My wedding has been something I'd dreamed of since I was a little girl, dancing around the house with an old, sheer curtain, bobby-pinned to my head. Once Doyle & I agreed to the "Big Party" I pictured me in the white dress, with the flowing veil, bridesmaids surrounding me and bunches of flowers all over the place. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Then I came face-to face with real and difficult decisions, budgets & etiquitte and a multitude of things that I didn't realize I had to think of. For instance, round and rectangular tables what a debate! Who knew how important that decision is? Everyone but me, apparently. As a first time bride, I have little to no experience when it comes to planning a wedding. (Which is probably the same boat most brides are in.) I thought I knew SO much when I leant an ear to my friends and family with their wedding planning. Heck, I was a pro at throwing parties and had even done a fundraiser. Silly me. There are so many differences between my friends' weddings, to the wedding I was planning to weddings I'd read about in magazines. (Can we say fantasy?) Not to mention an entirely different type of vendor. I've nicknamed these people "Wedding Nazi's" and they are scary! Since this is a once in a lifetime event (usually/hopefully) this was my only chance to do it "right". I'd gained so much from the past experiences of other brides who'd posted their planning and budget advice, I thought I'd do the same and pass along anything and everything that might be helpful to all you "Brides to Be" out there.
A lot of people do reccommend a consultant, and I can understand why. Between advice from family, friends and especially the wedding Nazi vendors who all seem to "know better than you", I got overwhelmed! However, I didn't choose to have a consultant because I really wanted to do this myself, and I couldn't (or didn't want to) find room in my budget. Believe it or not, I even turned down a chance at a free coordinator/catorer family member because, well... their ideals weren't necessarly mine and I found myself fighting them every step of the way. It was a really intimidating situation because they're the experts on this sort of thing. But because Doyle & I were to pay for this ourselves, I opted to do all the organizing and planning myself... with Doyle's input, of course. For help and advice, I found the Internet a wealth of information. That's why I decided to write my experiences here and share them as well. I have a page dedicated to some of the sitesI'd used.
What I'd also found helpful were, of course, the plethera of magazines. These were the first things I grabbed.I liked these much more than most wedding planners which were usually pricey and pretty useless. I admit, I got a beautiful, hard-covered planner with pictures, a checklist, and a even a pocket for misc. items; but most of it was information I already read in the magazines... which are much more fun to look through! Keep in mind that magazines contain a LOT of articles that have very different points of views and different styles, so use what works with you and your style. There are many magazines and even more articles to choose from. If you disagree with some advice or etiquitte, don't fret. Just skip it and find advice that you can actually use. I'd pulled out a lot of planning tips and checklists from them, pulled out pictures and articles that I found useful and organized them in a 3-ring binder. This is the best planner I could've asked for. It was created and personalized, just for me!
- General Budget
- Guest list & addresses (Including guest list for showers, rehearsal dinner, etc)
- Bridal Dresses & Boutiques
- Bridesmaids Dresses
- Groomsmen Attire & retail stores
- Hair & Accessories
- Catering (Or Reception info)
- Rentals
- Flowers
- DJ
- Photo & Video
- Registry
- Officiant info
(included personalized vows)
- Seating
- Articles / Advice
- Main Phone list
- Receipts
Speaking of Bridal Expo, I'd done a silly thing and registered with a bunch of them. The reasons were for discounts, appointments and free gifts. (Oh the lure of freebies!) But I have to warn you that they'll immediately put you on their mailing list, as well as share your name and address with other vendors. In fact, I still got one for a tuxedo company, a year and new address later! If you are interested, Use an address and phone number that will either change soon, or maybe even a phone number for a separate voice mail or operator. If you need to touch base with any vendor, you'll have their phone number.
and the kind of advice that help me through the rough days.
