Planning

Menina Preta

Menina Preta

Well-Known Member
SO has been upgraded to FH :lol:. I think to save money that I want to plan it without a planner, so I need to start gathering info, b/c I love a good deal but want our day to be classy :).

How soon in advance did you start planning your wedding? And looking back what advice would you give a recently engaged person just starting out with the whole wedding planning industry?

Thanks in advance!
 
Yay!!! Congrats!!!! I have lots of advice. Pm me whenever you'd like! I'll try to come back here once I get the chance.
 
If you're not going to use a planner, please, for the sake of your sanity, ask for help from your bridesmaids/maid of honor (when you've chosen them) as soon as possible. I started planning almost immediately (we were married a little more than a year after we got engaged), but I waited too long to ask for help and could have saved myself a lot of stress if I hadn't been so stubborn. Congratulations on your engagement.
 
Congrats!

I started planning about a year before our date. Find an online calendar on The Knot or elsewhere that will help you keep pace with all the tasks you need to do each month.

The one thing I would suggest is to consider getting a day of coordinator (or see if your venue offers one). A lot of places have contracts where you can bring someone in a month before to help you with last minute tasks and to run the big day. They aren't too expensive and it will save you from having to deal with any problems that may come up on the day.
 
emada said:
Congrats!

I started planning about a year before our date. Find an online calendar on The Knot or elsewhere that will help you keep pace with all the tasks you need to do each month.

The one thing I would suggest is to consider getting a day of coordinator (or see if your venue offers one). A lot of places have contracts where you can bring someone in a month before to help you with last minute tasks and to run the big day. They aren't too expensive and it will save you from having to deal with any problems that may come up on the day.
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Yup :yep::yep::yep::yep:
The knot planner, budgeter and guest list features help a lot
 
Congratulations!

I've never planned a wedding but two friends of mine recently planned theirs so I learned a bit. Both started right away, the sooner the better. Then when it came closer to the date, it was less stressful. You may even get better deals by booking/reserving ahead of time. One of my friends had a wedding binder. She kept all her info, swatches, etc in that one spot.
 
Personally ive always read not to plan for too long because it starts to consume your life and then after the day is over you kinda don't know what to do with yourself because planning was such a huge part of your life for so long lol

I would also say go big to small.
Oh I just found this website.
http://www.realsimple.com/weddings/planning/wedding-planning-checklist-00000000000222/
a lot of what I was thinking and saw go wrong for other couples weddings was confirmed there

Also see if anyone you know knows someone who knows someone who knows an event planner just to see I found they would be willing to give you a consultation or a tip or two.

Congrats!
 
nlamr2013 said:
Personally ive always read not to plan for too long because it starts to consume your life and then after the day is over you kinda don't know what to do with yourself....
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ITA. My friends both started about a year out and had everything done at least six months in advance. I think it allowed the day to be "fresh" to them all over again.
 
BEAUTYU2U said:
ITA. My friends both started about a year out and had everything done at least six months in advance. I think it allowed the day to be "fresh" to them all over again.
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I think that's what I plan to do. I'm starting my new job next week, so I told myself in August that's when I'll really start looking and price comparing and making lists, etc.
 
Congrats!:) The number one thing I can say is to choose your venue ASAP. If you are thinking next year summer/fall, many places are either already booked or are getting booked right now. So get on that immediately.

Next, decide what's most important to you and work downwards from there. For example, photography and videography were extremely important to me so I booked those very far(over a year) in advance and less important things such as officiant and cake I'm only just now getting around to. Start with the biggest, most important things(whatever those are for you) first.
 
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MizAvalon said:
Congrats!:) The number one thing I can say is to choose your venue ASAP. If you are thinking next year summer/fall, many places are either already booked or are getting booked right now. So get on that immediately.

Next, decide what's most important to you and work downwards from there. For example, photography and videography were extremely important to me so I booked those very far(over a year) in advance and less important things such as officiant and cake I'm only just now getting around to. Start with the biggest, most important things(whatever those are for you) first.
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Thank ya! I'm crossing my fingers that in August, there will be places that are reasonably priced available. Right now is not the best time for me or FH to start looking b/c of job stuff...bah. I am flexible with moving the date though if we can't find anything we like in the months that we prefer.
 
