Getting married 2014. No idea where to start help

[Aidan's Mummy]

I am getting married in 2014 we are toying with the idea of an October wedding. I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to wedding planning. Help? x

 

[aly888]

congratulations

I still remember when I was at the "where the heck do I start" stage. Now I'm at the "how the heck am I going to get this all done" stage
My suggestion would be to decide on a budget. Once you know what your budget is then you can start looking at venues to suit. Have a look online for wedding to do lists (i've got one in my journal that I keep referring back to) because that's a good way to see all the little things you have to factor into your budget. Lots of new brides (myself included) look at wedding packages and think that is all you'll have to pay, forgetting things like rings, cars, photographer, dress, suits, registrar fees, bridesmaids dress(es), bouquet(s), jewellry, hair, make up, favours, invites etc, which can themselves total the same amount as the venue package!!

Also decide what style of wedding you want. Do you want to DIY a lot of stuff or want it all ready made, do you want a theme etc. the sooner you decide that the sooner you can start collecting little bits and pieces

I don't know how church weddings work but for non-religious ceremonies you generally can't book your registrar more than 12 months ahead of the wedding. And I found I couldn't book any ceremony venues until the registrar was booked. And when looking for venues go armed with a list of questions to ask them when you view them

Wow, I babbled a bit too much. Sorry

 

[lozzy21]

Sit down and write a rough guest list and then work out your budget, this will help narrow down your reception choice. I looked online at some lovely places but there just not big enough.

 

[Lauren25]

Aly and Lozzy deffo covered everything there!

I just started with our budget, a rough guest list and what kind of wedding we wanted! Once you have them you can move on to everything else

 

[MorganEvans]

congratulations

I still remember when I was at the "where the heck do I start" stage. Now I'm at the "how the heck am I going to get this all done" stage
My suggestion would be to decide on a budget. Once you know what your budget is then you can start looking at venues to suit. Have a look online for wedding to do lists (i've got one in my journal that I keep referring back to) because that's a good way to see all the little things you have to factor into your budget. Lots of new brides (myself included) look at wedding packages and think that is all you'll have to pay, forgetting things like rings, cars, photographer, dress, suits, registrar fees, bridesmaids dress(es), bouquet(s), jewellry, hair, make up, favours, invites etc, which can themselves total the same amount as the venue package!!

Also decide what style of wedding you want. Do you want to DIY a lot of stuff or want it all ready made, do you want a theme etc. the sooner you decide that the sooner you can start collecting little bits and pieces

I don't know how church weddings work but for non-religious ceremonies you generally can't book your registrar more than 12 months ahead of the wedding. And I found I couldn't book any ceremony venues until the registrar was booked. And when looking for venues go armed with a list of questions to ask them when you view them

Wow, I babbled a bit too much. Sorry

This is probably the easiest way to do it. I haven't got married, but my old school roommate recently did. They started with who to invite, then what to provide for the guests, after that came clothing for the bride of course, wedding party place and finally budget. Then they started to narrow everything down, because the budget exploded.

 

[Amber_Lynn822]

I found https://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning-tools/tools-wedding-checklist.aspx to be really helpful. I also downloaded a free wedding planner (I found by googling) I had SO much fun planning my wedding, I hope you do too!

 

[candeur]

A few bridal magazines have checklists in them showing what to do on certain months
What we did is work out a rough guest list, then check out some venues, once we had one booked we didn't really do anything until about a year before and then we started looking for the photographer, dress etc.

 

[Bear0609]

I was a wedding co-ordinator for a popular local venue, I've been married once and am getting married for the second time this May.

It really can be very stress free planning your wedding, and very enjoyable! My advice to couples would be to research into the rough cost of everything first, then you'll know what and where you where an afford.

Once you've found the venue you like and discussed dates, ask them to provisionally hold one or two dates for you - most well respecting venues do this. If you're having a civil ceremony at the venue call the the registrars to check they have those dates free and what time slots for the service are available. If you're having a church wedding simply call them to check the dates. The registrars now take bookings two years in advance. From there on just carry on making enquiries with suppliers etc.

Oh and if you do go to any wedding fairs don't be sucked in by the pushy suppliers as they're usually the most expensive!

Good luck