just curious...planning?

[mimzy]

I know that some of you already have venues and dates booked, but for the rest of you waiting on a ring, how much planning for you future wedding have you done (with or without your FF)??



(just feeling antsy and searching for validation!)

 

[DMBsGirl]

I''ve recently been REALLY looking at wedding stuff and joined a local bride forum for advice. Here''s what I''ve done so far...

1) I''ve already found a place i''d looove to have my reception (just need to book a date once the ring is on my finger!).
2) Found the invites I wanted.
3) I''ve had my dress for several months (brand new Allure wedding gown, saved $900 on ebay!)
4) found a photographer I like and would consider.
5) Found a florist I would want to work with.
6) picked my colors (brown and deep red-hoping for a fall or winter wedding!)
7) know what i want my bouquet to look like. LOTS of deep dark red roses.
(this is all online research btw.)
Woa, I''m soo totally ahead of the game! I am super impatient so kinda planning the wedding has kept me sane, especially since I think the proposal will be soon! (knock on wood!) Once the ring is on my finger, I DO NOT want to be a bride in waiting for a year or more, I would ideally love to be married within six months, so figuring out what i want now will help that.

I could''t control the looong wait for the engagement but I sure can control how long I wait for my wedding!!! WOOHOO!

 

[gwendolyn]

Well, I have done some, I admit. Nothing more than thinking out loud to people about how to swing it, really. We won''t have much money to throw it, which normally wouldn''t be a big deal (I actually would LOVE a small informal wedding with no bridal party and just a big barbecue picnic celebration thing once it''s over where everyone can hang out but noooooooo, the boy wants a big old fashioned proper wedding, damnit)....

Anyway, normally it wouldn''t be a big deal, but he''s British and I''m American. All my family and friends are here, and all of his are there. I''ll soon be over there too (going to grad school!), and I think it''d be more romantic and probably more beautiful to get married in the English countryside somewhere, BUT there''s not much money, especially for a destination wedding! So we''ve been talking about our options...but it hasn''t gotten any farther than that because I don''t really like any of our choices with the money we''ll have, so it stresses me out to think about it too much. And he does try to help, but he doesn''t have any more answers than I do right now.

This might get me banished from this forum, I dunno....but I kinda hope we end up getting married in a super-small ceremony (elope to Italy or France maybe? Oh I''d love that

) so I don''t have to deal with it all but so I can still stay in the country and legally be allowed to work.

.....but I didn''t say that out loud.

 

[Sassee]

Mmm... waiting for ring, but in meantime, with his full consent/awareness/input:


- have agreed on a date (7 June next year which falls on a standard long weekend in my state);
- have pretty much settled on a reception venue (a restaurant) and are really just ironing out a few details before we put down a deposit;
- organised 2 appointments with photographers;
- looking at colour schemes/flowers etc

But still a lot to do which I won''t seriously get stuck into until there is the ring on my finger!!

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Nope. But then again i am a HUGE procrastinator. lol

 

[ladyciel]

I''ve browsed/searched for many things, but nothing is in concrete. Though he''s generally supportive of me doing some research, FF has stated multiple times that he doesn''t want the proposal to just be a formality. When he thinks I''m worrying too much about wedding planning he tells me he thinks he''ll wait to propose until the day AFTER we get married.

That said, I have a handful of bridal magazines and have checked out books from the library, all in the spirit of getting acquainted with everything we''ll have to do/plan while also hunting for ideas. I started a binder where I keep photos and lists of things I''ve found and like (I also have a folder on my computer for things I found online). I''ve requested info packets/pamphlets from some venues and regional wedding sites, which has resulted in a growing trickle of wedding spam in my mailbox that I''m holding on to for reference later.

I''ve done some serious hunting online for possible reception locations (for both Detroit and Pittsburgh areas, because we''re undecided about the location) and have pretty much exhausted what I can do on that front without actually visiting/calling venues. Haven''t looked into specific florists or photographers, but I have ideas of what I like. Have definitely drooled over a million dresses and have a few that I will go to ends of the earth to try on if at all possible My web bookmarks include multiple invitation sites I''ve liked that we can revisit when we have a better idea of the time/location we''ll be working with.

Like I said, nothing is concrete, but I''ll be ready to rock and roll once the ring shows up.

