!

Ndelible · September 2014

aggiespartan said:

We are getting married in December, and we're having trouble planning a lot of things until we get a more clear number on the amount of guests.

Also, the cake and flower people told us to call back in November. We are on the calendar, but nothing is set.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tell it sister! Everyone thinks because it's Vegas, it's going to be super casual and they can decide the day before if they "feel" like it. Ugh.

catherine21083 · September 2014

We got engaged in July 2013 and we've been planning since putting our deposit down at Planet Hollywood in June 2014. It's never too early for the big stuff if you have a firm idea on guest count. We are leaving some things until we have a more firm head count and for airfare and hotel accommodations as they aren't open for booking yet. We're getting married at Planet Hollywood, doing a lunch 'reception',at Maggiano's, it's more just a meal and a toast or two. Then possibly a 2 hour strip photo tour with Bently and Wilson then on to our cake and cocktails in out suite at PH. Plus we are planning a 'Welcome Drink' in our suite as a rehearsal dinner of sorts. I also have purchased my dress and picked out my maid of honor and flower girls dresses and picked out shoes. We are planning on sending our STD's at about a yr out for our date October 20, 2015 and invitations are going out in March of 2015.

myriah505 · September 2014

We started planning in May this year and got married in September, so 4 months. I can see how you were able to get everything done so early, Vegas makes it super easy. I had pretty much everything done by July.

vegasbride2015 · September 2014

Ndelible said:

aggiespartan said:

We are getting married in December, and we're having trouble planning a lot of things until we get a more clear number on the amount of guests.

Also, the cake and flower people told us to call back in November. We are on the calendar, but nothing is set.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tell it sister! Everyone thinks because it's Vegas, it's going to be super casual and they can decide the day before if they "feel" like it. Ugh.

That is something I worry about too, but we have a relatively small list and the invites are not out yet. (Will be going out next month).

Ndelible · September 2014

vegasbride2015 said:

Ndelible said:

aggiespartan said:

We are getting married in December, and we're having trouble planning a lot of things until we get a more clear number on the amount of guests.

Also, the cake and flower people told us to call back in November. We are on the calendar, but nothing is set.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tell it sister! Everyone thinks because it's Vegas, it's going to be super casual and they can decide the day before if they "feel" like it. Ugh.

That is something I worry about too, but we have a relatively small list and the invites are not out yet. (Will be going out next month).

People trip me out. My sister told me such horror stories today, I thought I just might punch her. Luckily, I remembered it's all going to be good. If they don't feel it necessary to RSVP, they can catch me at a craps table.

vegasbride2015 · September 2014

Thus precisely why we have a small amount of guests. Do not want drama.

TH28754 · September 2014

We started planning in January/February of this year and are getting married in October. I'm on the east coast so I definitely needed to get the word out early so that guests could save and plan to be off work. Most are going to be in Vegas for 4-5 days and the flights are very expensive so I sent my save the dates out pretty early.

missbruiser · September 2014

The great thing about Vegas is that it can be last minute or a year in advance. I am about 6 months away without having anything really set. I think it's great that you have been able to figure it all out. It should save you some $.

destinationtake2 · September 2014

I don't think you can start too early. You never know how early some of your vendors get booked(especially if your wedding is on a weekend).

I contacted an officiant over a year out but wasn't in a rush to book. Contacted her around 11 months out and she was booked on my date.

Sure, you could plan it in a very short amount of time if you had to, with there being so many options in Vegas. But I side with you on the earlier, the better. Especially if you really love planning anyway- it's fun!

vegasgroom · September 2014

missbruiser said:

The great thing about Vegas is that it can be last minute or a year in advance. I am about 6 months away without having anything really set. I think it's great that you have been able to figure it all out. It should save you some $.

If you're having more than immediate family attend, I wouldn't do last minute for Vegas; hotels and flights are much cheaper booked well in advance. There's also the issue of popular wedding vendors tending to book as much as a year in advance, especially photographers and hair & makeup. Venues book way in advance as well if it's somewhere popular for weddings and receptions.

goin2vegas · September 2014

We are starting the planning process already but will not start booking anything until the new year. We are getting married March 18, 2016 so we have plenty of time but once we decide on what we want, I want to ensure we get it! I'd rather book and pay for everything around a year out, than be disappointed that we didn't get our first choice because we waited.

