Wedding Planning: No Clue

budget and guest list are a great start. Then get the site/date locked in. The rest is up to you - flowers, officiate, food, drinks, etc.

Hi,

Congrats! www.theweddingchannel.com is super helpful! Also, www.theknot.com Both are very valuable in planning and you can do mostly everything on them-guest list, dress shopping etc. Happy planning!

M

You need to FIRST, know your budget.
You and your Fiance... need to do it, jointly.
AND the planning of it.

I like http://www.theknot.com/ They have a ton of tips, ideas, checklists, etc.

Check out www.theknot.com. Great resource! Congratulations!!!

Picture in your mind how/what you want your wedding to look like and go from there. Maybe start driving around and trying to find the location first?

For me, I started backwards. I picked a place and then, when I started counting how many people were coming, it was too small and I had to start the search again. Get your guest list together. Go to your familys facebook pages to remind u of people if you need to. I also needed to consider the important people in my lifes schedules. I couldn't do it right around finals because my daughter, niece, nephew, and sister in law would all be too busy to help or enjoy it. SO, for me, figure how much $ you have to spend, how many people you need to accomodate, then figure what time of year and that will lead you to the venue. As in the rest of life ... Who, What, Where, When, and Why. The rest is just details.

I bought a beautiful keepsake wedding organizer at Hallmark I'm pretty sure it was. Listed all the things you might need or want and had places to write all your notes, addresses, info etc. I carried it everywhere! It's fun too look back at it now 15yrs later too :)
Setting the date is one of the first things to do then start deciding what kind of location you want. Those book super far in advance so it's a goos place to start. Once you have the date you can work on invitations and all of that.
Congratulations!

First I would set down and figure your budget. You can google wedding budget, excel has one you can download for free.

It adds up very quickly and it's a great way to plan for things you didn't think about. You can guess on the amounts and adjust as needed.

The websites the other moms posted are helpful.

I started looking at wedding sites for ideas, then started searching wedding venues in my area, etc.

you need to have a time frame
set the date
book the church
book the caterer or food option
book the dj or band
make plans for photographer
decide on flowers
decide how formal / informal it will be
decide on invitations
choose attendants
choose wedding favors
choose cake
those are some of the starts lol. congrats and good luck

First you need to book the church, compile a guest list, then get the venue. You have to make sure that the dates match. Then look for a photographer, video, DJ, Limo, So that they are available on the date of the church. You need to have all this done so that the dates are good for all. Get prices first so that you know what can fit into your budget. Don't just book without knowing if you can afford them. Make appointments to speak with all these people. Know what you are getting into. Most places for the reception include things like flowers, cake, etc. Some cakes are included but if you want a different one they charge more. Same with flowers. Look at a bunch of different places, you will be surprised at how many you can choose from. Then start looking for invites, favors, rings, colors, dress and accessories, choose your maid of honor, bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, flower girl and ring bearer. Where you are going for tuxedo's. Depending on how many you need the groom is usually free. Then look into flowers. Get ideas off the internet or visit your local florist.
I bought the majority of my things on ebay. This will save you money on the little things so that you can spend on the bigger things. I bought my ceremony candles, flower girl basket, guest book and pen, ring bearer pillow, head pieces for flower girl and maid of honor, gifts for the bridal party, champagne glasses, return address labels and seals, bubbles. I forget what else I bought from ebay but it did save us alot of money. Look online at different sites for invitations. Most will send you samples for free so that you can actually look at them. They may look pretty in a book or website but when you actually have them in your hand you may not like them. Also decide on where you are going to have your rehearsal dinner. Also when you are getting your guest list ready remember to add the DJ, Video guy, photographer etc cause they will be eating at the reception too. I forgot to do that but it worked out cause a few people that said they were coming didn't show. Then what you want to do is get a gift registry started. This way you will get what you need or want. Do this before your bridal shower. I would do this 3 or 4 months before your wedding. Some people plan their own bridal shower and others are surprised. So you would want to be prepared. Take your other half so that he can pick things out with you. There may be something that he wants. During all this you will need to decide where you are going to live (if you don't already live together). When you are working on the guest list recruit your family and members of his family. Decide on how many people you want. This way no one is left out and feelings get hurt. I hope that this helps. I wish you luck and congratulations on your engagement! You will be very busy and there is alot to a wedding and you may feel like you are going crazy but take a breath and everything will be fine. Just do your research first and get help from friends and family. Do not try to do it all on your own. You will drive yourself crazy. Once again good luck. And have fun with it.

