Wedding Advice – Here Comes the Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Planning’

Your wedding day is going to be unique. But your wedding timeline should be based on time-tested wisdom that has worked for brides in every age. Follow this schedule and you will have everything lined up at the right time. Build in some extra time if you have it. You’ll be ahead of the game when the last minute crunch hits.

12 to 16 months before the wedding

This is the time when you’ve just gotten engaged. You’re excited and you should be. However, don’t rush through the planning. Remember that you have lots of time in front of you. You’ll be able to get the best deals because you are starting early. Ask for discounts for early booking. You’ll be surprised at how many you get!

Choose your wedding date

Decide how you will keep your wedding records

Choose a theme for your wedding

Select your wedding reception site

Select a ceremony site

Put your engagement announcement in the paper

Set a budget

8 to 11 months before the wedding

Send out save the date cards if you’re using them

Start shopping for your gown

Hire a caterer if your reception site doesn’t provide the food

Start looking for a videographer

If you haven’t already, select the pastor, priest or rabbi who will perform your ceremony

Decide who will be in your bridal party

Start looking for a photographer

Start looking for a band or DJ

Set up your gift registry

Set the color and style of your bridesmaids’ dresses

Begin a preliminary list of who you’ll want to invite

5 to 7 months before the wedding

Shop for your wedding cake

Have your invitations printed (and thank you cards, too)

Finish your guest list

Call hotels and book rooms for out of towners

Start planning your honeymoon

4 months before the wedding

Choose your florist or decide which flowers you will need to make on your own

Be sure of your state’s wedding license requirements. If you need blood tests, get them now.

Buy your wedding bands

3 months before the wedding

Rent the tuxedos for the men

Send out your wedding invitations

Make or purchase wedding favors

Finalize your menu

Shop for gifts for the bridal party

Hire limos or other transport for the bridal party

2 months before the wedding

Have your wedding gown altered

Schedule times for the bridal party to be fitted for their gowns

Select an outfit for the flower girl and ring bearer

Confirm your flowers and cake orders

Plan for the rehearsal dinner (the groom’s family should pay for this)

Finalize the wedding music songs with the DJ or band

Order address labels with your new name and address

1 month before the wedding

Design your wedding program and print them

Have your final wedding gown fitting

Finalize wedding ceremony and reception decor (bows for church pews, wedding envelope box, guest book, etc.)

Get your marriage license

Decide on a hair style and make up with your beautician. Do a trial run.

Call all vendors to finalize details

2 weeks before the wedding

Have your bridal party or mom help call any guests who haven’t responded

Design your seating plan

Give final head count to the reception hall or caterer

1 week before the wedding

Confirm hotel and honeymoon reservations

Pack for honeymoon including passports

Confirm rehearsal dinner plans

Pick up your wedding gown and any other formal wear

1 day before the wedding

Get your manicure and pedicure

Give rings to the best man

Check your list to see if everything is done

Relax!

The day of the wedding, just get up and enjoy the day. Eat breakfast so you have something solid in your stomach, have your hair done and get dressed. Take lots of photos of all of you getting ready before the wedding.

Plan to write your thank you notes as soon as you arrive home from your honeymoon. The sooner, the better.

More on Wedding Planning:

• Planning A Wedding - Tips and Timelines
• Planning A Wedding - 1 to 3 Months in Advance
• Tips for Planning your own Wedding

Getting those memories down on paper, or stored online for for many years to come, is only one of the big decisions you will be making in relation to your wedding. However, it is the decision that will have the longest life. Choosing the right photographer can be a tricky task. You should take a composite view towards this decision making process. Here is a guide to some of the things to be on the look out for. It is your special day, and so let's get it right.

• Experience. You may choose your photographer based on all of their experience. You may choose your photographer based on their experience with weddings. If you are looking for something unique, a photographer who is very skilled in their job, and not necessarily one who does weddings all the time, may still be a good choice. Think outside the box in relation to experience. What you are looking for in previous work is the quality and personality. Someone who does not do much work in weddings might have some unique angles. Choose the quality of the images and style over the type of experience.
• Intuitive. Photography of people is all about people. In other words, if someone can take the right photos at the right time, they are probably intuitive at all times. This could be described as 'a professional illness'. Those who make the best hospitality professionals can rarely stop after work. A photographer will be the same. Pay a little attention to this matter and see how well they can read you during initial discussions.
• Attitude. Many artists like to feel special. That is fine if you are chasing them for a high-paying advertising campaign, but this is your wedding. Someone who is generally interested in the project is also extremely important. If they act like they are doing you a favor, then you need to consider them no more. Interest level of the photographer will have a huge impact on the quality of the shot. Really good photographers are fanatical about their job or the project they are working on.
• Personality. Photography is all about catching the mood. You have to be honest about how you feel about the photographer. This doesn't mean being 'satisfied'. It means that you should really like the person a lot. This will come out in the photographs. A picture speaks a thousand thoughts and emotions. What you are thinking and feeling at the time of the photograph will change the quality of the shot. Just because other people liked the photographer, or they have outstanding work, does not mean that you should be choosing them. How you feel about that person, is what really counts.

At the end of the day, this is your wedding, and so don't compromise on your choice of photographer. Spend some time finding someone you like, and enjoy being around. Someone who is building their career could be a very good choice.  The combination of all the factors above will mean the best images possible. You don't want to be just another wedding on another company production line.

