Hello! (I'm a noob)

Yay, hello and welcome!

Venue would be the place to start. Have you got anywhere in mind?

Welcome!

Budget, guest list and, as Nic said, venue should be first on your list.

Once those bits are sorted everything else becomes much easier and you can't really do much else without those elements sorted anyway.

The one thing we have settled on is a Venue! Its just the date left to decide and everything else! We don't want to wait too long, but we also need to allow ourselves time to save & pay for it all as we go along.

Good plan. Have you got an idea of how many people you would like to invite? What venue did you decide on?

Next things on the list are people that are doing to be with you on the day like entertainment, Photographer, caterers (if needed) etc.

Ello and welcome !

well, this has always been the venue:

Its in Weston Park in Sheffield, we spent many weekends there when we lived in the city centre when our daughter was very young, feeding ducks and taking my OH's son to the museum there. It's beautiful & the grounds are lovely too. I've always wanted an outdoor wedding, we're actually going to brave the British weather and do it in the wintertime (maybe around bonfire night?) Not only because its about £300 cheaper, but because I like the Idea of a wedding in the dark, with it all lit up & twinkly!

Numbers-wise, we will probably have a family only ceremony, as we plan to get married in the late afternoon & have a reception with friends straight after.

Oh wow that is amazing. What a fab place to have it. Can you light it with candles inside?

I haven't looked into that yet, but I know you can have fairy lights/Lanterns hung around - and I'm not that fussed about candles!

Howdy! Thanks again for the cardi advice! ?

I know what you mean re: having to save as you go; I was engaged for 4 years before we set a date simply because we couldn't afford it. We're saving as we go...although having said that, the wedding is in September and we've got about....£150 in the pot?! I am determined not to get into debt over it though! So we do have a very tightly controlled budget over the next 9 months. Hopefully it'll be worth it! Have set a pic of our honeymoon destination as my screensaver to give me motivation!

I am still very much in the planning stage, but the best bits of advice I can offer thus far are:

1. Do what YOU TWO want for your wedding. Don't listen to anyone else and don't be pressured into doing things you don't want to. That includes WHO to invite, etc. They'll get over it! If you're doing it on a bit of a budget, you have to limit numbers if you don't want to sacrifice other things. For example, we really wanted great food and lots of free booze at our wedding, which meant that we had quite a high price per head, which meant fewer people. It was good in a way because now we know that we only have those people who are really special to us at the wedding, not a load of randoms, work colleagues, etc. we're just inviting to 'bulk up' numbers and make ourselves look 'popular'! ?

2. Re: wedding dresses- don't write ANYTHING off. Listen to the people in the shops- they know what they're talking about; most of them have a lot of experience and will take one look at you and know what will suit. They might be a bit rude about your wobbly bits (if you have any) but, at the end of the day, I'm trying to lose about 4 stone anyway so it would be a bit hyprocritical of me to say "how dare you say I need to lose 2 inches to fit into this dress? I have a perfect body!" ?

3. Beg, borrow and steal. Harness friends / family and acquaintances who can do things for you on the cheap / for free! I am having free hair (friend) free make up (sister) free band (brother) free honeymoon (dad!) free wedding night hotel (friend of my mum who has a flippin' luxury YACHT...who knew?!!)...ask around, you'll be amazed what people come up with!

Good luck with it all- once all the boring stuff (venue, giving notice, guest list, budget, etc.) is out the way, it's actually quite good fun! ?

That will look so pretty!

Hey!

No problem, I look forward to seeing your day, it looks like loads of fun, from what you described! Thanks for the immense paragraphs of advice!

Hi !

Have you thought about what your lucky man is going to wear? If you are leaving it to him then make sure he gives it at least 3 month lead time. Take it from me, ive had sleepless night with guys coming to me at the last minute. One is coming in tomorrow and getting married on the 29th! So that's fitting, cutting and stitiching and alterations in Ummmm a few weeks!!! Let me know if i can help! You can always PM me for advice etc.

Best Wishes

Damian

Hi and welcome to Hitched ?

I'm excited that we have another bride getting married in Sheffield!

Hello and welcome to the forum! You've come to the right place! You are about to embark upon the exciting world of wedding planning! Planning your dream wedding can be overwhelming, daunting and scary but know that you've got a wealth of support around you to help you through the next weeks and months! First step: select a date Second step: source your venue. From there the rest of it will begin to fall into place. Should you require any help with themes, concepts, organisation, you name it, drop us a line - we are here to help! =) Congratulations and Happy 2013!