Wedding Woes

Please tell me I still have time to do this....

primafaba15primafaba15 member
100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
edited January 2015 in Wedding Woes
Apologies in advance for the long rant; I am just very stressed and don't feel like I can discuss this with FI or anyone else in my life right now. 

So I'll admit that after the initial months of excitement wedding planning got exhausting and stressful pretty quickly. Intense pressure from both sides of the family as well as financial pressures caused a lot of fighting in the early months of planning between FI and I. We've gotten past that now, but it has not made him eager to jump back into planning. The last few months have also just been awful at work as I've been doing two jobs while we try to replace a coworker -- so, long story short, we lost our momentum.  Attempts to work with a grocery store florist in November fell through and so we got to a point where we just threw up our hands and accepted that we'd have to finish up after the holidays. The major pieces left to finish are: cake, flowers, groomsmen/groom attire, registry, and transportation. We are getting married in July, and I have a feeling that was pushing it for cake and flowers, but I figured we'd be fine if we knocked things out in January.

But then, FI got in a bad accident over the holidays and completely totaled his car. We are extremely, extremely lucky in that by some miracle neither he nor anyone else was hurt, and the only vehicle seriously damaged was his -- so I don't want to give the impression in the slightest that I am anything but grateful for that, or aware that it could have been much worse. However, in addition to presenting financial problems (his car is old and the insurance payout will not likely cover the cost of a replacement, even used) this has created a new logistical issue for us. We have had to do almost all wedding business on weekends because we are getting married in the city I live in and he lives about 2 hours away (ends up being a lot longer than that on weeknights). Until he gets a new car, we will need to spend weekends at his place, which makes meeting with vendors in my area difficult. Between that and the fact that he now has to work several weekends in January and February, I am concerned we won't be able to do anything until late February, which the planning timelines all seem to suggest is just not fast enough for things like cake and flowers. So now I'm starting to freak out a little. 

Over the holidays I gave up on my plan for the bouquets and am ordering some inexpensive silk flowers, so I think all we'll need is corsages and boutonnieres, but I don't know how early we'd need to order those from a 'real' florist since the grocery stores just aren't panning out. And I'm completely lost on timeline for cake. We won't be able to afford anything fancy, but it will need to be at from a place that delivers (I'd be fine with a Stop & Shop cake, but there's no one who could help me pick it up and I'll probably have to spend most of the day before the wedding entertaining out-of-town relatives) and I don't know how long to expect on that either.  

Am I overreacting?  Is there any chance that I'd still be able to get this done? I just feel completely lost. and I can't possibly mention any of this to FI for weeks, because he's (understandably) still really upset by the accident and (reasonably) more worried about his transportation than a silly party. I know it's not a big deal in the big scheme of things, but we're asking relatives to pay a lot of money to come out for this (as my parents' remind me daily) so I still feel a lot of pressure to do this right and meet expectations (especially since cake and what we have left to get for flowers are really for our guests, not for us). 

Re: Please tell me I still have time to do this....

  • Apologies in advance for the long rant; I am just very stressed and don't feel like I can discuss this with FI or anyone else in my life right now. 

    So I'll admit that after the initial months of excitement wedding planning got exhausting and stressful pretty quickly. Intense pressure from both sides of the family as well as financial pressures caused a lot of fighting in the early months of planning between FI and I. We've gotten past that now, but it has not made him eager to jump back into planning. The last few months have also just been awful at work as I've been doing two jobs while we try to replace a coworker -- so, long story short, we lost our momentum.  Attempts to work with a grocery store florist in November fell through and so we got to a point where we just threw up our hands and accepted that we'd have to finish up after the holidays. The major pieces left to finish are: cake, flowers, groomsmen/groom attire, registry, and transportation. We are getting married in July, and I have a feeling that was pushing it for cake and flowers, but I figured we'd be fine if we knocked things out in January.

    But then, FI got in a bad accident over the holidays and completely totaled his car. We are extremely, extremely lucky in that by some miracle neither he nor anyone else was hurt, and the only vehicle seriously damaged was his -- so I don't want to give the impression in the slightest that I am anything but grateful for that, or aware that it could have been much worse. However, in addition to presenting financial problems (his car is old and the insurance payout will not likely cover the cost of a replacement, even used) this has created a new logistical issue for us. We have had to do almost all wedding business on weekends because we are getting married in the city I live in and he lives about 2 hours away (ends up being a lot longer than that on weeknights). Until he gets a new car, we will need to spend weekends at his place, which makes meeting with vendors in my area difficult. Between that and the fact that he now has to work several weekends in January and February, I am concerned we won't be able to do anything until late February, which the planning timelines all seem to suggest is just not fast enough for things like cake and flowers. So now I'm starting to freak out a little. 

    Over the holidays I gave up on my plan for the bouquets and am ordering some inexpensive silk flowers, so I think all we'll need is corsages and boutonnieres, but I don't know how early we'd need to order those from a 'real' florist since the grocery stores just aren't panning out. And I'm completely lost on timeline for cake. We won't be able to afford anything fancy, but it will need to be at from a place that delivers (I'd be fine with a Stop & Shop cake, but there's no one who could help me pick it up and I'll probably have to spend most of the day before the wedding entertaining out-of-town relatives) and I don't know how long to expect on that either.  

    Am I overreacting?  Is there any chance that I'd still be able to get this done? I just feel completely lost. and I can't possibly mention any of this to FI for weeks, because he's (understandably) still really upset by the accident and (reasonably) more worried about his transportation than a silly party. I know it's not a big deal in the big scheme of things, but we're asking relatives to pay a lot of money to come out for this (as my parents' remind me daily) so I still feel a lot of pressure to do this right and meet expectations (especially since cake and what we have left to get for flowers are really for our guests, not for us). 

