June/July Brides: What Do you Have Left?!!?

[lovelylulu]

Good morning! For the past week, I''ve had some sort of strange spring flu. I''m all better now, but wasn''t able to do too much/any wedding planning. I''m starting to feel the planning pressure of the impending day and was wonder what you all have left to do -- mostly because I am paranoid that I''m going to overlook some huge detail or many minor details completey!

Done:
Location
Dress being altered
Veil ordered
Shoes & Accessories
Flowers
Band
Photographer
STD ordered/mailed
Invitations ordered
BM dresses ordered
Tux bought for my man
Ceremony Readings Picked
Pre-Marriage Mandatory Counseling reserved
Rehearsal Dinner booked
Honeymoon Booked
Hair Trial
BM gift (partial done)

Undone:
Finalizing flower arrangements
Picking 1st dance song/playlist
Specific Photographs (need to talk to photographer)
Addressing/mailing invitations
Mailing additional info package for out of towners (ie maps, golfing info, activities, etc)
Picking tuxes for the party
Deciding on who''s doing the readings
Ordering wedding bands
Seating cards
Seating arrangment
Program for the Church??
Ordering Vases (DIY project)
Ordering candles
Ordering Luminaries
Welcome Basket for out of towners??? (don''t have any good ideas)
Ordering Favors
Tasting Weekend to pick menu/cake
Possible Makeup trial??
Gift to parents
Gift to my groom
ASKING FOR VACATION!!!

 

[amyg]

OMG Lulu...that list almost made me have a panic attack!!!! My wedding is pretty small and simple, outside evening candlelight ceremony...so far this is what''s done

place, rentals,photographer, flowers, cake, most of the decorations, my dress, tuxes, BM dresses, decision made to use sound system and cd''s, friend to emcee, invitations bought, but not printed, I don''t know what else...what i still know I need to do, is pick out the rest of the food, it''s an all dessert reception...and Ineed some sort of guestbook thing, and planning the honeymoon...

Just thinking about it makes me panic, I''ve only been engaged a month, and only have 2 to go, so I have to make some snap decisions in order to get it all done....

 

[jcrow]

well i am a nov. bride. do i count?

 

[lovelylulu]

amy: i''m so sorry! i didn''t mean to cause panic -- just trying to organize my own

i''m not, by nature, an organized individual and i''m really not great at planning -- so as the date looms closer, it''s starting to feel like there are a million little things to do...i was just trying to see what others were doing and where they were.

you''ve had an extremely short time to plan and it seems from your list that you''ve got all the big stuff taken care of

that''s what i''ve done too, but although i have all the big stuff done, somehow it feels like the day itself is completely disorganized!

jcrow: join in!

 

[amyg]

Oh, no need to apologize lulu, that''s just my hysteria talking...I really have gotten a lot done, i think that a lot of my panic comes from being afraid I will forget something...and i''m not doing a lot of the traditional things like cake tasting and so forth, my cousin does cakes, and she''s bring me a sample down this month, and that will be all there is to it...I don''t have the actuall ceremony planned out, and that is a little overwhelming to me, just because I haven''t been to more than 3 or 4 weddings and I just don''t want to get it wrong...but I''m sure I''ll figure it out!! I just got a call from David''s and the BM dresses are in!! they weren''t supposed to come for another 4 weeks, adn I was really worried about having time for the alterations, so this is awesome news!!!

By the way it looks like you have everything under control, I am a major organizational person, and lists are the best thing you can do to keep everything in order!!

 

[jorman]

Oh, Lovelylulu- You totally made my heart palpitate with FEAR! BUT- here is my list anyway. Keep in mind we are eloping and having a small celebration a month later, so my list is smaller than most:

Done:
Bought Dress
Ordered flowers (bouquet and Boutinniere)
Made Hair and Makeup Appointment
Photographer Deposit Paid
Minister Reserved
Bed & Breakfast Reserved
Couples Massage Reserved

DF ring purchased
Flights reserved for family shower and afterparty
Hotel accomodations made for shower and afterparty.
After Party Reserved and Deposit Paid for
Invitations are being printed
Envelopes have arrived for addressing


Undone:
Purchase DF Tux (he wants his own- I figure I get a dress, he should get a tux, right?)
Buy shoes- I just switched dresses at the last minute, so need new shoes...go figure
Return Veil- new dress doesn''t really want a veil
Purchase center piece items
Order photograph reprints for centerpieces
Marriage License
Purchase Stamps
Address Invitations and apply postage
Mail Invitations
Confirm wedding spot with Minister and Photographer
Send finalizes vows to minister
Buy Hostess gifts for family shower
Am considering small give aways at celebration, but don''t know what.
I think that''s all...

