Wedding In what order did you do your wedding stuff?

[alli_esq]

ok, as I''ve said, I am wedding-dumb! I find the whole thing overwhelming, so I think I might have to focus on one thing at a time...and considering all I''ve done so far is pick out the venue and date, everything needs to get done. Granted, the wedding isn''t until November, 20, 2009, so I have time--but I think it would be best to do what I can.

What order did/have you done things? This gets complicated...but here''s the order I''m thinking of the big, general stuff...and the reasons why I have reservations about the order:

1. Okay, so book venue first.... (I picked out my place and date and I''m written in, but I haven''t put down a deposit yet, ''cuz I''m nervous)
2. My dress (before I pick out the bridesmaids'' dresses, right? to see how they will coordinate?)
3. Bridesmaids dresses (complicated because I live in NY, but I only have one BM in NY, three BMs in NJ--one of whom is FI''s friend who he hasn''t asked yet, and who will not really be so into buying/wearing a dress, and my MOH in Toronto)
4. Invitations/Save the Dates (don''t I have to wait on BM dresses for exact colors before I can really do this? but I do want to send out Save the Dates in the next few months so that our OOT folks, which are about 40% of those who will be attending, are aware...though many of them already know the date)
5. Photography (I''m worried about this only because I know I''m going to go over-budget on this particular aspect, and I sort of feel like I should pick this out to know how much I''ll have left in my budget for other things)

Obviously there are lots of other things, but I think most of these are related...no?

Does any of this even make sense? Oh dear!

 

[neatfreak]

We did time sensitive things first (venue, dress, etc.) then moved to important but not as time sensitive (photographer) and also things that we had no idea how much we''d spend, then we moved to optional/moveable items in the budget (rings, favors, invites, etc.).

 

[CNOS128]

We''re getting married in June - we also did time-sensitive things first or tried to book vendors who can be only one place at a time (photographers can only be at one wedding on Saturday night, but a florist could potentially set up several weddings per night).

So, we booked the venue first - then the band - I was excited to get the dress, so we did that - then the photographer - then the officiant - now I''m looking at florists and cakes (actually, I need to get back on the ball looking for a baker). I haven''t given any thought to bridesmaids dresses and suppose I should. Hmm. I''ve been putting it off, I admit.

The invitations place told me to order 5 months before the wedding, and our jeweler said to order rings 2-3 months before. I''m working on save the dates right now, with an etsy vendor.

Good luck!

 

[debzy103]

You need to books things where the vendor cannot be in 2 places at the same time. For instance, a band cannot work 2 parties at once. However, a florist can do multiple parties in one day. Therefore, I''d say band, photographer and videographer need to move up in priority. You might also want to prioritize any vendor that you know you need to have. But if you''re flexible on who your vendors are, you don''t have to prioritize anything as much. Also, you need to order you wedding dress 4-6 months out, so you have a little time for that. I''m getting married in September and plan on starting my wedding dress shopping in January.

You can do a save the date as soon as you have your date and venue locked in. (I say venue, too, because if you switch venues, then you date might change.) Your STD does not necessarily have to match the color scheme of the rest of your wedding. Your goal is just to have people mark their calendars.

Check out the major bridal websites for To Do lists and time frames. You might also want to consider buying a book. There are some great ones written by wedding planners that are really helpful.

 

[bee*]

We booked the venue and the church first, then the photographer, videographer and the band. Then we got lazy and haven''t done anything in the last six months

Have to get our asses in gear again!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Looks good except I''d move photographer right after or before bridesmaids. Photogs book up fast! Mine is already booked for 2009 aside from one or two weekends here or there.

Here is the order I would recommend:

Venue
Officiant
Dress
Photog and/or Videography
Cake
Flowers
DJ or Band and/or Ceremony music
BM dresses
Invitations/Save the dates
Rings
Favors
etc.

Hope that helps some!