    You have plenty of time to get everything done.  First, just calm down and take a deep breath.  Since you will have some distance between the two of you, see if it's ok with your FI to do some legwork on vendors yourself.  Is your FI really interested in the flowers?  He may not care, if you take care of the bouts yourself without any input from him.

    For the cake, I would go visit a few bakeries.  Maybe call ahead and get a price point for the cake plus delivery first.  Then do some online research to get reviews of those bakeries on taste or, even better, get a few cupcakes from each bakery to taste test their cake.  When you have settled on which bakery will fit your budget, then set up an appointment for the cake testing, which your FI will be able to attend.

    Feel free to skip transportation.  It is nice, but not a requirement.  Especially with your new budget woe of FI's car, this will help, when you are able to take the transportation money and put it towards a new car for your FI.

    You can also set up a skype date with your FI or even Facetime with him and register online, instead of in the store.  We had two registries that together we started in store and I finished working on online and with another visit to the store by myself.  I just showed my H the final registry online to see that he approved of my choices.

    Glad to hear your FI is ok!
  • While some get wide eyes when I use the analogy, remember, people plan funerals using many of the same vendors (florist, baker, reception hall, etc.) in less than a week, STOP STRESSING!!!  Unless you have your heart set on specific vendors, which you CAN book at any time/point in your planning, the guides are just that and not a mandatory thing. 

    Sam's Club also does wedding flowers so you can order them to be delivered if worse comes to worse.  They also do wedding cakes with about a week's notice.  Also, a grocery store florist doesn't guarantee that it'll be any cheaper for you and in some cases can be MUCH more expensive, go with a florist whose work you like.  As long as you have your ceremony site and officiant, the rest is bonus.

    First get your FI set up with reliable transportation and go from there.  You've got plenty of time!!!  If this was June 15th you'd still have time as long as you're flexible!


     

  • (and for the future - replacement value on a vehicle for insurance is usually within $10 or so a month for the slightly better policy - it's worth it in the unlikely event of what he's presently dealing with!)
  • jacques27jacques27 member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers
    edited January 2015

    Think of it this way - funerals have a lot of the same elements as weddings - a minister usually, corsages and other flowers, food, music, programs, etc. and those can be planned in about three days.  There are numerous people on this board who have gotten married within a matter of a few weeks to a few months and have pulled it together.  You'll be fine. 

    Cakes - since you already said you want something simple, this shouldn't be a big deal.  Try mom and pop neighborhood bakeries.  If you wanted an intricate, fondant-covered, hand-painted with detailed piping shaped like a castle/Disney character/spaceship/etc. then yeah - maybe you would be screwed.  However, our local neighborhood bakery can pull something out with about a week's notice if they had to and they deliver.  Also, try higher end grocery stores as they also likely have delivery service.  Or see if you or any of your parents' friends have a friend or a reliable high school kid who would be willing to earn some money and hire them to pick up your cake for you.  If you just want a nicely decorated cake, most grocery stores only need 48-72 hours notice.  A bit longer for a wedding cake - but again if you want simple then you have more than enough time.

    Flowers - I guess it depends on how much control you want over them.  If you go with seasonal, give them a general color palate and your budget and how many bouts and corsages you need total and let them have at it, they likely don't need that much notice.  However, if you want very specific flowers arranged in a very specific way, then the sooner the better - especially if you want out of season flowers that may need to be special ordered.  But since you're not ordering centerpieces, it shouldn't be that big of a deal.  Lots of high school kids order bouts and corsages for prom - do you really think high school kids are planning them with a florist 6 months in advance?

    Ultimately, these people are professionals and as long as you've seen samples of their work and you liked it, then put a little faith that they can pull something together for you. 

  • Short answer: Yes, you have time. You'll get it all done, and you'll have a wonderful day.

    So take a deep breath. I'm glad your FI is ok! If anyone gives you the side-eye about your timeline, just move on to the next vendor. I had a few pushing me to make decisions when I wasn't ready for similarly awful personal reasons, and they just clearly became people I didn't want to work with.
  • Thanks so much everyone for the helpful responses. I think I knew logically that this shouldn't be a big deal but it was kind of hard to see past the to-do list panic. 

    The funeral comparison hadn't even occurred to me, but thanks to both of you who mentioned it (as well as the prom thing), because that really helps put things in perspective. I've heard so much about how 'you won't find anyone if you don't book early' and been advised to do things on a timeline that seems ridiculously early, so I guess I just let all the checklists get to me! 

    We're not too picky on cake or flowers as long as they're affordable, and we're really not looking for anything special with the bouts/corsages and will probably end up with roses just like we did for proms. Leaving out transportation is an interesting idea. We had been thinking we'd have to get a limo, particularly since our families expect our cars to be available to transport out-of-town family between events (we couldn't get the bickering mothers to agree on a single hotel or even hotels in the same city for room blocks, so a shuttle is out). But maybe there is something else we could work out. I'm not worried about the registry (I won't be able to have a shower or anything like that, so nobody will need it for awhile), but I could probably do that by myself. I don't think FI cares about anything except the cake! (although he definitely wants to taste all the different bakeries we get samples from). 

    We don't know for sure yet how much the car replacement will cost us -- technically, FI's policy *does* cover replacement, but he seems pretty sure that, because of the age of the car, the replacement value won't actually be enough to replace it, if that makes sense. I have a completely different policy, so I'm just going off what he told me / his agent told him. But I'll keep my fingers crossed. 

    Thanks again for all the advice and support, Knotties! This thread has really helped me calm down. 

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