Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wedding Wednesdays

OK I am going to start doing a Wedding Wednesday post each week.  I am going to make a picture for it but I do not have it done yet.  So I will either come to you each week with an update of what I have accomplished that week with our wedding plans, show you pictures, or even ask for your advice or suggestions!  I have so much to do in so little time!

Here is a basic checklist of what needs to be done 6-12 months before the wedding.  Many checklists are way more extensive so I picked a simple one:
6-12 Months

  • Choose the kind of wedding you will have, date and time. Sort of done....
  • Discuss the budget, and who will pay for what. That has been done. 
  • Consider hiring a wedding coordinator. Looking into one since we don't live there.  Any of you use one?
  • Make arrangements with the officiator. We are looking for a church now.
  • Reserve the wedding and reception locations. Church is booked and reception is booked!
  • Select your wedding dress, veil and accessories. I have tried on dresses and liked two a whole lot! I do know what type of veils though!  Yes I said veil'S! I fell in love of the look of a shorter one over a long one!
  • Choose the bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, and honored roles. Chosen but I have got to make my cards and ask them!  I know I am behind but we have been gone.  Any of you do anything cute or special to ask your attendants?
  • Have a formal black/white photo sitting for announcements. We are going to have this done at some point so I can use them for my save-the-dates.
  • Send announcements of your engagement to your fiancé's and your local and hometown newspapers. I don't think people do this much anymore....any of you do this?  We off course sent out our Christmas cards as our announcement.  Yes I checked ahead of time to see if this was appropriate.  I recieved the answer of yes!  I would also like to thank those close friends and family that called by telephone to say Congratulations.  Even my Dad and Mary called to say Congratulations when they recieved the card even though they knew already.  Everyone has gone to their Facebook and text messaging these days!  Impersonal for some situations.
  • Meet with the florist, photographer, caterer, videographer, and D.J. or entertainment to discuss budgets and options. I do not have any of the following yet!
  • Discuss the guest list with fiancé and families. Cas and I have made a preliminary list.  I am waiting on family list's.
  • Plan reception music.Working on that.  I have what I want in my head.
  • Contact a rental coordinator for equipment reservations. We rented the country club so it comes with everything we need.  Many places we looked at were high but then you still had to rent tables, chairs, linens, etc.
  •   Discuss honeymoon and reservations. We have not decided where we want to go yet.  Any suggestions?  I do not really want to go on a cruise for our honeymoon.  While Yes I do love cruising I just don't want to honeymoon with 2000 plus other people and children!
  • Arrange for time off work, if necessary. Don't know how long we will be gone yet.
  • Buy a wedding planner and envelopes to store brochures and notes. I received a wedding planner for Christmas and I have been collecting many brochures.
  • Develop record-keeping system for invitations, gifts, and thank-you notes. I will for sure do this! Thank you's are so very important.  Especially Thank You cards.  I have been to many showers and given some where I did not receive a Thank You card.  I am already looking for some Thank You cards.  If you are from the South you should know this is etiquette!
Like I said this is basic.  Atleast we have the main two things.....the church and the reception!
Anything any of you found helpful when you were getting married?  Please leave me a comment!

6 comments:

  1. Do what YOU GUYS want and don't stress, it will all work out and be great! Flowers and phtography were really important to me, so I spent more on that.

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  3. We didn't put engagement notice in the newspaper, but after we were married we put the notice in the newspaper of our hometown with one of our wedding photos. Our families were very happy and wanted to share it with everyone. :)
    Sounds like you are pretty organized on this!! Very exciting! Just have fun with it all and do what you want and feel in your heart. Everything will come together.
    Also, don't stress. Ask for help as much as you can/need it. There are plenty of people whom I'm sure are willing to help you out! :)
    And remember, if it gets too chaotic, you two can go to Vegas and elope! LOL

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  4. Planning a destination wedding can be scary, but feasible. We managed to do it without a wedding planner/coordinator. The key is to really communicate with your vendors ahead of time.

    I'M SO EXCITED about your Wedding Wednesdays!!

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  5. So fun! And so much to do!

    As cliché as it sounds, remember that at the end of the day, all that really matters is that you're married. Goodness, by the time I was walking down the aisle, my mother in law was sobbing and I'd offended everyone, and I considered saying from the front of the church, "if you haven't been offended yet, you're not invited to the reception!" Just know that lots of people will have a "better" way to do things and "better" ideas. Try not to stress about it all.

    And don't forget to plan for after the wedding. The event itself is huge, but the lifetime afterwards...the for better or for worse part, that's the hard part. :)

    We spent a chunk on photography and have NEVER regretted it. I am so thankful we chose to splurge in that area! We love our pictures. Our kids love our pictures. We're eight years in and they still sit on our coffee table.

    Ok...'nough said. You were brave to ask for advice. :)

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  6. I completely agree with splurging on photos. The flowers will only last for the day, but the photos will last a lifetime. We went the extra mile and got a videographer and it was so worth it. We watch our wedding video each year on our anniversary and showed it to Grace for the first time last week. It really brings back all the wonderful memories and details that you start to forget after a while.

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