Futuremrshauger · September 2014

We were engaged July 4th this year and had deposits down in August for our 10/16/2015. I was wondering if anyone is using a travel agent for flights? We are coming from MN and have a majority of our guest coming from here as well.

khristiana · September 2014

We started planning in September of 2013.

vegasbride2015 · September 2014

And here I thought I was being over zealous. Thankfully I am not alone. Everything has gone smoothly with the exception of booking our suite, which we did through VRBO/Homeaway and so far has been nothing but a nightmare (not the owner, who is fabulous, but VRBO itself). Hopefully that will be resolved next week. I even bought my daughters dress and it has to be altered so we are getting a quote on that. I realize it is a year out, but I am doing all I can now to pay off everything as I go.

wrigleyville · September 2014

A year is definitely not too soon to lock down a venue, especially somewhere popular like Vegas.

We booked our venue about 14 months in advance. Once we did that and had a firm date, we were able to plan everything else along a timeline.

We sent STDs a year in advance and then sent invitations eight weeks before the wedding. Our RSVPs were due a week before the caterer needed final numbers (to give us time to call stragglers).

We planned for 100% attendance because it meant less stress. We figured if we ended up with declines, we'd just put that money toward our honeymoon. We ended up with 100% attendance, though, which was awesome and unexpected.

aggiespartan · September 2014

We are expecting MAYBE only 50% attendance. It doesn't make much sense for us to plan for 100% attendance when we know we may only get half that. That is the issue we are having right now, along with getting told to call back in a couple months.

vegasbride2015 · September 2014

We are having a very small wedding, and if people can't make it, it wouldn't make a dent in the budget either way. However, I am hoping our families can show. I know for sure my aunt and uncle who live in Vegas will be coming! We also have two confirmed - my Maid of Honor and her plus one.

khristiana · September 2014

The only family I'll have there, besides my MOH sister who lives in California as well, is my Mom, little sister and her husband and kids... Everyone else who's attending is his family and our friends.

tcnoble · September 2014

We got engaged a year ago (yesterday!) and had it all planned by the one-year mark. Things here book up so quickly, all our vendors were more than happy to book things that far in advance. We have lots of OOT guests, but we live here, so we have a lot of guests planning to make a vacation out of it and come for a full week. We are inviting 199 but expecting closer to 150 actual attendance... we are prepared for 100% attendance though, which IMO is always the best thing to do.

KrisLSmiley · September 2014

Since ours is the Saturday after Thanksgiving I contacted each of our guests personally to make sure they were available to come to Vegas that weekend before we even booked the date. As soon as I got the OK I sent the Save the dates right after that. Since it was a holiday I knew that others make plans way out so I wanted to get our plans out there early. Everyone is excited about spending Thanksgiving in Vegas, in fact my best friends mother told me she is also excited because she doesn't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in 50 years! :-)

vegasgroom · September 2014

aggiespartan said:

We are expecting MAYBE only 50% attendance. It doesn't make much sense for us to plan for 100% attendance when we know we may only get half that. That is the issue we are having right now, along with getting told to call back in a couple months.

Vegas may surprise you unless these guests have already told you they can't go. We had about ten 'courtesy invites' that went out to people we were sure would never go, and most went, including my wife's great aunt who's almost 90 years old.

aggiespartan · September 2014

A lot of these people have informally told us things like "well you know we can't go right?" I don't think most of these people will change their minds.

muffin406 · September 2014

I am getting married 09/19/2015 and so far have booked the venue and our hotel room (MGM Signature 1 bedroom suite with balcony). I am thinking about doing a 2 hour strip tour (sounds fun!) and working on finding a place to have dinner. After dinner I think we are going to see O ...

My guest list started at 8, went to 38 and is now somewhere between 18-25. I also am having a hard time planning without an exact count so I decided to concentrate on the guest list before doing anything else.

I am planning to send Save the Dates in Jan so they dont get mixed up with Holiday mailings and to give everyone enough time to make travel plans.

aggiespartan · September 2014

Our guests don't have much longer to procrastinate, because if they want to stay at Aria with us, they have to book their rooms by November something to get the block rate. At Aria, they have to book at least a month ahead of time (at least for our date).

How far in advance did you start planning your Vegas wedding?

Re: How far in advance did you start planning your Vegas wedding?

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