Um, am I REALLY behind in my planning?

Wedding cake

wedding rings

hairdresser

I chose the bridesmaids dresses and then based everything else around that for colour

Definitely tog next- May is a popular month and they get booked quick.

You do still have plenty of time to sort everything out so don't worry

Firstly don't worry, it'll all come together!
We did it venue first, then met priest for church and went from there. Booked togs, cars, florist & dj & trying to buy small things along the way. Think we have deposits down for everything now except the cake so that'll be next for us.

The way we wanted to work it was whatever needed booked and secured first we prioritised what we thought most important first and worked from there. So many lists and trying to work through them all.

I'd say yes get your own dress sorted first before bridesmaid, I've still not been shopping with mine or even discussed what type she wants or anything haha.

That's good you don't have make up or flowers to worry about!

Everyone says get the tog booked first as they're always super busy so we got ours relatively quickly then it was cars after that.

We've still not got invited printed off or sent yet but not sending them out til Februaryish so not too worried about that. Then we have my shoes and accessories, mens suits to sort, hair and make up trials, favours, hotel accommodation etc.

Oh and wedding insurance might be something worth thinking about, we hadn't given that any thought then decided we'd be best getting it and only paid £21 or something in the end.

Sorry written you a bit of a book here haha, i'd say get writing lists prioritising whats most important and what needs done and secured first and work from there Plenty of time though x

Ah yes!

Rings - sorted (am a jeweller)
Cake - think a friend of my mum's is making it (although need to work on the design)
Hair - BM does hair AND make up - win!

TOG - yes, we deffo need to get on this....

Thanks guys

Thanks! I guess I keep putting stuff off as I have so many other things to do as well; need to get on stuff though really! I'm trying more dresses on for shapes this week and hoping to get fabric samples soon after that so I can at least get started on looking at BM dresses

It's a good idea to prioritise stuff; I never really realised how many things you have to sort out!

Def looking into wedding insurance!

Oh bless you! Yes, secure that venue first. Where have you chosen?

TOG's are pretty booked up for next May already but your day is a Friday so that's a good thing. Start contacting your favourite ones to get an idea on price.

What sort of evening entertainment would you like? The reason I ask is because bands get booked up quickly too!

Haha! Yes, bless me - I'm totally clueless! \o/

We are debating whether a couple of semi-professional friends of ours could do the photos - haven't even begun to research this, or how to go about finding people to contact!

We are getting married in Warwickshire, just outside Leamington Spa

I'm not sure about a band; OH is in one (has been in it for 22 years!) and they are all invited to the wedding - there's rumours of them playing on the day, with H2B's dad playing bass instead of him! Or my cousins and brother are all musical/in bands, so they could do something maybe.

I have a bunch of friends (also guests) who can/will DJ; we aren't particularly regular with our music choices, so we may have trouble finding a DJ that could cover EBM, goth, 80s pop, rockabilly, industrial and a few cheesy rawk tunes We have all the PA system and everything sorted through the band as well, so that's one less thing to worry about!

I'm also a belly dancer and have a few dancers attending; kinda tempting to get them all up for a shimmy or three!

Hmm, I guess I really need to start thinking about this gubbins!

Secure your venue and get your photographer booked. Semi-professional friends sound great but have you seen their work/style? Even on the professionals websites, there were a lot we dismissed because we didn't like the style or lack of detail.

Agree with this. Also, if they are friends who would normally be invited to your wedding, are they happy to effectively be employees for the day instead? There's a big difference between being a guest taking a few snaps and them being the "official" photographer.

There are probably loads of togs covering your area as you're quite central within the country - just start searching and see who you like and what's within your budget!

Yes, there are 3 or 4 of our friends who are brilliant photogs and have done a few friends' weddings and we really like their style

It's more do I want my wedding to turn into a 'Busman's Holiday' for them, really.

Although if we can't find a tog, then we may have no choice, haha!

That's my main issue - they've done it before at weddings and club nights we've run, but I don't want them to feel our wedding is 'work' :/
I guess I need to look around at togs! We always have them as a back up though if needed, I guess

I wouldn't say you're behind, but our engagement was about 8.5 months anyway, lol.

Definitely venue and tog are top of the list. Then it's clothing for everyone. I honestly think most other things trickle in behind those. You've plenty of time

Thanks Researching togs now!

Personally I would say get your dress sorted before the bms. The shops say to allow at least 6 months for your wedding dress, whereas my bm dress i ordered the other day (dessy) will be delivered in 12 weeks.

Plus you'll only know what style bm dress will complement your own once you know what yours is like.

I am the oppostite to you, I've already been engaged for 19 months with 8 to go now.... had so much sorted at first but now trying to get my groove back we left things so long! even with all that time i 've had to prepare i guarantee i will be rushing about madly the last month or two (i'm 15th may so we're not far apart!) I look forward to going cuckoooo together haha!!

Good luck!!

Yeah, I think I'll find out what their preferences are as per colour, but decide on style once I've got my dress sorted

I think I'll still be doing stuff the morning of the wedding, knowing me!

We're getting married in July.

We've booked (in order):

Venue

Registrar (if you're having civil ceremony)

Photographer

Videographer

Dress

Ice cream trike

Save the dates

We don't need cars but a lot of people say that's important to get booked.

I feel totally ambivalent about the whole car thing; would be happy to just order a minicab, but OH won't have it!

You been to a wedding fair yet? I got a really good deal with a voucher code I was given for the Bluewater one. If you haven't booked already by all means use my code: BW129 You can get 2 tickets for £20 but I went for the VIP tickets at £30. Looks good

I don't need one as I'm staying at our venue the night before & OH hates the thought of someone else driving him (he's a car fanatic & it's a 50 minute drive) - we were going to rent a nice sports car or get him insured on my dad's Porsche - but he'll only be 22 and we haven't found any companies that would insure him ☹️ so will most probably be our Seat Ibiza with a ribbon on ?

You could see about one of you staying at the venue (if it will be a hotel) then you only have to fork out for one car!