 

[blueyes157]

I have thought about it a bit... mostly looking online, here, the knot, Brides.com. I have a file on my computer of images that I like (flowers, decorations, dresses etc.) as well as a word file, with things that I like or important questions to ask the venue, caterer, photograph, etc. I would love to get married in the fall, even winter would be ok. So no date set in stone or things booked, but the ideas are swirling in my head! I must admit it is a lot of fun!

Happy Planning!

Has anyone come up with a budget yet? How did you determine that?

 

[Sha]

I''ve been planning for the past four months. So far I''ve

1) found my dress (online - plan to order soon)
2) found the invitations I like
3) decided on wedding colours
4) made contact with venue in Barbados, have a tentative date


That''s about it so far. Sometimes I feel funny that I''m doing all these things and still not engaged. When I contacted the venue, the lady was like, "Congratulations on your engagement!". I just said ''thanks''. Anyway, I guess pre-planning doesn''t hurt if you know it''s going to happen. We are planning to have to have a VERY short engagement (about 2-3 months) and a destination wedding, so pre-planning for us makes even more sense.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

No ring yet but hopefully in the next few weeks or so. The bf suggested yesterday that we go and talk to our jeweler some more about the 2 rings we''re considering. One is better quality (clarity wise) than the other but an eh-soso look and the other one is a much more "me" look but a lesser clarity (but 1/2 ct bigger!). So I have to go ask some important questions before TJ makes his decision. Basically I don''t know which out of the two I''m going to get (eek!). I do like them both.

I''ve got the guest list made up, an excel budget set up (but not filled in), ideas for my dress, the BM dresses, and the GMs suits, colors and flowers picked out, ideas for the ''look'' of the photography we want (think Jaders), ideas for the cake and favors, and we have 3 places we''re considering for the ceremony/reception:
1. Beach ceremony in Naraganset RI with a reception at The Towers (big old stone building right on the shore).
2. Ceremony at "Water Fire" in Providence RI with a reception at a restaurant/antique store called Cav.
3. Ceremony and reception at the Public House Inn in Sturbridge, MA. (Old historic building with gorgeous gardens).

We''re going for a Summer/Fall wedding in ''08.

 

[lsyama]

Date: 8/13/2007 9:36:51 PM
Author:mimzy
I know that some of you already have venues and dates booked, but for the rest of you waiting on a ring, how much planning for you future wedding have you done (with or without your FF)??

(just feeling antsy and searching for validation!)

mimzy, now I''m curious! how much planning have you done already?

(doh! hope i didn''t miss a previous post where you already answered this! i''ll go check now... my answer will be coming up in a bit)

 

[mimzy]

Date: 8/14/2007 1:55:22 PM
Author: lsyama

Date: 8/13/2007 9:36:51 PM

Author:mimzy

I know that some of you already have venues and dates booked, but for the rest of you waiting on a ring, how much planning for you future wedding have you done (with or without your FF)??


(just feeling antsy and searching for validation!)

mimzy, now I''m curious! how much planning have you done already?

(doh! hope i didn''t miss a previous post where you already answered this! i''ll go check now... my answer will be coming up in a bit)

hehe welll i guess my answer would pretty much mimic DMBsGirl. I know where i would like to have it and have a photographer and dj picked out. i have an idea of what i want in a gown and have looked around online for discount places. I also know the colors, decor scheme, etc and i''ve done a LOT of research into how to make it happen as our budget is going to be relatively small. I''ve also come up with a guest list and a loose budget. I want to do as much as i can before it happens so i don''t have to wait a year+ to make it happen! (i''d also like a winter wedding! hoping it happens in time for feburary!)

....which it probably won''t - BUT i want to be prepared just in case it does

 

[lsyama]

My guy and I have talked about:
-When the wedding would be (as soon as late Fall ''08, but not sooner)
-Possible wedding and reception locations (we actually visited the Wayfarer''s Chapel together)
-The invite list (small!)
-The ballpark budget (cheap!!)

-The honeymoon
-Buying a house (if the market ever improves!)

