July Brides Check-In

[glueck]

What have you done, and whats left to do? We are less than 6th months out ladies

Venues booked
Wedding planner hired
Destination wedding weekend events planned
STDs sent
I have invitations, rsvp cards, place cards, program covers (DIY)-they are presently blank
1st draft of ceremony is written
hotel is booked for wedding weekend
JUST signed photographer contract today
Dress is ready to go, as are shoes, veil and tiara
FI has complete wedding suit ensemble

TO DO:
Book organist
Schedule hair and makeup trial for end of march
hire florist
Block hotel rooms
Hire pianist for cocktail hour
Make ipod playlist
buy flower girl dress
Tasting-menu and cake (end of march when we are in Heidelberg)
Organize tickets for weekend activities
Countless DIY projects on the horizon.

I am sure I am missing some things but thats where I am!

Let me know where you are, fellow July brides!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''m July 5th-ACK!!

What we''ve (haha more like I''VE) done-I''m noting what we''ve made deposits on to keep it all straight in my mind!

Booked our venue and choosen our menu placed a deposit
Booked our florist and placed a 50% deposit
Booked our officiant and placed a 50% deposit
Booked our photographer and placed a deposit
Bought and picked up my dress
Bought my shoes
Bought my jewelry
Printed and put together invitations (I won''t send these until late April)
Blocked hotels and booked our room for the night-of
Booked our honeymoon and placed deposit
Purchased 50% of the stuff for our OOT bags
Made bracelets and tank tops for the bridesmaids
Purchased champagne flutes, cake cutter and card box as well as curly willow, river rocks, and vases for DIY altar arrangements.
We''ve decided on but not booked out DJ
Registered
Bought wedding bands
Booked boudoir shoot for FI''s gift and purchased outfits for pictures.

Still to do
Almost-final planning meeting at venue
Pick wine and beer for reception
Book DJ
Decide if and what we want to do for favors and purchase/make them.
Buy veil and garter
Rent chairs for ceremony
Pay remainder on vendors noted above
Mailing invitations and thank you cards
Bridal shower/Batch party
Pick out tuxes for the guys
FI needs to ask his guys to be GM (He''s the worst procrastinator and they''re all family members!)

I think that''s it! Phew. Most of this stuff I''ve taken care of in the past month. Being unemployed is great for wedding planning!!

 

[DMBFiredancer]

done:
venue
photographer
DJ
dress in hand, just needs alterations
STD sent at xmastime
hotel booked for us
bought shells for decorations
cake tapper bought
officiant booked
most music picked out

to do:
bridesmaid dresses
bouquet designs
pick out and buy invites
register
figure out centerpieces/placecards /favors
research name changing
list of must have photog shots
finish DJ's music list
hair/ makeup trials
cake and food tastings
figure out where to have rehearsal dinner
card box
guestbook
figure out my jewelry, shoes, purse, and buy them
bridesmaid/ flowergirl/ringbearer gifts?
program
champagne glasses? cake cutter?
FI needs to figure out what he's wearing and ask his groomsmen to be in the wedding already! (he asked the best man long ago)
oh sh*t, i need to order rings, too

 

[DMBFiredancer]

Date: 2/2/2009 12:47:50 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk


FI needs to ask his guys to be GM (He''s the worst procrastinator and they''re all family members!)

i think we were typing our lists at the same time! i''m glad im not the only one!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 2/2/2009 12:47:50 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I''m July 5th-ACK!!


What we''ve (haha more like I''VE) done-I''m noting what we''ve made deposits on to keep it all straight in my mind!


Booked our venue and choosen our menu placed a deposit

Booked our florist and placed a 50% deposit

Booked our officiant and placed a 50% deposit

Booked our photographer and placed a deposit

Bought and picked up my dress

Bought my shoes

Bought my jewelry

Printed and put together invitations (I won''t send these until late April)

Blocked hotels and booked our room for the night-of

Booked our honeymoon and placed deposit

Purchased 50% of the stuff for our OOT bags

Made bracelets and tank tops for the bridesmaids

Purchased champagne flutes, cake cutter and card box as well as curly willow, river rocks, and vases for DIY altar arrangements.

