Ohio-Cleveland

I need help with getting started.

hello everyone. i jsut got engagged this week and i have no idea where to begin. im totally lost we are both in college and want to watie till were done with college to get married... am i planning to soon? I feel very overwhelmed right now, i have a couple of wedding book like planning and things.... i am just worried about doing this all wrong.


if anyone has any and i mena ANY IDEAS or a system they use im open to anything..



thank you everyoneWink

Re: I need help with getting started.

  • edited December 2011
    When will you be done with school?  

    I would start SAVING MONEY!! These damn weddings are SO EXPENSIVE!

    I would start thinking about what kind of wedding you want and what kind of feel you want.  Then just start researching ceremony and reception sites and maybe just photographers you like.
  • derrilynderrilyn member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Agree with pp.  Think about what kind of wedding you want.  Also think about what time of year you might like to have it.  Keep in mind having it off-season (November-April) can save you a considerable amount of money.  So can having it on a Friday or Sunday.  Also if there's a date that's special to you two, you can set that as your date and start from there for planning.  You can use the tools on the knot to help you get started too, like the budget planning tool and the timeline.  What I did first was research ceremony and reception venues to see what's out there and prices.  I had an idea of what I wanted but I was open to different ideas.  Kinda at the same time we looked for an officiant and picked the first one we met with.  We booked our ceremony and reception sites and officiant right around the same time.  Booking one of them without having any idea what the others would be would have scared me lol.  We then wanted to send out save the date cards (our wedding is next June, but a bunch of my FI's family is from out of town so we want to send them out kinda early), and decided to first book a photographer and get our engagement pictures taken so that we could use the pictures.  We have time to book our other vendors (DJ, cake, florist, videographer), so I'm going to start looking by going to bridal shows (I'm going to one at the Embassy Suites in Independence next Sunday) and start dress shopping.  HTH!
  • edited December 2011
    It can be overwhelming. # 1 thing to start with: make a budget. Everything will be based off of this. You may want a formal, saturday evening wedding in June, but if you can only afford to pay $10,000, that probably won't happen.

    When I started to plan, I did my household budget, determined how much $$ I could save per month, then mulitplied by months I had until the timeframe I wanted to be married in. I used TK's budgeter tool to determine about how much money I should be paying for the big ticket items.

    As for starting to book any vendors, start that at the 1 year mark. First thing you book is the ceremony and reception venues. Generally, if you're trying to make plans for more than a year in advance, the venues don't pay you much attention. In the meantime, save save save save (you can even start an online high yield savings account to maximize your money)!
  • brianangelobrianangelo member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Agreed about saving--if you're just out of college when you get married you will be in a challenging position financially.  Consider doing the research now into ways to reduce cost without sacrificing what you really want (I'd be remiss if I didn't mention faux wedding cakes in this context, but that's just one of many ideas). Off-season is always a good way to save. 

    Watch the forums here, even outside your local area, to get good budgeting, planning and money- (and time-) saving ideas.

    Good luck!
    Brian The "Cake Delivery Boy" The Cake Boutique, Warren, Ohio http://www.cakeboutiqueshop.com
  • edited December 2011
    Each of you should write a list of the top 5 things most important to you about your wedding and then compare lists.  That will help you decide where the $$ will be going and what you are will to scale back, or skip entirely, to get the other things you really want.
     
    We both agreed that the quality of food was important.  We were willing to upgrade the food cost and offset that price increase by downsizing the guest list.  For us, we wanted our closed family and friends (all 65 of them in the end) to be there and have the best we could give them.
     
    I didn't want to have to worry about set up or clean up.  I was will to pay extra for a venue that did this.  I didn't want to DIY anything.  No time or patience for that.
     
    Both of us wanted a creative photographer.
     
    Neither of us cared about designer gowns/tuxes.  This was an area we were able to scale back on (my dress was $550 with alterations and we rented a vest, tie and shoes for hubby and he bought a new black suit to wear since he would get more use out of that).
     
    A lot of vendors have pricing online.  Check it out.  Do your homework.  I doesn't do you any good to think "I want a really upscale venue.  I am guessing that will cost $1000" when in reality it is way more but you don't know that yet.
     
    Look outside the big city for vendors.  It may be cheaper to pay someone to deliver the flowers or cake from 15 miles outside the city than buy from a bakery downtown.
     
    Remember, no matter what the marriage is what counts.  Going in debt or spending all your savings won't make a marriage last longer.  Having a hefty bank account will be one less thing to fight about though :)
  • vaughan.tdvaughan.td member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    First of all congratulations!! I agree with what everyone else that the first things to look at are the style/feel you want for your wedding, budget and the date if you have a specific one in mind.

    Once you start planning all of the details focus on a few tasks at a time so you don't get overwhelmed. People will start asking about all of the small details (what color shoes the bridesmaids will wear, etc) but if you think about everything at once it will be way too stressfull. After you cross things off your to do list start looking at the next items and before you know it you'll be done.

    Just remember to enjoy your engagement and the wedding planning because it will all go by so fast. 
  • Budget, Budget, Budget. The world revolves around money and so does your wedding. Determine how much you can/are willing to spend, Then use the budget break down as an estimate for where you should be putting your money.The venues for the ceremony and the reception are the first things you will want to look into.
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