WHEW! We have a lot to do and we are buying a house!!!! AHHHHHHH!

 

[jcrow]

Novemeber 2006 Wedding:

done:

ordered dress
ordered BM dresses
picked flowers
hired photographer
hired florist
reserved church
reserved reception place
picked menu
did a menu taste test
hired cake lady
hired ceremony musicians
bought BM gifts
bought GM gifts
half-way ordered parent gifts
designed invites
picked letterpress printer for invites
selected officiant
ordered and received my wedding ring
dinner rehearsal booked
reception band hired
booked hotel room for night before and night of wedding
blocked botel for OOT guests
picked father/son/daugher/mother dance song
picked final song of the night
registered for gifts

undone:

pick and order veil
pick and order shoes
pick and buy undergarmets
pick and make garter
nail down reception decorations
nail down ceremony decorations
decide on and hire videographer
make hair trial appts.
buy FI ring
find tuxes
decide on transporation
decide on honeymoon
decide on ceremony readers and passages read
decide on music for ceremony
do engaged encounter classes
print and send invites
marriage license
weigh invites and buy stamps
design and print thank you cards
design and print menus
buy toasting flutes
pick and buy cake cutter and server
pick first dance song
order sparkers and matches for favors
pick and buy shower hostess gifts
take bridal portraits
alter dress

 

[selflove]

I kept my list right next to me on my desk to make sure I paid attention to it. Of course, it was a list-in-progress, as it only seemed to grow! But we had to have everything done about 8 days before the wedding due to FI''s parents coming into town. So I got it all done, with a lot of nervous energy in the last month, and now this week I''m pretty much all ready to go and get married! All that nervous energy I''ve had for the past 6-8 weeks is gone (okay, most of it is gone) and I haven''t woken up at 2am all panicked in several weeks!

So, my (unsolicited) advice--get a list and cross off at least as many things as you add per day!

 

[jcrow]

oh, good advice. feel like you are getting somewhere that way!

 

[selflove]

I think the point at which I breathed a sigh of relief and felt a lot less stressed was when I put together the seating chart and printed all the place setting cards. That was such a big task!

 

[Tybee]

Jorman,
We ARE BUYING A HOUSE TOO! We close on May 24th! All wedding planning energy has gone into picking paint colors and deciding on fixtures energy! Yikes!

Let me see if I can organize what we''ve done. We''re pretty lucky because so much is included in our destination wedding.
Wedding Date: July 17th

Done

Plane tickets to St. Thomas purchased (FIRST CLASS!)--never flown first class in my life, can you tell I''m excited?
Have wedding location/reception areas booked
appetizer menu chosen
drink plan chosen
rehearsal dinner-- location and menu picked
photographer, Dj, flowers, catering ---all come recommended by our venue
Dress is being altered (I get to try it on on Friday!)
shoes (fllip flops) are purchased.
Some wedding jewelry is done.
Rings are in a safe-deposit box so I won''t walk around wearing mine.
Invitations have been printed, stuffed, addressed and MAILED!
Bridesmaids'' flip flops arrived today (thanks OldNavy!)


Need to Do

Decide what FI is wearing and BUY it!
Buy outfit for rehearsal dinner
Buy outfits for my nephews who will be in my bridal party
Premarital counseling
Pick our dinner menu (I still can''t believe we haven''t done this!_
Decide what groomsmen are wearing.
Have grandmother''s earrings reset to match my pendant
Buy bridesmaids'' and groomsmens''s gifts
Write our ceremony!
Choose friends to do the readings
Pick out must/don''t play list for DJ
LEARN HOW TO DANCE so we don''t make fools of ourselves!
Decide on a guest book
Decide on out of town bags

have a cocktail...

I''m sure that I''m forgetting a bunch. YIKES! So soon!