Menina Preta said:
Thank ya! I'm crossing my fingers that in August, there will be places that are reasonably priced available. Right now is not the best time for me or FH to start looking b/c of job stuff...bah. I am flexible with moving the date though if we can't find anything we like in the months that we prefer.
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I just finished searching for an August 2015 venue. August Saturdays fill up fast and many places were already mostly booked on Saturdays or wanted at least 250 people for a Saturday booking.

For affordability, consider a Friday or Sunday wedding. I chose a Sunday because of the extra incentives.

I would not wait too long!
 
fluffyforever said:
I just finished searching for an August 2015 venue. August Saturdays fill up fast and many places were already mostly booked on Saturdays or wanted at least 250 people for a Saturday booking.

For affordability, consider a Friday or Sunday wedding. I chose a Sunday because of the extra incentives.

I would not wait too long!
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Thanks girl! Are you in the US? If so, what state? Please PM if you don't want to say it on here. I'm leaning towards September or October. I imagine that August of next year is probably already booked.
 
Menina Preta said:
Thanks girl! Are you in the US? If so, what state? Please PM if you don't want to say it on here. I'm leaning towards September or October. I imagine that August of next year is probably already booked.
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I'm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. If you do October, that will even have more discounts because it's off season. I do like fall wedding a here because of the colors too.
 
Menina Preta said:
SO has been upgraded to FH :lol:. I think to save money that I want to plan it without a planner, so I need to start gathering info, b/c I love a good deal but want our day to be classy :). How soon in advance did you start planning your wedding? And looking back what advice would you give a recently engaged person just starting out with the whole wedding planning industry? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Congrats Menina Preta! I missed your announcement until looking in this thread for my own selfish purposes. Lol. I have the same questions so let me bump this :look:
 
^^^^^

Thanks girlie! I just started planning. Things I've learned so far:

1. Make sure you ask if there's a "banquet" charge and if it includes tips for the staff. Some places are charging a 20% banquet fee.

2. Ask if the entrees are made to order that day or if you have to submit orders in advance. If you submit in advance, it's more likely that they'll just be warming up your food that day versus it being made to order.

3. Make sure you ask if the linens and flatware are included.

4. Ask if you can bring in your own vendors.

5. Make sure they walk you through the areas designated for your guests on that day. Especially if the places can house more than one event, you don't want your party mingling with other guests from another wedding party in the cocktail area.

HTH!
 
Hey guys, more tips I've discovered:

1. Negotiate! Negotiate! Negotiate! My final venue choice is offering me their prime wedding pacakge sans dessert and cutting off about $30-40 per person on the final price including tax and tip. I just told them what we were working with and agreed upon a doable guest amount. I know I can find ample enough dessert that isn't $30-40 per person.

2. Be open to non prime season dates. We were lucky to get a beautiful place with relatively affordable prices for the late summer season. But while touring places, they definitely lower the prices by as much as 50 to 75 bucks in some places in the fall and winter months. Another good time to save is an early to mid March wedding and even April.

3. Tell them your budget and ask if they can get rid of certain non-essentials like the 5th cocktail hour station or the cake (but make sure you can bring your own).

hth
 
SamandI said:
I'm sure I got suckered. I didn't even negotiate before signing the contract. Ugh!:ohwell::ohwell:
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Try to negotiate for an extra hour then or a day of coordinator or being able to set up earlier than your contract states. My site does just one wedding a day, so if they don't book that date then they lose money that day.
 
I can vouch for the negotiating. I got my venue early in the process and didn't think to try it with them but later on when the budget started getting tight I was able to negotiate with my ceremony musicians, photographer, and videographer. My photographer even told me that most vendors are willing to negotiate at least a little.

I wish I had known that earlier in the process. Could have saved myself some money.
 
Unknown wedding planning tip:

Ask venues how big the plates are that they serve. Ideally you want the plates to be 19 inches. A lot of place like to use 12" places though. The bigger the plate the more food you get and the better bang for your buck. Last thing you want is to spend all this money on food for the guests, but they're still hungry and feel compiled to stop by Mcdonalds on the way home.
 
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