I got engaged last night! I am so excited about being married to my one and only but the thought of organising a wedding is a little daunting! What mistakes of yours can I learn from?
2007-05-07 17:53:58 · 29 answers · asked by Livian 3 in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
I wouldn't do a whole lot differently. The best thing we did was keeping the wedding in perspective. Your wedding is not your marriage. It is one day, albeit a wonderful day where the focus is on the love you have for one another. Going into debt is probably the worst way to start out a marriage so keeping cost in perspective is best.
Plan the wedding with your fiance. It is a great experience and brings the two of you together.
Also, I was so glad to find www.fireyourweddingplanner.com. It was a great money-saving site and taught me how to handle my budget wisely.
AND DELEGATE! There's so much to do in planning. You'll panic if everything is on you.
2007-05-14 06:32:20 · answer #1 · answered by Alexis L 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've been married over 13 years and I wouldn't really change the actually wedding. I have never once regretted the money or time that we spent. However, we did not go into debt and neither should you.
The best thing we spent money on was the photographer. You should get the best one that you can afford. It's the only permanent part of your wedding.
Now that I'm older I wouldn't really ask anyone else for their opinion. Also, I would pick a skirt and let the girls pick their own tops instead of picking one bridesmaid dress. Although all my bridesmaids looked gorgeous at my wedding. All four of them were beautiful. I might even pick the fabric from one dress designer and let the girls pick any dress as long as it came in the burgundy satin from Mori Lee, that kind of thing. Don't pick out an expensive dress for your bridesmaids. The last two weddings I was in the dresses cost over $250 each and I couldn't wear them again. You never wear the dress again, I don't care what gown you pick. So at least make it inexpensive.
I'm sure you'll be fine. Every bridal magazine has a check list of things you need to do before the wedding. Get a binder and three hole punch to keep track of everything. good luck.
2007-05-08 01:46:54 · answer #2 · answered by maigen_obx 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Say Yes instead of sitting there stuttering, have an engagement dinner, be engaged at least 6 months to a year,plan the whole wedding together (cause if you can plan that together how can you plan a life together), And delegate...delegate... delegate. Don't attempt to do it all, everything just ends up half ***.Less is likely to go wrong if you pick a few trust worthy persons to get the special jobs done.Oh and a great photographer is really important. As for the honeymoon, wish I went on one. You only get one make it great!
PS. Remember that this is just the wedding and not the marriage, If you put as much into the marriage as you do the wedding you will have a phenomenal relationship!
2007-05-08 01:35:55 · answer #3 · answered by Jo-C 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I got married a little over a year ago, and I wouldn't change a thing about mine, everything was just the way we wanted it. I've planned and organized more parties than I can even say, so it wasn't that big a deal to plan and organize our wedding ourselves. I also used an online planner, which helped me keep track of everything. Maybe it will help you, too.
http://www.ezweddingplanner.com
However, I'm no spring chicken, and have been involved in many weddings. I've watched many brides get totally whacked out about the planning of their wedding. My suggestion to you, if you are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of organizing a wedding is...
Hire a Wedding Planner!
Take all the stress off yourself and let someone else do all the running around. You still have the final say, so it's not like you're giving control over to someone else.
Congrats on your engagement! Best wishes for a happy married life.
2007-05-08 01:35:44 · answer #4 · answered by Proud to be 59 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well the first time my Mom was paying for everything and I couldn't really have the "Dream" wedding that I thought I would have, it was nice, but not the "dream". Well, the marriage ended in divorce. I am engaged to a wonderful man and we are basically paying for things ourselves, and we are having more of the dream wedding that we both want. However we aren't going in debt. I guess my advice would be if someone is paying find out contribution amount.
2007-05-08 02:01:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
To be honest, I don't really think I would change a thing. I was blessed to have a nice wedding. It was not the most expensive thing in the world but it was not cheap either. I always tried to make thoroughly thought out decisions and also get input from others. For example; when I tried on dresses, I had my mom, my grandmother, my future mother in law, my cousin, and my maid of honor with me. I asked them to give me an honest opinion on each dress that I tried on and they did. I really appreciated that. Yes, I tried on over a hundred dresses, but with patience and a lot of advice, we found the dress that truly made me feel like a princess. I can even remember telling my mom when I found "the" dress and putting the veil and tiara on my head for the first time: "Mom, I feel like Princess Diana." I really did. When you feel like a princess, to me, that is a good cue that you have found the dress that was made just for you. I also took time to look through several magazines and books for things like flowers and invitations. I chose the my bridesmaids dresses first and of course I picked my all time favorite color: coral. I then built on that for my flowers. I used star gaizer lillies paired with white roses, lillies, and stefanatu's. I know I made the right choice. I also took the time to interview and sample food from several different caterer's to make sure I had what I wanted. It is also a great idea to talk to other bride's in the area and find out what they have been pleased and unhappy with. Also, most towns have bridal expo shows. I highly recommend these. They can show you what is in style and help you explore all the options for your big day. When it comes to the honeymoon, I decided to sit down with my fiance' and we discussed all the places we ever wanted to go and made our decision then and it could not of been more perfect. I hope some of this will help you. Your wedding day should be what you always dreamed of and I honestly do wish you the very best of luck. Congratulations and Good luck! God Bless! :)
2007-05-14 16:41:35 · answer #6 · answered by BamaBelle810 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would make sure i coloured my hair (i had regrowth) and make sure my fiance was wearing nicer clothes at our engagement BBQ.
Our wedding day was a wonderful day so I can't complain! We actually concieved on our wedding night so I am definatley NOT wanting to change that! Our honeymoon was 6 weeks after our wedding to Bali. Although not feeling the best being pregnant I was glad to be there!!
2007-05-13 01:29:18 · answer #7 · answered by Jassie's mum 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would have worn a dream dress instead of the inexpensive dress I ended up wearing. I didn't want to spend a lot on a dress I would only wear for a few hours, so I chose the first dress that was cheap and looked good on me. But two years later, I still think of all the different dresses I wish I had worn. I could have bought a really fancy designer gown on Ebay for cheaper than retail and resell it for the same price. (I ended up doing the same with a simple Maggie Sottero gown, but I wish I did it with a Monique Lhuillier or Vera Wang instead!)
2007-05-08 01:15:15 · answer #8 · answered by Christina T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST WISHES!!!
I'd get our engagment photos done earlier so we'd know to go looking for a new photographer. I hated how our wedding photos came out.
We had a lot of stress and issues during the wedding planning, but every time it got to be too much, I said to myself that all that REALLY mattered was that at the end of the day we were married and it really helped me let go of a lot of things that normally would have upset me.
I have a ton of wedding planning files and an excel spreadhseet if you're interested. Email me at silverstar041704 at aol dot com
2007-05-08 00:59:59 · answer #9 · answered by Silver_Stars 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Congrats! And don't stress out about the wedding planning before it's even begun! Approach things with a positive attitude!
Planning our wedding went well, we had eight months. We had a very traditional wedding for about 200 and were pleased with everything. We didn't have a honeymoon, so that's one thing I suppose I wish we could have had...
The only "bad" thing that happened was that my glasses broke the morning of the wedding, and they couldn't be fixed, plus I had no backup. So that's always my warning to brides - if they wear corrective lenses, have a backup!
Good luck to you! Best advice: make sure you make some time just to be with your man and NOT talk about wedding planning.
2007-05-08 09:36:07 · answer #10 · answered by Lydia 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