But what now? Where is the best place to start in planning a wedding? Is a wedding planner a must or can it be done with out one? Please help I never done this and I'm kind of nervous.
2006-08-10 13:52:25 · 16 answers · asked by Sarah 1 in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
Congratulations!
Register at theknot.com and set up your wedding webpage so everyone can get the information easily. You don't need a wedding planner if you have the time to do it yourself.
Take 2-3 weeks and just enjoy being engaged and telling everyone. Then start working on the major details: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
Who: Who is going to be in your wedding party?, who are you going to invite?, who is going to officiate? Who is going to pay?
What: What is the theme? What level of formality? What is a must and what can you live without? What is you budget?
Where: Where is the ceremony? Where is the reception? Where is your honeymoon?
When: What date? What time?
Why: Why do you want to get married? This is the premarital counseling stuff which I highly recommend. Don't get so excited about your wedding that you forget about your marriage.
Congratulations again and Good Luck!
2006-08-10 14:43:39 · answer #1 · answered by emp04 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A wedding planner is definitely not a must. Get a book about how to plan a wedding. It's also helpful to sign up at weddingchannel.com. This isn't exactly a book for the wedding planning, but it's really helpful to read before you do too much planning. It's called The Best Friend's Guide to Planning a Wedding by Lara Webb Carrigan. It's written like a friend giving you advice. Congratulations!
2006-08-11 13:21:26 · answer #2 · answered by caitlinerika 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A wedding planner is not completely necessary, unless your schedule just does not permit you to do all the running around. If you work lots of hours or are planning a wedding in a different city from where you live right now, there are definite advantages to having a planner but it's not necessary.
The easiest way to start planning a wedding is ask yourself some simple questions?
1. Have you set a date yet?
2. What kind of wedding would you like - formal, semi formal, garden, beach, etc?
If you have a date in mind, the first thing you should do is look at ceremony and/or reception locations. Those tend to get booked up fast so if you know the date, get that taken care of first. If you don't have a date yet, maybe start looking at what you and your bridal party will wear. One of the hardest thing for brides is finding that perfect dress and since most places ask for 6 months as a bare minimum, than you want to get that out of the way too. I would not recommend going to every bridal shop in your area to start out. Buy a couple of wedding magazines from your local convenience store and start looking through the dresses. Once you have an idea in mind of what you want your dress to look like, go to the stores. Most of those magazines will also have planners in them for you so you have an approximate timeline as to when things need to be done by.
What you choose for your dress and for your bridal party to wear will start to kind of dictate the formality of your wedding day. Hope that helps. Congrats on your engagement and happy planning
2006-08-11 13:12:30 · answer #3 · answered by Patricia D 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) Start with a budget. If you don't have a lot of time to plan or you have the budget to have a planner, do it. If not, you can always do it yourself.
2) GET a wedding planner work book. The only way to stay on top of things.
3) Talk with your fiance about the details--traditional, large, expensive, location, etc.
4) Talk with both sets of parents together about your budget--who is paying what and when.
5) Set a date/time. Remember the cheaper days will be Sunday/Friday and weekdays.
6) Look at locations and interview with them--prices, rules, etc.
7) Shop vendors
8) Show dresses
MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL--make this as little stress as possible! This is an exciting day! CONGRATS! Now you have to enjoy it! Work with your fiance, and everythiing will become beautiful!
2006-08-10 21:11:10 · answer #4 · answered by FaZizzle 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can afford a wedding planner that would be great. You can have a beautiful wedding without a wedding planner too! There are plenty of "Bridal" magazines that give excellent ideas. If you live close to Las Vegas, this would be ideal! A lot of the casino/hotels have wedding chapels. You could even take your wedding party with you. This way you have your wedding and reception in one place, and the casino/hotel cleans up the mess after the party!! Call your travel agent for details. Good luck.
2006-08-10 21:06:42 · answer #5 · answered by Vida 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all - Congratulations
Second - Take a breath. Yes, there's lot to do, but let yourself
absorb the new engaged you.
Third - Assuming you have Mom or someone close that you can plan and discuss things with, start kicking around ideas. Any order will do until you find the elements that you like. And things you'd like to incorporate into your day.
Go over these things with your fiance and get his input. I'm sure he'll have ideas too, but when I got married, mine only wanted it to be in Church. He gave me full reign of everything else.
Most of all relax - It's your day. Browse the I-Net, but especially
Theknot.com - excellent site with lots of ideas! You don't need a planner, more and more brides are wanting to take charge of their own day. Those in high stress level jobs or that don't have the time, or just need someone to do the run around for them - still use planners. Planners do take alot of the stress off, but if your the type that is very organized and decisive, go for it. You'll be sure to get exactly what you want. Have fun and take care. You'll have a beautiful wedding!
2006-08-10 21:21:27 · answer #6 · answered by socalmom 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, take your time and enjoy the engagement! Your next step is to set a date -- I suggest at least a year to give you plenty of time to plan and to enjoy your time as a fiancee. Once you set a date, choose your location.... sometimes you have to adjust your date based on the availability of the location.
From there, you can choose to hire a planner or not. I added a friend as a desgnated planner so she could be the designated b*tch -- I didn't want to waste my time or energy pinning down the florist, etc. She's really going to be our timekeeper on the day of, etc. Other than that, I chose to take care of the favors, etc. We have a catering manager because it will all be held at a hotel so that helped, too... and came at no additional cost.
A planner is not necessary, but if your budget allows for it, she will be very helpful. Congrats & Good luck!
2006-08-10 21:46:14 · answer #7 · answered by wahine 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best thing you can do for yourself is to keep all your plans under wraps until it's really time to start inviting people to the wedding.
Also, you should buy the book Miss Manners on Weddings, it's the greatest wedding book ever and gives you GOOD advice on etiquette, unlike some people who put out website articles and book advice these days who have no idea what they are talking about!
Remember to always get your etiquette right during this process-- people will remember etiquette mistakes for generations, when it comes to weddings, so that should be your first priority.
2006-08-10 23:46:57 · answer #8 · answered by Etiquette Gal 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First I would say, Congrats!!!
Your first thing to do is to think about what kind of wedding you want, and DISCUSS it with your fiance. If you are on the same wavelength about what you both want in a wedding then you will be on the right track to start planning. Just relax and things will start coming together. Check out theknot.com, it will give you ideas on where to start! And remember to have fun!!
2006-08-14 16:20:50 · answer #9 · answered by ladybug_and_dragonfly 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't be so nervous. It is a happy time in your life. Just do what you feel is best. There is nothing you HAVE to do when planning a wedding so just do what you feel comfortable with. It is your day and by the way you are going to have to get accustomed to calling that boyfriend your fiance. You called him boyfriend in your question.
2006-08-10 20:59:53 · answer #10 · answered by strawberries 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