14 MONTHS TO GO & FINISHED PLANNING

You can't have organised all the finer details yet surely?! Some things just can't be sorted until nearer the time.

WRBS!!

I have 11mths to go and have tonz left that cant be done to next year at least!

Surely you must of forgotton a few things? Maybe in a couple of months you will think, ahh i want this too. etc.
If not then wow, go you!! lol I change my mind far too easily, i would have to leave alot f things untill last minute lol.

I have aaaagggeesss but I have a list of things to do each month...and actually, I pretty much have one or two things to do in every month! There are loads of little bits to do that can only be done at certain points or when you have collated certain info.

I think, if you are really enjoying planning (like me!) make a 'timeline' and divide up jobs to do every month - for instance, this month I got quotes from florists which can take up a fair few evenings, and I booked my florist, too.

Surely you must have loads left to do??

Favours, centrepieces, stationary (place names, table plan), cake, music for the ceremony/ meal/ reception? I've found these take *ages* not only to decide what you actually want, but to actually get them sorted too. You'll find plenty to do, don't worry ?

My only advice is thus.

We were just like you when we first got engaged - within a month or two we had chosen date, venue, photographer and booked the registrar. Those things had to be booked early.

Since then, particularly as we've seen things on Hitched, we've thought about changing quite a few things that we'd originally decided on - some things dropped due to timings, some dropped due to budget, some things dropped because they were unique and unavailable on our chosen date, we've fiddled about with the timings, table plans etc so many times I've lost count of them.

We've also been out shopping for things, like we went to buy some photo frames in Ikea, and found a mirror that we hadn't thought about which is now our table plan, and some green dried branch thingys that we're turning into row end decorations that we hadn't even thought about, then with advice from Sherrie we got some pull bows to put on them to decorate them even further.

Participating in Hitched is a great way to share ideas, as others have said there are bound to be a load of things that you will change over the next 14 months.

It's also a great way to reel in from your enthusiasm when you share what you think is a great idea only for 20 people to give you good reasons why it isn't, and then realise for yourself that actually it's not a smart idea after all.

wedding, reception & disco booked

chair covers & sashes ordered

jars bought for sweetie buffet

photographer booked

Favours, check - just need to buy chocs / sugared almonds etc

centrepieces,check - fish bowls & mirrors - just need flowers

stationary (place names, table plan) ,place names bought just need writing on which i cant do until we have definate numbers next year. i will make ny table plan once we know numbers etc

cake, my friend is making it

music for the ceremony/ meal/ reception supplied by DJ that we've booked just need to decide on the first dance

save the dates arrived today & are being posted out tomorrow

wedding dress & pageboy suits bought

ummmm James is in charge of sorting his own suit & i need to order wedding rings. have i forgotten anything?

Wow! I cant believe how organised some people can be.

I thought I was an organised person until I started wedding planning over a year ago.

So far I have just set a date with the church and penciled a booking in with the venue.

Got 12 months left to do the rest!

Sorry this might not be what you want:

Music for entrance, signing of register and exit. I know you've said supplied by the DJ but have you picked exactly what songs you want?

Vows

Hymns

Readings (who will do them and what will be read)

Presents for wedding party

Wedding Underwear

Shoes

Jewellery

Veil

Make up/Hairdresser Booked

Transport

Bridesmaid Dresses if you have any

You still have loads to do nearer the time. Most brides are the same when it comes to booking things in advance and tbh I didn't have much to do until it was a few months before when it really hits you and then you need to get invitations out, chase for RSVP's, final meetings with photographer, videographer, florist, dress fittings, several meetings with venue etc.

Are you having it videoed?

Hymns (if a church service), readings and people to do them?

Reception room decor?

Car(s) to get you/OH/bridesmaids/parents to the various places?

Bouquets, corsages, buttonholes etc?

You say you have fishbowls and need flowers, but what about mirrors, crystals etc?

Guest list outline? You may be restricted on numbers by your venue, or your budget - no point inviting 150 people if your venue only holds 80.

Have a look at the "My Wedding" checklist on the Members drop down menu top right - that's pretty comprehensive although it may be that some things are irrelevant to your particular plans.

Lynsey is absolutely right on this one! We've had a big lull for a while now but from last weekend onwards we are manic, with final meetings, decorations, pre wedding shoot etc etc etc the list is endless at the moment!

Thanks to Lynsey though my last Jewellery present is being ticked off the list with my Mum getting sorted!

I would just enjoy being engaged, enjoy buying bridal mags while you can and then be ready for the madness to kick off nearer the time!!

Wow I have got 12 months to go and nowhere near got through half of your list! And you have only been doing this for a month?

I think there are a lot of good suggestions above.

thank you!!

Music for entrance, signing of register and exit. I know you've said supplied by the DJ but have you picked exactly what songs you want? no but it's only a registry office do. until i give notice in september i cant find out about music -

Vows traditional ones - cant risk James adding something in about doing the washing up or hanky panky on demand!