So you've gotten engaged and you're starting to plan. There's so much to do (find a church, find the reception spot, find your dress, bridesmaid dresses, tuxes, pick out flowers, cakes, jewelry, gifts for your bridal party, food, wedding favors, *breathe* and more.) So where on earth do you even start? There are hundreds of websites out there that try to help, and even more websites out there that are out to sell, sell, sell. So which ones are worth it?

Well we've done the research for you to help the wedding planning go a little bit easier. To really make it work for you, the bride, we've also segmented the sites into two different categories; free and paid. It's your choice whether you have it in your budget to pay for a site to stay organized, or maybe you're just looking for ideas and you'd rather have a site that's free. Either way is perfectly fine!

Free Wedding Planning Websites

TheKnot.com - Yes, you probably saw this one coming on the list but it's typically a bride favorite. It gives you your own wedding page, allows you to shop thousands of wedding gowns, features to-do lists, guest lists, budget tools, local wedding resources and lots more.

OneWed.com - A lesser known site with just as many options. OneWed offers bridal gown searches, cake designs, hair ideas, a personal checklist for the big day, a wedding website, and lots of advice from other OneWed members as well.

Brides.com - It requires a few steps to sign up, but when you do, you have access to bridal gowns, real wedding ideas, a budget planner, honeymoon help, to-do checklist, and of course, your own wedding website (seeing a trend here?) They also feature bridesmaid and mother-of-the-bride dresses as well.

OneStopWeddingPlanner.com - This site is amazing, they have everything you could ever need starting with food, music, floorplan, transportation, budget, wedding party, photographer, registries, guestlist, flowers, agenda, calendar and lots more. You may have to host your wedding site somewhere else, but it may just be worth it if these options help!

OurWeddingDay.com - Okay, so you want to get on the wagon for the online RSVP's. Not a problem, this site has that going on. They also feature a task-list manager, a contact list, budget-planner, save-the-dates, and more. This one doesn't have too many bells and whistles, but it is most certainly helpful.

PerfectWeddingGuide.com - Supporting you locally, this site helps you find DJ's, flowers, dresses, cakes, favors, invites, rings, and lots more. Plus it features a guest list, a budget tracker, and a custom to-do list for you to keep up with what's left to be done on your timeline.

MarthaStewartWeddings.com - This one is another great site that has more wedding planning tools than you might know what to do with. She even offers a seating chart section (how great is that?) Plus, she gives you etiquette tips for the big day. Other helpful tools include a budget tool, checklist tool, guests tool, vendor tool and vendor search as well!

Paid Wedding Planning Websites

eWedding.com - This site allows you to create a very customized wedding website for free (and your own domain name on a paid plan) There are additional features when you upgrade, plus you can place a poll, events list and RSVP right there on the website to keep everyone up-to-date on what's happening next. Not to mention your own mailing list to use for communicating with your bridal party.

WeddingWindow.com - This might be the best wedding planning site out there. Your options are almost limitless starting with a budget tracker, invitation workshop, thank-you note workshop, a checklist, reminders, personal journal, calendar, vendor list, email blasts, invitation tracker, event manager, save-the-date cards, guest list manager and more.

WeddingTracker.com - Equally impressive, this site has it all. Your own wedding website with personal domain, online RSVP, maps, news & update alerts for your guests, attendants, registry, photo section, guest book, accommodations, and more.

Get Planning!

Hopefully this helps you along with planning your wedding! With so much to do on a limited timeline and budget, it's great to be organized and prepared for the busy months ahead! Do you have a wedding planning site not seen here, but you think it's great? Let us know! It might just help out another bride!

For more bridal essentials, try some of the helpful articles:

• Planning A Wedding - Tips and Timelines
• Planning a Destination Wedding
• Should You Send Save the Date Cards?
• Announcing your Engagement
• Choosing a DJ versus a Live Band
• How to Register for Wedding Gifts
• Wedding Budget

From theme and personalization ideas to attire and décor, the wedding world is full of inspiration loveliness! So many incredible ideas… it almost makes me want to get married all over again! *sigh*

Newly engaged? If so, are you swimming in a sea of wedding magazines? Is your Google Reader overflowing with amazing wedding blogs? Are you feeling joyous yet overwhelmed with all the possibilities? Perhaps it’s a good time to get down to basics {I’ll explain soon}.

Your wedding invitations are the most important communication tool for your guests- reflecting the tone of your wedding as well as your colors, theme and style.  With all of today’s wedding inspiration goodness, a challenge lies in staying focused and keeping a cohesive look. Of course, it can be done~ hopefully, by the time you order your invites. 

Back to wedding planning basics. This simply involves deciphering your style and knowing what you want for your wedding day. If you stay true to your personalities and style, wedding planning will be a joy {as it should be}! You’ll have a much easier time making decisions while staying focused, consistent and true to yourselves.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

• Dream over your vision. How do you see your wedding day?
• What’s your style? Are you modern, traditional, destination, non-traditional…
• Which colors and season are you naturally drawn to?
• Is there a theme that effortlessly captures your personality and style?
• Where do you lean… rustic or metropolitan? Somewhere in between?
• What are the most important elements? {Great food. Great music. Dream dress…}
• What is your budget?

Thoughts? What other questions are worth asking?

 I’d love to hear from you,

Heidi

Save the Date image via MagnetStreet Weddings