You need to find a ceremony venue and set the date first. That will affect everything else you need to decide on like your dress, colors, flowers, etc. and could even affect where you would like to hold the reception. Many churches and other venues have dates fill up very quickly.

decided small or big then church or hall make list pick date check financed
dont over do it need dress flowers music invitation most can be doen on line
dont overspend you wont make it back in gift then you need a place to live a honeymoon too good luck

start with your budget and guest list. do a search on the internet for wedding planning. I helped my friend do it and it wasn't as hard as it seemed. Once you know your budget it will help you get things rolling. Congratulations and good luck!

Do a search on www.marthastewart.com
She has a checklist of EVERYTHING you would ever need to do to prepare for a wedding. Obviously you don't have to follow it verbatim, but its very helpful to know by when you need to get things done because there are a lot of details.
If you really feel lost, consider hiring a wedding planner. Depending on which direction you want to take the wedding; a wedding planner can help you a lot!
Honestly, for us, the first place we started was: How much can we afford to spend? We set a budget and then worked backwards!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

There are plenty of books and magazines you can refer to but I will just give you some advice I found helpful as we planned our wedding last year for about $5,000.00. Keep things simple. The most important things you will need for a great wedding is: 1 Bride, 1 Groom, 1 Officiant and 2 Witnesses. EVERYTHING else is OPTIONAL. Keeping this thought in the front of your mind will help keep you level headed. The more people you have standing up with you the more complicated things can get and children are cute but generally never do what they are expected to do which adds an element of surprise to your big day.

The minute vendors hear the celebration is for a wedding they automatically think $$$$ W $$ E $$D $$ D $$ I $$ N $$ G $$$$. To reduce some of the costs, if you choose, don't let vendors know it is for a wedding.

Upfront know what your budget is going to be for your big day and then work backwards from there. Know when the monies are due and keep a tight eye on where the money is going to go and when. Determine if you want bills after your big day via credit card debt (or personal loans) or if you want to be debt free. Figure out how you and your fiance are going to finance your big day and start saving and planning now.

The most expense was on the food and the photographer/videographer. One thing I wished I had done was be more precise about the kinds of pictures I wanted for my big day. My photos are very beautiful but they are also very typical. I would have really wanted a more sophisticated look and feel to the pictures and a less contrived. All of the pictures were very stagged and possed, none natural and candid.

Most of your wedding resources will give you the different percentages you can expect to be spending on the different items of your wedding. Have a wonderful wedding and I'd be happy to encourage you along the way. Let us know how it goes. Best wishes to you.

How much fun. I found the best thing to do was figure out around when I wanted to get married. Then figure out the band or dj you want, the place you want for reception, and the place to get married - church, etc - and maybe not in that order but once you have those all nailed down, find out if there is a date that they are all available. Then find your photographer/s. Then you worry about the guest list. The guests won't change between now and a few months from now and until you have more details to tell them, there's no reason to contact any of them with a save the date. Most importantly, have fun, and do what you and your fiance want to do. The best thing we did was that we only invited people we knew. Other than a FEW (less than 10) parental friends we knew everyone there and had the best day. Treasure every minute of it and don't sweat the small stuff.
Congratulations!

My wife & I only had a best man, & maid of honor, besides us & the minister. We spent around $1000.00 of our own. The rest was given to us as our wedding gifts. Had the ceremony at my BIL house. Had the ceremony outside under a big tent. After the ceremony, people shifted the chairs & set up tables for the reception. BIL is a chef & cooked all the food. Burgers, hotdogs, salads, steaks, smoked turkey. Cooked for about 100, even though we had only about 65. Just family & a few special friends. My father took most of the pictures, & borrowed some pics from others. Also had disposable cameras on the tables for candids. Had a friend take video of the ceremony. No charge for food, pics, video, or location. Had flowers & decorations from a friend that was a florist. My wife & I paid for the table & chair rental, DJ, & wedding cake, & disposable cameras. We also received enough money to go on our honeymoon. Total cost was probably around $2500.00. Everyone had a great time, & even the DJ didn't want to leave when his paid time was done.
Main thing is to figure out what you want, & try to find people to help keep costs down. And, make sure you & your guests have a fun day to remember.
There are also wedding planners that can help you. You give them a budget, & what you would like for your wedding, & they do all the work to put it together. All you need to do is approve their plans & ideas.
Good luck, & have a great wedding!

Check out theknot.com it has all of the checklists you need and a timeline to make sure you do everything you are supposed to get done