Hymns n/a

Readings (who will do them and what will be read) not something we want -

Presents for wedding party invites will specify your presence not presents please. those that would buy presents are contributing financially to the wedding

Wedding Underwear not yet but need to slim down a bit first but chosen what i want

Shoes ordered

Jewellery bought & in the wedding cupboard

Veil n/a

Make up/Hairdresser Booked n/a me & my mum sorting it

Transport not hiring cars will use our normal cars as we're on a budget

Bridesmaid Dresses if you have any my MOH is suplying her own dress (my only bridesmaid). i've given her free rein as to what she wears as i'd rather she came than was uncomfortable in some stuffy dress she'll never wear again

i think because it's so informal & on such a small budget everything is much easier than a traditional church wedding.

I think the inference was 'thankyou gifts for the wedding party, ie parents, bridesmaids etc' rather than what you want people to buy you.

Informal is not a bad thing but you also want to make the most of your ceremony - after all you are getting married! We did a quick run through just the two of us last night with our readings, vows and music and we reckon it'll be a comfy half hour ceremony, that's a civil ceremony with 'additional vows', one reading, guest response vows, and the recommended minimum 10 minutes for signing the register.

I'm pretty sure you want to make the most of the experience rather than a "do you, do you, right you're married, next" production line ceremony?

Gosh you are organised!! I take it all back, can't actually think of anything else then in that case...

What about background music for while you're eating, you could compile a playlist? Or songs that you want the DJ to play? Thats literally like the only thing I can think of...

All that is left to do then, is put your feet up for 12 months

No I didn't mean presents that people will buy you. I was meaning presents you may give to your MOH, Pageboys, parents etc as a thank you. Not something that has to be done but often you do it during the speeches although we didn't but we still bought presents to give privately to the people who had helped us.

You can still decide on music now if you wanted. It's not something a registry office will help you with.

You've done what you can for now but you will have loads more to do nearer the time. I didn't find planning took up much my time at all in the early stages.

If you have your invitations and favours to make they will take you a while depending on the design so if you really wanted to be doing stuff now you could make the invitations and store them. You also might need thank you cards?

I hope that you don't take this the wrong way, but in your first post you said "I've organised our entire wedding".

Did you literally mean you're doing everything, or is your future husband having an input in all these things too? It's just that he may well have some opinions about different aspects of your day

*sigh* that's not what I meant at all.

Well for a start I didn't join up until some time after you'd got married so I wouldn't have seen your report and had no idea what you may have chosen to do at your ceremony.

Secondly, what you may or may not have done is your business entirely. It's your wedding and you did what you wanted, just like we are at ours.

Thirdly, I have no idea why you chose to get offended at a statement that wasn't directed at you or mentioned you in the slightest.

I'm talking about the sort of ceremony that's treated as little more than a legal agreement, rather than a special day. Where everything is cut back to the bare bones almost 'to get it over with' rather than being a special day.

I had no intention of upsetting you in the slightest, I don't have any beef with you.

WSS. I don't think it says that at all.

I haven't seen you mention your dress anywhere, they can take a while to be made so you should start looking soon

But it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular. I think you're being a bit over sensitive. If it had been aimed at you directly then I'd completely agree with your statement above.

This phrase should be used more!

If "do you, do you, right you're married, next" is what you had and wanted, that's fine; I think AJ was merely suggesting the B2B might want to reconsider having a no frills ceremony. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions and the above didn't appear to be aimed at you as far as I can tell.

To the OP:

Guestbook

Speeches

Honeymoon (?)

Wedding insurance...

Literally all I can think of. If you're not having chair covers or anything else you do seem to have nearly everything covered...in which case, well done!

You chose to be offended by my statement, which was not at all directed at you in the slightest. If you chose to take it personally then I'm sorry but that's your issue, rather than mine.

As I previously said, whatever your wedding ceremony consisted of is, presumably, what you and your OH wanted. That doesn't make it any less of a wedding than someone who goes for the full works with readings, additional or personalised vows, special music, or anything else you chose not to include.

You can, of course, get married with nothing but the 5 minute legal declarations part - and that's just as valid a ceremony as a 30 minute full-on ceremony.

So I wasn't saying you weren't "as married" as someone who may have done it in a different manner, but it's very difficult to apologise for something that isn't actually your responsibility.

If you were in a queue of traffic and someone rammed the back of your car, would you apologise for being in their way? Of course not. If somebody stole your handbag, would you apologise to them that you hadn't been to the cashpoint yet but your pin number is 1234 if they'd like to help themselves to your account? Of course not. Therefore it's hard to apologise for someone being upset at something said in a thread that was neither about them or particularly relevant to them.

Super organised girlie!!! I am exactly the same. I have 13 months still to go and I am really enjoying the planning side of it alll!! We are also having a small ceremony as it is a second wedding for both of us but it is no less exciting is it!!!??

My goodness i wish i was that organised. I haven't got half that stuff organised and i'm getting married in just under 6 months!!

Gosh thats impressive. I have an idea straight in my head of everything we want/ thinking of doing but nothing booked and i thought *I* was organised!

OH and I will actually most probably be having a "production line" wedding and I took no offence to what AJ said at all!! We want to get married in Rome, their city centre town hall is notoriously busy and the service only lasts for approx 20mins with no option for personalised music etc. They have two other civil ceremony venues which are less central and much less busy and offer longer services with personalised readings/vows and music. We haven't made our decision yet (and won't do until we go over in August) but like he said everyone's different, it doesn't matter!!

Oh and to the OP, well done on being so organised, enjoy your next year of relaxing and looking forward to your big day :-)