ok i am getting married in a year from now what all should i be thinking of the most. and getting now. I have been ordering things for decorations that i know will be ok waiting that long. I dont know what all i really need to be looking into and all that either. Then the gifts for my attendants what do you get the attendants if you have a somewhat of a low budget. i just need all the tips and advice i can get through this.I need wedding tips and advice?
Theknot.com gives you a time table but first and foremost is to establish a budget, then the place for both wedding and reception if they will be different. color scheme, attendants both his and yours, apparel, flowers, invitations, menus for reception, caterer if you plan to use one. Cake, Guest lists theknot does all this and keeps a record of it for you as well as provide a list of how much money goes to what within your budget. Your A and B guest list and person count , it is priceless as a wedding planner, and best of all, FREEI need wedding tips and advice?
Your number one thing is to do your preliminary guest list. That way you have a general idea of how many people you may invite and then you need to look into reception halls that can accommodate that number of people. If you have a very low budget, I'm finding the most expensive part of my wedding so far is the dinner. My friend's, to cut this cost a lot, decided to have an all day, come and go BBQ on Saturday and got married at 6:30pm on Sunday that went straight into the reception. They only placed out midnight lunch at around 8pm to keep people going.
The way I've done things so far (I started planning a over year and a half in advance and I have a year and four months left):
1. Early guest list.
2. Priced out halls and hotels.
3. Priced out catering.
4. Bought wedding dress... this one was really early!
5. Booked hall, 1 year and 6 months in advance and had to change my date.
6. Booked church.
7. Whittled down guest list.
8. Booked photographer.
9. Booked DJ.
Once the big things are out of the way, you have a little time to relax before you need to start worrying about the little things, like attendant gifts. A good, cheap gift for attendants are engraved flasks/glasses. You can get nice and cheap necklaces for your bridesmaids too, or bracelets.
Congratulations, and good luck!
Get a wedding planner? They'll make life easier.
Best advice I ever received: start planning the ';big rocks.'; This would include your venue (ceremony and/or recpetion), caterer (if not included with reception site), dress and photographer. Once these things are decided, and have been allocated the budget you want to give them, the rest of the decisions filter in as you go.
Be careful of nickle and diming away your wedding budget (if that's a concern for you) with purchases like decorations, favors and gifts so far out. By the time you're six months in you may not have as much left to cover something important to you - like your dress, or photographer.
Think ahead, plan what's most important to you and spend the most on those things. Then begin looking in bridal magazines for ideas on favors, decor and gifts.
Best of luck!
Grab a wedding magazine from the grocery store or go on line and get a wedding planning schedule. They tell you what should be completed each month. Check your city's date for when the Bridal Extravaganza is coming your way and take your wedding party or at least your maid of honor with you. I live in Houston and there were two wedding extravaganza's here last month.
Your best resource are other people also. Ask around like people you work with, neighbors, and friends. Everyone knows someone that has been married and can recommend things to you.
First thing is to find a Venue. VERY IMPORTANT. I booked mine a year and a half in advance and i still didn't get the day i wanted. Then your dress, it takes 4 to 6 months if you order a dress. For your attendants do you mean wedding party or guests? For my wedding party, i am doing earrings for the girls and flasks for the guys. For my guests i made bookmarks and i am also giving personalized hershey bars. There is also allot to think about, dresses for the girls, flowers, transportation, cake, dj just to name a few.
First congrats......second, keep in mind that weddings are great but not really needed to get married. Its a celebration for you to share with your friends and family. So don't sweat the small stuff, work top down big to little you need a place and such before worrying about gifts. People think everything has to be perfect but really it should just be nice, fun and what you want.
I was on a budget too and my tips are this:
the only thing really left after the wedding is the pix so get a professional photographer but you do not have to spend a lot on this either, you will look at these only a little so get a few nice shots and don't buy too many, negotiate for the proofs and have people take pix and it will be plenty.
I got married on the wedding site and used the table flowers for the service.
I had a nice dress but not too expensive, you only wear it once!
we got the invites for free at the tux place for getting the tux's
we did not get cars, my friend drove me.
a dj is way cheaper than a band.
we did not have a rehearsal dinner but had a BBQ at the house for the wedding party instead
I had a boquet but it was not expensive or fancy,
I did not give out favors, its all crap and who remembers?
I gave photo frames as gifts for the attendends, often brides will give the jewelry to wear for the ceremony and costume jewelry does not have to cost a lot. my husband got a gym bag in one wedding and he used that a lot.
get a planner (ie: book not person which is more) and just make a calender for when things need to be done by.
our hall had fire and my bridesmaid could not fit into her dress one week bedore the wedding and yet it all worked out well, we had fun
Find your venue first. By the time I chose mine, my date was already booked. Plus the venue dictates a lot of things. Some rooms have minimums for number of guests or you can't use it, also some venues (mine was a lakeside restaurant where they also do ceremonies) will also dictate what DJ you can use (mine did), what baker (or else you have to pay them cutting fees), what florist, etc. etc. So find the place first %26amp; you'll be more clear on your next steps. After that I would start looking for a caterer, baker, DJ, florist, officiant. That requires some time because you have to do taste testings, view a selection of DJ videos, get pricing from the florist. You should start on the big things really. The decorations and favors can wait a bit.
If your budget doesn't allow for a wedding coordinator, you need to at least have a wedding planning book. You can even download one free from the web. It will help you know what needs to be done, and to make decisions about what is necessary and what you can leave out so you can work within your budget.
you need to set your budget first then get a guest list together with an estimate of how many poeple will attend. then book your ceremony and reception sites. these are the most important bc most sites do get booked up a year in advance. then the next best thing is to decide on colors/theme and then take your time with keeping everything else coordinated with your theme. if you dont have a wedding planner book you should definatley get one they are beyond helpful.
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