My wedding is a year away....What do I need to start doing?

Question

I am about to start planning our wedding but honestly have NO clue where to start. It is a year away and everyone tells me that I need to start planning but I am not sure about what I need to start doing. Can you help me? Our wedding is not going to be anything huge but is there little things that I can start doing?

I am from a small east texas town...we dont have things like wedding planners and fancy things such as that.

Answer 1

First budget.

Then look at
Photographers
Caterers
Locations for reception
start having everyone create a guest list so you can get an approximate number

those usually book up a year in advance and take up the largest part of your budget.

Figure out who is going to be in your wedding party. Come up with an approximate date, but once you start talking to caterers, photographers, and locations you usually end up changing the date a couple times.

Subscribe to modern bride. They have a checklist in the back that has everything you need to do broken down month by month.

Create a notebook with the clear pgs that you insert into the top. Divide it into sections for Bridesmaids, Hair, Flowers, etc. and each time you see a picture you like of a bouquet, you can cut it out and put it into the folder. Then after you've made a decision on the bridesmaids gown, you can clean out all that section of the rejected gowns.

Modern Bride has the best checklists.

I used www.ezweddingplanner.com in order to keep track of my budget and guest lists.

Hope this helps! Congrats!

Answer 2

First, set a budget, and find out who's putting money toward the wedding and for what. Get organized! I bought myself a cute little tote to carry all of my wedding planning stuff in. Maybe get a small journal sized notebook to jot down ideas in that you can keep with you at all times. Many venues book up a year or more in advance, so you should really get on that (both ceremony and reception). You might also want to go ahead and get started on the guest list. It can be a monster. Find an officiant if that isn't determined by where you have the ceremony. Book a caterer next, then photographer/videographer, start shopping for your dress, book a dj or band and musicians for the ceremony. You should buy your dress no more than 8 months out to allow time for fittings and alterations. Get a florist or determine what flowers you want to use if you are going to order them and arrange them yourself. Pick a bridal party, order bridesmaids dresses, find a baker for the cake, look into any rentals you may have to get as soon as you book your venue(s). Choose tuxedos for the men in the wedding party. There are about a million things you could be doing. One year is I think the perfect amount of time to plan a wedding. I use and abuse the checklist on theknot.com. Its the most useful that I've found. Pretty much all the brides on Answers use it as well from what I've seen. Start there. It has a timeline that tells you when you should be doing what during which month. Its a definite life saver in my opinion.

Answer 3

First decide on the theme then set a budget and decide where you want to have the wedding and the ceremony will it be all at one place or not. Most hall book at least 1 year out. Or maybe you want an outside weeding Either way those are the first 2 thing that need to be done. After that you can piece in everything else.. Check out the different web sites there's the wedding channel and the knot is the 2 that have helped me

Answer 4

My wedding's also a year away, it's set for next May, but we already have the planning well under way. The first thing you need to do is set a budget, and STICK TO IT!!! This might prove to be hard, but it'll prove to be important later on. After you've set your budget I'd recommend getting help from someone who's already married. Friends, family, your mother, your future mother in law!!! You'll have an easier time planning your wedding, and it'll be a lot more fun! There are websites like www.theknot.com that have planning guides, and there are several bridal magazines that have countdown checklists. Generally 9-12 months before your wedding, you should be setting the date, checking marriage license requirements, booking your ceremony and reception locations and obtaining the necessary permits for them, researching vendors or hiring a wedding planner, deciding on an officiant and discussing the ceremony and any premarriage requirements with him or her, designating your attendants, drafting a guest list, creating a wedding website if you plan to have one, announcing your engagement in local papers if you desire, setting up your gift registry, and here's a fun one....START SHOPPING FOR YOUR GOWN!!!!
Most of all, remember to have fun planning, and even more fun on YOUR special day next year!!! Congratulations, and I hope this helped!

Answer 5

Weddings take a year to plan easy big or small. I think that the first thing you should try to do is come up with a theme and a budget. Then you would want to really start saving. everything is expensive..seriously. I would also book a recption hall as 1 of my first to do items because they book up fast especially if you want a summer wedding. Congratulations and I hope this is helpful.

Answer 6

First of all you and your fiance need to sit down and figure out a budget. I am planning my wedding too and budget is the key. to get a good idea what what things will cost go to davids bridal dot com they have dress ideas and color coordinates for both you and your lady's and the groom and his men. as well as favor ideas and other members of the wedding party. if u have any questions i can give ou all the info you may need. good luck and congrats!!!

Answer 7

Pick a date. Find a place that is open on that date. thats the hardest part we had. we wanted 7-7-07. We started looking in 06 and could not find one spot with an opening.Keep 08-08-08 in mind, but start looking now!!!

Answer 8

Determine your budget
Determine size of your guest list
Choose your attendants or ceremony members
Finalize date and time with important guests, location, and officiant
Choose color and theme
Book reception site
Book caterer
Book photographer
Book videographer
Book entertainment and music
Reserve hotel rooms if needed
Reserve bakery
Hire a florist
Shop for your gown

Answer 9

pick a date
set a budget
select attendents
book the location
look for a photographer
look for a dj or band or whatever you will be having

you could also buy small things like decorations, favor supplies ect. at craft stores so youll have them in advance and just store them. thats what i did.

Answer 10

def set a budget first, then start researching venues for the reception and the ceremony....then u can continue with the photographer and all the rest of the stuff...