Planning a wedding.

[dawn21207]

My fiance and I would like to start planning our wedding, and I have no clue where to start! We want to have it somewhere other than a church, and it is going to be a small wedding. That is all we know for sure. Where do we start?
Thanks!

[gizmo42]

My fiance and I would like to start planning our wedding, and I have no clue where to start! We want to have it somewhere other than a church, and it is going to be a small wedding. That is all we know for sure. Where do we start?
Thanks!

Hey welcome to the want to get married club. LOL. As you can see from my picture I just recently got married in April of last year 2010. We started looking into hotels to have our wedding that has to be the best thing if you want to have something small. Its really not that expensive. See if they have a wedding package with everything included. Limo, DJ, Flowers, Videographer, and Photographer. I got married at a hotel in NY where everything was included and it worked out like a dream. I only put 2,500 down and all were paid for Limo, DJ, Flowers, Videographer, and Photographer and including ceremony. All together my wedding cost $13,000.00 but it looked like a $30,000 wedding. Now if I was going to have it anywhere else it would have cost me about 12,000 more that what my budget allowed me to spend. Take a look into that and let me know what happends. It also depends how many people and what your looking to spend. I hope this helps you on your journey to happiness.

[dreamyxo]

Do you know anyone with a big yard?  If I were to get married which is highly doubtful I'd want to spend as least as I could.  I personally don't mind just going to the courthouse but that's just me.  If It were me I'd have it in my mother's back yard rent one of those arches or gazebo type things decorate it with some flowers or balloons and have a catered backyard BBQ from one of my favorite neighborhood BBQ places.  Of course it would be casual dress so people don't have to worry about getting their nice clothes dirty. 

Whatever you decide just remember it's just one day out of the rest of your life so try not to let it stress you out too much.

[gizmo42]

Stress its probably going to be the most stressfull times in your life. But as the person before me said try not to let it stress you. Me and my wife we ok up until the day before the wedding when I had to make sure that all the money's were in place and everything was paid for. I had alot of fun with it though. Don't worry what ever you decide what to do it will turn out to be the best day of your life. All that stress will be gone and you will look back on it and say thats it all that work and its over meaning the day is over. It goes that fast. Byt the time I knew it it was cutting of the cake time and I was like where did the time go. I am lucky if I had time to eat or get drunk which I never did I had about 3 beers that night.

[Valerie1979]

we went to Vegas -- we had about 20 guests... it was great!

BUT if that is not an option -- i suggest trying to find a yard, a beach, a hotel or a hall that you can have as the venue.
You should check out photographers -as they book up fast and you want to make sure you have GREAT pictures.
Then it's the music, catering, cake, flowers.

not sure where you are, but we were able to use a floral design school which really cut us on some of the costs.

Good luck and congrats!

[footemama]

I agree about the hotel. Many times they have packages that include almost everything that you need and then you only have to worry about the dress and any favors or special decorations that you want to do. If you can't find a package then your costs are going to be higher because you will have to purchase everything separately but you may still be able to find some good deals. The idea about the floral design school was a good one! You could also look into having your local grocery store make your cake instead of going to a bakery. Having the wedding outdoors is a good idea but remember that you will likely have to rent chairs even if you have a small wedding. An outdoor location that wasn't mentioned yet is a park. Oftentimes you can rent a BBQ area for not too much money but make sure that you either cater the food or hire someone to cook for you. You will want to have professional pictures done of you in your wedding dress, with your hubby, with the bridal party, etc etc BUT for the reception an inexpensive idea is to get disposable cameras to give to people to take pictures and then have them drop the camera in a basket before they leave. You get many different pictures that you wouldn't get with a professional photographer and candid shots can sometimes turn out to be your favorites.

GOOD LUCK and CONGRATS!

[syncflame]

im thinking about getting married thats why im doing all i can to get money so my fiance and i get married best of luck to you. Ask your friends and your mother of course haha

[texaswhiterose]

We wanted to have our wedding in a park gazebo, but we ended up getting married in December so it was too cold. Check out some of your local town landmarks. A lot of them have accommodations for wedding parties. Another suggestion would be to let your fiance be as involved as he wants to be. My hubby wanted to help with everything and he had some great ideas and our wedding was small, simple but very beautiful. Good luck with you planning and upcoming wedding.

[marcar1008]

Congratulations! do it at a park, during the Spring Season.

[dawn21207]

My fiance and I would like to start planning our wedding, and I have no clue where to start! We want to have it somewhere other than a church, and it is going to be a small wedding. That is all we know for sure. Where do we start?
Thanks!

