Just getting started....

Congratualtions.

Have you got any ideas as yet?? "theme" or a colour scheme. xx

I got engaged at Christmas and so far have booked: venue, registrar, photographer, chair covers and flowers. Next job will be the DJ!

I've still got two years to go but the first thing i did was to plan a budget, then read a lot of blogs about weddings to give me an idea of what i did and didn't like, choose and booked the venue,(this was easy as i have always know where i wanted to get married). then write a guest list. Now shop around for a Photographer as the takes a while finding one that you like the style of, feel your not getting ripped of and is free on your date.

personally i get carried away with all the little things like favors and center pieces, but even tho in my opinion they are the nicest bits to plan they can be left till last. As you need to know the size and style of your venue and the amount of people coming and how much budget you have left for the faddy stuff!. everything else kind of slots into place there are some really helpfull articles out there and i usually find my budget planner grounding me when i start fussing over smaller things and think oh balls forgot about flowers hehe x

Thanks for your advice ladies. I think it's definately a good idea to plan a budget for sure. I'm thinking it might be 2 to 3 years before we can afford to get married but my H2B has just gotten a new job so hopefully we can start to save more. I only work 2 days and rest of the time am at home with my son but I am hoping to study to change my career so lot's to think about at the moment!!

I feel quite excited thinking about the fact I will be a Mrs!! x

The very first thing we did was pour a glass of champagne Not sure that counts as planning, though.

Then we discussed dates, what time of year we wanted to get married, and the logistics of getting everyone on my side to come to England for the wedding.

Then, when we'd sussed out a general time of year I came online, found hitched, and did a search for venues in my area with the particular things we wanted: guest rooms available on site, an historic building, and not too far from where we live. I requested brochures from 6-7 places, and based on them alone I'd already picked my favourite and dropped a couple for being insanely expensive. We did take 2 weekends to visit 3 out of the 4 (Penshurst Place, Hever Castle, and Chartwell), and then within a couple days we decided to book Hever. This process took about 1 month from first looking to booking the venue.

Then Hever provided us a list of vendors they reccommend, and I looked up pricing for the 10 photographers they list. Only 3 of them were within our budget, so I made appointments to meet them over the following 3 weeks, and I then we discussed what we wanted and picked one of them. I've emailed him to confirm, but he's not getting back to me. Grr.

They're the two most important things, it seems. Then again, if you decide on a date within the next 8 months or so, you're going to need to order a dress asap, as every shop I've seen has a lead time of about 6 months!! I've picked out a dress, but plan to order it 12-11 months before the wedding.

Hope this helped!

Oh, and I nearly forgot- we made our budget AFTER we booked our venue, because OH said if it was my dream location we would do it, even though it's very expensive. We're doing a budget as we go, though, because some things will just be worth more than others in our eyes. Then again, I'm cutting out a LOT of traditional things to have at a wedding, and it cuts down the cost enormously.

Thanks Venart. I think that is good advice because I really have no idea how much the venues will be. I have sent off for 3 brochures this morning. See what happens when they arrive. Need to have the talk with H2B about when we want to get married!

Hi and welcome. We started by doing a brief count of numbers, then went venue hunting. Booked venue, then photographer as these get booked up. I didn't set a budget as such, knew we wanted to spend around the 10k mark, but would recommend doing a budget first. X

Lots of good advice already, but one mroe thing to add (sorry if has already been said and I've missed it). Start sorting a guest list before you really start looking at venues. A lot of venues might not be able to accomodate the amount of guests you want. If you are having a church service, this is less of an issue as lots of venues can cater for large receptions, but if you are thinking about a civil ceremony, they will have certain rooms licensed to hold a ceremony with a certain amount of people (including you and your OH and the two registrars). Sometimes people book their ideal venue, then start pulling a guest list together and realise that they have too many guests for the size or capability of venue. Not great if you've put down a hefty deposit!

Wow thanks everyone you have all been so welcoming and helpful. I can see that I am going to be on here quite a lot. Thank god I found this place!! xx

Cake (myself and several family members/friend are each making a single normal-sized layer cake each and we're haveing a cake table with 9!!)

Cars

Florist and most other decorations like chair covers and runners (the venue is already beautiful, so doesn't need much, though I'll buy flowers to DIY bouquets and button holes)

BM dresses and GM suits (choose and buy their own within colour scheme, men already own the suits)

Band/musicians

Favours

Hair and make-up artist

Stationery other than invitations (website rsvps, email save the dates, and hand-written large menu board next to DIY seating chart)

Tiara and veil (making a birdcage veil myself, very cheap)

Photo albums and engagement shoot (we're just having the TOG for the whole day and getting discs of digital images)

Store-bought dress (I'm having it made on the cheap)

Bridal shoes (I'm wearing £10 flat sandals)

Groom's suit (he owns a tux)

Basically, we're paying out the nose for our venue, which includes 3-course meal, drinks, and evening buffet, and other than that It's just the necessities, like rings, my (cheap) dress, photographer, DJ, and all the bits and bobs we're DIY-ing- seating plan, place cards, menu board, cakes, cookies, and sweets (homemade, all!).

I guess I just don't see the point in chair covers , or big floral arrangements, or a 3-tier cake that tastes just a little disappointing, or the live band that just doesn't sound quite like the real thing, and over-paying for clothing and flowers just because it's a wedding. I see it as a party to celebrate our legal union, which will be beautiful and fun with everything the venue provides and not much else besides the people involved

Hi we are not getting married for another 3 years but have started planning and booking so we can pay bits of the venue and the more expensive things each month so when it come to the lat year/ year and half we can just think about the little thing x

o CONGRATULATIONS

Congrats!!!

First thing we did was set a budget ourselves, then worked out how long it will take to save comfortably for that, including a few months extra for high expenses such as car insurance etc which might eat into savings.

We then went to see venues. Getting brochures is ok but things change when you see places.

We actually worked out a rough guest list before we talked to anyone at the venues, because prices are all based on guests.

Book early!! Prices change year on year and many places secure prices when you put a deposit down.

Look at what you are getting for the money and what choices ur getting. We look at a venue we loved the look of, but the catering was limited and didnt really include food we wanted, prices to add on drinks and entertainment was expensive etc. I think the first venue we liked was 9k before we added drinks and evening things ? so we said no and moved on. in the end we found a much better venue with more flexibility and half the price so booked that.

I think once u have a date in mind. Save up a few grand and then book everything within your budget. You need a few grand to start to put deposits down.

We already have suits book for next year as it secured prices which have already gone up since we started looking.

Once the big bits are all done, a smaller budget wedding can be done through doing things yourselves or buying in sales.

Ours in on budget at 10k so far (We used excel to work out quotes, prices and budgets so I change things as I go along) Be prepared for things to change if u wait too long, or if u see something extra special - for example my OH ring cost us £800 where I budgeted for 4 lol

Good luck and remember to enjoy it!

Thanks. Going to have a chat this weekend about it when our LO has gone to his nana's. It's exciting!!!

Firstly, congratulations on your engagement and your little one, and welcome to Hitched ?

I would suggest that the first things you need to consider are budget and if you've got an idea of the sort of wedding you'd like (traditional/quirky/fun/elegant etc.). Do you know whether you want a church wedding or civil ceremony?

Thanks for your warm welcome. We will be doing a civil ceremony as neither of us are baptised or religious.

Would love a traditional wedding and lovely old fashioned venue ideally. Think I'll be buying those lottery tickets!!

? Hi and congratulations on your wedding and your little one.

Good luck with all your planning

Emj85x