Things I''ve thought about on my own:
-I want to find a cheap dress!
-What kind of wedding ring I''d want
-I think I''m not going to have any bridesmaids
-I don''t want a program at the reception
-Who I''d offend if I don''t invite them (and if I could live with offending them)

-I really just want to keep it very simple

I guess we just have a basic idea about the wedding, no details!
And we''re not telling family and friends about anything until we''re actually engaged.

 

[lsyama]

Date: 8/14/2007 2:10:39 PM
Author: mimzy

(i''d also like a winter wedding! hoping it happens in time for feburary!)

I''ll be rooting for you!

 

[Haven]

I haven''t done any planning at all, the only thing we really know is that we will be getting married some time next summer when I''m off work, and it will have to be between a trip to Greece that I''m chaperoning in June, and Wimbledon in July because we''re trying to get tickets to the last four days of matches.

We have talked about making the Wimbledon trip a part of our honeymoon and traveling for two or three weeks around that, but we haven''t made any concrete plans at all yet.

Now I''m feeling nervous! Should I be planning?!?! I am SO NOT A PLANNER, I''m more of a procrastinator like iwannaprettyone!

Oooh--I did fall in love with Jas13''s dress here on PS, so I saved a picture of it in case I decide I want it in the future. That counts, right?!

 

[bee*]

So far together, D and I have found our venue. We also know what type of food, band, photographer we are looking at and we have looked at a few portfolios together. We are going to get married summer 2009 so that I can get another year of college over with. I''ve looked at many many dresses online and know the style and maybe colour of bm dreses. We also know what car we would like.

 

[happilyeverafter]

Well I just got engaged yesterday, but I have been planning the wedding for just over a month. We are having a short engagement (4 months from proposal, 5.5 months of planning) because I wanted a winter wedding, and we are having a very small wedding so it didn''t warrant 1.5 years of planning. So before I had my ring I had...

1. picked a date/time
2. booked a photographer
3. picked a ceremony venue and am penciled in (have to go fill out forms and pay yet)
4. picked a reception venue and am penciled in (have to go confirm and choose menu yet, and pay deposit)
5. bought dress, some jewellery, and indoor shoes
6. chose our JP (this was an easy one, Fi''s stepmom is a JP)
7. chose what bouquet and invites will look like - have to order bouquet and DIY invites yet tho.
8. chose favours, idea of bridal hair, decoration ideas, etc.

Since it''s a short engagement I wanted to make sure I had all the big things done, and my mind thinks of ideas for the details all day long, so that has been pretty easy to decide too. If you know a wedding date why not prepare for it? Just be careful about deposits if your wedding date isn''t a concrete for sure.

PS My budget is small because the wedding is only 24 including us. Immediate family and two sets of friends. No cake, almost no flowers except my bouquet, no bridal party. Very simple and very special.

 

[lsyama]

Haha, just wanted to say that this has been an *evil* topic!
It planted the idea in my head, and now I''ve started to plan things in way more detail!
(At least that''s my excuse

)
Actual budget numbers, invite list (this one is particularly stressful!)...

 

[dps777]

Funny that you started this topic as I have been thinking about the same thing

We have decided upon a general timeframe (Fall, 200 and I have been brainstorming venues with my sister. I figure that once we are officially engaged we can get right down to business!

 

[curiopotter]

I''m not engaged yet, but so far we''ve picked a date, a ceremony venue, a reception venue, a caterer (possibly), and a theme...

*whew* Hopefully these places won''t be booked by the time he actually proposes, and gets a guest list together...

 

[Haven]

Every time I see this topic I start to get so nervous! We know that we are definitely going to have the wedding next summer, and now that I''m chaperoning a trip to Greece in June AND we are going to go to England for Wimbledon in July that really narrows down our window for having the wedding (if we want to honeymoon at Wimbledon.)

And then I come here and read this thread and think OHMIGOSH!!!! I should be planning! AAAAAAAH!

The ring is being made as we speak, according to the jeweler''s time frame it''s going to take for more weeks, so by the time BF proposes we''ll be in October already.

I think I''m going to start planning. Oh my, this is overwhelming!

 

[CrookedRock]

Wow! My bf teases me about being too much of a planner, but geezzz, I should show him this topic! All we know is that we are eloping and throwing a party (we still want gifts)

. We decided to rent a private luxury yacht for the party and limit it to about 100 people. But besides that, nothing is planned. You guys are making me nervous... I gotta go research!