Hey welcome to the want to get married club. LOL. As you can see from my picture I just recently got married in April of last year 2010. We started looking into hotels to have our wedding that has to be the best thing if you want to have something small. Its really not that expensive. See if they have a wedding package with everything included. Limo, DJ, Flowers, Videographer, and Photographer. I got married at a hotel in NY where everything was included and it worked out like a dream. I only put 2,500 down and all were paid for Limo, DJ, Flowers, Videographer, and Photographer and including ceremony. All together my wedding cost $13,000.00 but it looked like a $30,000 wedding. Now if I was going to have it anywhere else it would have cost me about 12,000 more that what my budget allowed me to spend. Take a look into that and let me know what happends. It also depends how many people and what your looking to spend. I hope this helps you on your journey to happiness.

Wow, thats alot of money! lol I don't think our budget will be that big..



Thanks everyone for you help. I would love to go to Vegas.. but like I said... we have a small budget. I've actually been thinking about looking into going to the courthouse, but an actual wedding dress seems like overkill for the courthouse.

[amonclr]

me too haha

[gizmo42]

My fiance and I would like to start planning our wedding, and I have no clue where to start! We want to have it somewhere other than a church, and it is going to be a small wedding. That is all we know for sure. Where do we start?
Thanks!

Hey welcome to the want to get married club. LOL. As you can see from my picture I just recently got married in April of last year 2010. We started looking into hotels to have our wedding that has to be the best thing if you want to have something small. Its really not that expensive. See if they have a wedding package with everything included. Limo, DJ, Flowers, Videographer, and Photographer. I got married at a hotel in NY where everything was included and it worked out like a dream. I only put 2,500 down and all were paid for Limo, DJ, Flowers, Videographer, and Photographer and including ceremony. All together my wedding cost $13,000.00 but it looked like a $30,000 wedding. Now if I was going to have it anywhere else it would have cost me about 12,000 more that what my budget allowed me to spend. Take a look into that and let me know what happends. It also depends how many people and what your looking to spend. I hope this helps you on your journey to happiness.

Wow, thats alot of money! lol I don't think our budget will be that big..



Thanks everyone for you help. I would love to go to Vegas.. but like I said... we have a small budget. I've actually been thinking about looking into going to the courthouse, but an actual wedding dress seems like overkill for the courthouse.

Let me tell you its really not that expensive It just looks or sounds like alot but when u factor everything in believe me its worth it.

[sguzman]

My best friend just got married in October.  She had a smaller budget to work with and only wanted about 75 people at her wedding.  They got married at a gorgeous hotel.  It wasn't a mainstream hotel like the Hyatt or anything and it was really old so it was a smaller, more personalized atmosphere, and the architecture was gorgeous for the reception area and looked amazing in the pictures!!! Everything for the ceremony, except the bouquets was included and the whole setup for the reception was all in one price.  They only had to figure out the dresses, tuxes, bouquets, and photographer!!!  When we were starting her wedding planning like 2 years ago we looked into all kinds of places like museums, loft spaces, specialized wedding areas... the possibilities for wedding sites these days really seems endless! Good luck with your planning and congratulations!!!

[lfoxworth]

I guess it depends on when will it be.  My husband and I got married in October.  I was the same way.  I had no idea where to start and I didn't have a lot of money.  My Aunt, god rest her soul, offered to help.  She did all of the decorations and it turned out absolutely beautiful.  We got married in the church.  It wasn't a huge wedding but it was the most happiest day of my life.  The first thing I did was find out how many people will be there so we sent out invites and asked for replies.  We made our own invites.  We bought blank invites that you can get at any wedding store and followed the directions.  It turned out great.  Don't forget to keep a copy for yourself.  Once you know how many people will be there then you can find out where you should have it cause it has to be big enough.  Then you can also know how much food you will need and how big should the cake be.  For my wedding we had a grooms cake and brides cake.  We didn't have a photographer.  Our family took pictures and then gave it to us.  You need to make sure what you can and can't afford.  After we found out the guest list and the place and the date and after we ordered our cakes and picked a caterer then I got a dress.  You do need some time to look at dresses because if you find a dress that you want but if doesn't fit you just right you need time for them to alter it.  Now, my husband got his suit the day before.  But it turned out all right.  You also need a place to get your hair done.  I made my appointment a week before the big day.  Oh, and don't forget the flowers.  Besides the dress and cake, the flowers are very important.  Don't order your flowers until you know which season you will be getting married in. One of the first things you need to know is who will be in your wedding.  Now, I would make a list of who you will invite and also a to do list.  You also don't have to do this alone.  A lot of stress will be lifted if you get some help.  I had my aunt help me.  Guys aren't much of a wedding planner but you might be one of the lucky ones.  I wouldn't want my husband to help tho.  He did help with the important stuff like, the guest list and the caterer.  But you might want to ask your maid of honor or something like that.  Hope this helped.  Congrats and best luck to you!  

[Nana923]

Just dont make it tacky..and always choose the best flowers