Overwhelming! Behind? Normal?

Ah bless you. Please don't panic. I'm getting married next July too and yes time does seem to be whizzing by but there is still plenty of time. It can get a bit overwhelming and the wedding planning does seem to consume your life. All I can say is make a to do list and prioritise. Try to tick a few things off at a time. Once all the major things like venue, registrar, photographer etc are booked the rest can be sorted as and when. Your dress should be a priority as they can take months to come in from the supplier.

All I can say through my own experience of wedding planning is organisation is the key (I have a spreadsheet for everything lol)!

You still have loads of time. Enjoy the planning process and good luck ?

One thing I would say is to look into togs sooner rather than later, weddings in July are going to be very popular and you don't want to be left with someone because they were the only one available rather than someone whose style and work that you love and suits you. The photos are one of the things that you will be able to keep with you from your wedding day for the rest of your life - you want them to be good!!

Don't worry too much, we didn't start planning until 11 months before the wedding but it all does come together! Make a list of the 'big' things you need to sort out (photographer, florist if you are having one, dress/suits etc.) and just work your way through it. We had to book every single thing ourselves from caterers to marquee to a separate bar, decorations etc. so if your venue comes with any of those things already you area way ahead of where we were hehe Once you've got the major things sorted you can then focus on any small details but you'll feel better once you have the major things booked.

It might be worth dedicating an evening or two a week to sit down with your OH and do some decision making/planning/booking and divvy up the tasks between you if you can.

You have plenty of time - don't stress! On Don't Tell The Bride they so it in three weeks.

As others have said, I would get on to photographers next if you are particular in who you want. Also, dresses if you are planning on getting from a bridal shop where they need to be ordered. It doesn't matter so much if you are planning on a sample, pre - loved or high street dress though.

Happy planning!

Just basically echoing what the other girls have said, the big things like photographer, band etc is what we went for first. A few bands we contacted were already booked a year in advance so worth getting sorted early if that's what you fancy x

Don't worry, you've got more than enough time. My cousin, who got married earlier this year booked the venue late October for early March so only really had about 4 months to plan and organise, with Christmas in the middle! She even managed to fit in a hen weekend. Start by writing a list of priorities e.g TOG, dress. Do you know anyone who has been married in the last couple of years who could recommend suppliers?

You have plenty of time! I found my dress 8 months before and the BM dresses only 3 months before and it was all fine.

Just a tip, before booking anything, get yourself some wedding insurance if you haven't done so already

Dawn

Loads of time! When I joined last year - I forget if it was May, June,. July or August I was, frankly astonished that anyone would leave years between getting engaged and married. We'd booked our first venue by August for sure and did nothing else until February when we scrapped the original plans, changed our date and rebooked elsewhere.

There are ladies here who've done everything in a few months - kudos to them, as though my timescale was smaller than most, it wasn't that tiny!

You've got all the time in the world *sing it*.

Thank you all for your advice and reassurance. I think I just got a bit complacent because we are having a weekday wedding so I knew I had a bit longer to book the wedding but now I'm wishing we'd booked it a Few months back! Luckily the catering is included so that's one less thing to organise. I'm hoping by next week we will have secured the venue. I will spend this afternoon looking into TOGs with a view to booking one as soon as the venue is confirmed. And thank you for the advice about wedding insurance, I wasn't sure whether you get that before or after booking everything. I'll look into that this afternoon too. Once those bits are done I'll feel a lot happier. There are so many super organised people in here that are so far ahead of me even thought their weddings are not until 2017! Anyway, onwards and upwards!

You've got plenty of time, this forum makes you feel like you're way behind as everyone else is so organised but honestly, I wish I hadn't had that pressure at the beginning as I made a few snap decisions through fear of being 'behind' on wedding planning stuff and with less than three months to go I now realise there was so much time to get sorted and I needn't have panicked.

Hi

Saying the same thing here but yes you have loads of time!!

We did ours in 5 months and I am quite an unorganized person!

I think once you've secured your venue and registrar you will feel more settled and can take all the other things one step at a time.

Enjoy your planning!! ?

Our wedding is in two weeks and we planned and booked everything within 7 months. Our wedding is on a Monday though, which meant we had our pick regarding venue, photographer etc. as no one was booked for our date yet.

I would probably get the photographer sorted sooner rather than later but you have plenty of time.

You're definitely fine! From your list, the only thing I would research and book as soon as you've secured the venue is the photographer. Everything else can wait a little while (if you want to !). Particularly in view of the fact that you're getting married in July. I can sympathise with the 'wedding bore' thing! I feel like I go through waves of being wedding-obsessed for a week or two, then I don't think about it at all, and then wedding bore comes back round again! It generally aligns with doing some actual planning though, like sending out Save the Dates, or finding the website that I want to order my BM dresses from, so it's not just random Pinterest trawling!

Our friends did their wedding in three months. I had 18 months and really think I could have done in 6, the only issue really being the photographer as they do get booked up quick!

All totally normal!!! We got married last May after two years of planning and running our businesses. We're both wedding togs too, so you can imagine the amount of ideas we had, then add to that my addiction to Pinterest and I found myself in a tizzy quite a few times!!! The time you have can be both a blessing and a curse, so you don't win either way! I found the time gave me too many choices resulting in many headaches (my bridemaids banned me from Pinterest in the end!) and I tried to be the martyr by doing it all myself. Whereas my close friend did hers in 6wks (due to her dad being terminally ill) - it was an equally fabulous day and there were many hands on deck to make it so, but she had to be totally focused and decisive. So, it's all about balance and keeping calm. Like the others have said, get organised, focused and accept help (easier said than done, I know!). Spreadsheets will be your friend - even just a 'to do' list and budget one will help take the load off (there are plenty online to download for ease).

Once the venue is pinned down, you'll feel much happier. As others have said, get on to togs asap - naturally, we're all going to weddings at this time of year which gives us the planning bug, so whilst it's busy for us shooting weddings, we're also getting lots of enquiries/bookings for next year's weddings and beyond. Please don't rush it though - do your research and meet with those you love the look of...you'll just 'know' who you can see fitting in with your day.

Know this though - this wedding malarkey pulls you in and wraps you around it's little finger. We generally know when we're being irrational about it all, but we just can't get away from it. Your OH will think you're nuts when your sobbing over invites (*puts her hand up in admission*) and doesn't know what to do with you, other than take the mickey and bring you a cuppa, BUT this is part of your wedding journey which you'll remember when all is said and done. Ride the waves - you'll be fine!

Don't panic, I'm planning a wedding in less than 6 months It can be done in a few weeks so you have plenty of time x

Haha thank you for your brilliant advice. It certainly does suck you in! Going to try and ride the waves!