I have a venue and a date....now what do I do??

Hi... we get married in September next year. We have the Venue booked and the dj so far. I sent out save the dates in Christmas cards and have bought blank invitations ready to decorate myself.

My aim is to get things booked early, i will be ordering seat covers in the next few weeks and looking at booking someone to supply Hog Roast for evening meal.

The reason i want to get things booked is because a lot pf people up their prices every year but if you book early they will guarantee the price quoted at time of booking. (not date of wedding) if that makes any sense.

I think picking a colour scheme would be the thing you need to do next then you know what you are aiming towards. Good luck in this because i cannot decide at all on mine.

I'm getting married may 2011 and so far i have booked venue, registrar, have had some save the dates printed up and have done some preliminary booking of hotel rooms for close friends and family at our venue for the night before and night of wedding. i also have a meeting with (hopefully) the photographer i want at the end of feb.

i'd say get researching local photographers as they do get booked up early. as the above if you've got something specific you defintely want ie chair covers, special lighting etc etc get in a book early as you will get the best deals. also gives you loads of time to compare quotes and maybe haggle between suppliers - when it gets closer to the date with limited availability of suppliers you may just have to take what you can get in some instances and end up paying more.

i have decided on my colour scheme but haven't gone so far as to buy anything in it as i am sure i will see things nearer the time - so for now i am just concentrating on saving up to pay for it all!!

em x

Now that you have a venue and date, it's the time to find the suppliers who only do one event a day, such as photographer, band, video, etc. We are already getting bookings for 2011 for prime dates, May thru Sept, so you are right on track Enjoy the planning!

Teri

I think the next biggest thing once you have the wedding and venue is the dress.......It can take ages before you find your perfect dress and to think about bridesmaids,flower girls,page boys and how they will be outfitted.

Also a big thing is caters for the food, photographer, band.......they can get booked up to a year in advance so is worth taking the time to find one you like

Another thing to consider is your invites...you can make your own, have them printed or just buy them ready to fill in.

Also guest list.....make a list of who you want to invite, considering things like do you want to invite children, will you be inviting peoples partners and famililes (if the venue is small or people are trying to keep costs down they don't always invite partners and children unless they know them as a couple or a family really well).

Hope this helps...............

XOXOXOXOX

What a stunning venue! Definitely agree with what has been said above - key suppliers get booked up quickly during the height of the summer season - like Teri mentioned we've taken bookings already for next summer.

Have you spoken with the registrar to make sure that they're available for your date although I'm not sure if they take bookings this early on.... it might be a year/9 months prior to the wedding but this would need checking if you've not done so already. Dress shopping that's the exciting bit - try on as many as poss of all different styles. Some dresses take 5 months to come into the shop from the order date! Also draw up a spreadsheet to keep a record of your deposits and purchases to keep your budget on track!

Happy planning!!!! xx

Silly me - of course you've already spoken to the registrar - too much red wine LOL! I completely missed reading that bit!!!

Hiya, we're may 2011 and so far we've booked the registra, registry office, reception venue, photographer, ive decided on my dress, colour scheme, table theme, suits, cakes, bm's dresses and fabric and have got my tiara. MIL has made up loads of invites and save the date samples so now we've got to decide on what we want for those. actually reading it all back i've got quite a lot done!!!

Wow that is organised!! I'm a May 2011 bride and so far have only booked the venue and it's taken me long enough to decided on that - I am the worst at making decisions which isn't good when you're trying to plan a wedding!! The thing we're struggling the most on is a theme/making our wedding personal and unique! Originally we thought about doing a north/south theme as I'm from the south and h2b is a northern monkey! We were going to have an afternoon tea wedding breakfast and then have pie and mash in the evening but now we're wondering if an afternoon tea theme would a - go with our venue (it's a manor house) and b - give our guests a substantial meal (don't want people moaning that they're hungry) so now we're thinking of having a different theme but don't know what!!! Can I ask what your colour scheme/table theme is? xxx

My colours are victorian lilac and ivory/cream with a bit of silver thrown in. for our tables we're having an RAF theme as OH's dad was in the RAF and so were some of his other relatives. soi we're naming the top table after FIL's squadron and the remaining tables after british aircraft currently serving and those that have been decomissioned. i've attached my mood board for you too ?

I'm may 2011 too...what date are you?? (i'm the 21st!)

as yet i have just booked the venue and registrar and have got a meeting with the photographer i hope to book n a couple of weeks time. have decided on white and pink colour scheme, with a bit of sparkle thrown in too (not having the boys in pink though)

can't decide on table names/themes as like you i want it to be something personal but can't really think of what (the obvious one that comes back when i ask people is places you've been together but as we have a property abroad and go there every year it's a bit limited!!!)

sounds like a lovely idea to have afternoon tea.....we haven't discussed food with our venue as yet. you could make a real feature of the afternoon tea, i saw in one of the wedding mags this month about a bride getting all her friends and family to collect vintage teacups and sets for her afternoon tea and it looked stunning all laid out together. you could have cute little sandwiches as well!

em xx

Hey everyone, thanks so much for all the wonderful advice!

I guess there are a fair few things I can be doing then! I'm putting HB in charge of researching photographers - when I made the point about things possibly being cheaper the earlier we book (thanks to whoever said that, I'm sorry I can't remember!) he suddenly became interested! And then I guess its on to florists and DJs and stuff. Catering is sorted as it's part of the package with the venue. Colour scheme is my next big decision me thinks, I think I want a sort of victorian lilac (thanks for the name of the colour curly panda, I didn't know how to describe it!) with silver accents, but then I keep seeing other colours and getting distracted! And yes the dress of course is all important too!

So looks like there's lots I can start doing, so expect to see me popping up with lots of questions! Thanks again for all the advice!

Hey Em, we're getting married on the 21st May too!! Whereabouts in the country are you? We're in Bedfordshire - getting married at Woodland Manor, Clapham. Your theme sounds lovely btw! xxx