We''ve decided on but not booked out DJ

Registered

Bought wedding bands

Booked boudoir shoot for FI''s gift and purchased outfits for pictures.


Still to do

Almost-final planning meeting at venue

Pick wine and beer for reception

Book DJ

Decide if and what we want to do for favors and purchase/make them.

Buy veil and garter

Rent chairs for ceremony

Pay remainder on vendors noted above

Mailing invitations and thank you cards

Bridal shower/Batch party

Pick out tuxes for the guys

FI needs to ask his guys to be GM (He''s the worst procrastinator and they''re all family members!)


I think that''s it! Phew. Most of this stuff I''ve taken care of in the past month. Being unemployed is great for wedding planning!!

I knew that other people''s posts would remind me of stuff! *MUST MAKE LIST*
to add to the still to do list

Place cards and seating chart
Music list
Alterations to dress
Cake topper
Finish collecting must have photos for photog and create list
Hair/makeup trials
Food tasting
Guest book

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 2/2/2009 12:54:40 AM
Author: DMBFiredancer

Date: 2/2/2009 12:47:50 AM

Author: Hudson_Hawk



FI needs to ask his guys to be GM (He''s the worst procrastinator and they''re all family members!)

i think we were typing our lists at the same time! i''m glad im not the only one!

Seriously, what is it with guys??? My girls were asked the day after we got engaged...TWO YEARS AGO!!!

 

[glueck]

HH, you are REALLY ahead of the game! Good for you! I have some serious catching up to do.

This post is serving as inspiration to get moving AND as a reminder of what I need to do!

July 11th

 

[glueck]

DMB-men are always so last minute! It is a rather gender specific thing when it comes to wedding planning!

 

[Lanie]

I''m July 25th...can''t believe that''s 6 months away!

I''ve got to get my list down...thanks for doing this so I can see what I still need to do.

 

[meresal]

Well, let see here...

Done-
Venues w/ Dep
Florist w/ Dep
Cakes w/ Dep
Photog w/ Dep - set up E-pics for Mar 2 and Bridals for May??
Dress - Bought and will start Alterations in T minus 1 month
STD''s - sent
DJ w/ Dep
Rehearsal Dinner booked w/ Dep

Need-
Everything else... (sorry, it''s Monday. Typing and thinking aren''t on my to-do list till noon.

)

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

I''m July 18, and I guess I''m way behind, judging by your lists!

Done:
Venue w/deposit
Photographer w/ deposit
reserved choice B church for ceremony (can''t reserve choice A until March)
Bought dress, which should arrive this week. I already have a seamstress who has agreed to do alterations.
Spoken with caterer, and on her calendar, but won''t meet until March
started invitation design process

To Do:
Florist
Cake
Ceremony Order
Reception Logistics - like where tables go, how many linens, etc
DJ
Bartender
Invitations
Notify FI''s out of town guests of wedding date

 

[meresal]

Does anyone else, since the new year turned, feel like everything has become a lot more hurried. December 31, I was fine... Jan 2, I was stressing.

I have been so preoccupied with everything else, I completely forgot about everything "I" needed to do for me.

Last week:
Me: "I booked my bridals for May."
My mom: "When are you going to have your alterations done?"
Me: "F#&%!"

 

[glueck]

YES meresal! I was seriously a dead beat bride until the New Year. January 11 was the 6 month mark when all our wedding paperwork was due to apply for our Civil ceremony and then I thought... HOLY POO! I have a LOT of work to do!

 

[Aloros]

July 11th here!

So far, I''ve
-booked ceremony venue
-"booked" reception venue (our backyard)
-scheduled a tasting with a potential caterer (today!)
-bought all the seeds for our flowers (DIY)
-designed the invitation
-secured officiant - a friend
-secured photographer - another friend
-figured out the layout of furniture in the yard
-bought jewelry
-dress - getting altered right now by my awesome mom

I have a lot more to do, but up next will be
-going to our tasting, and comparing their rental prices to another company''s (seeing if I can get either one to go lower)
-scheduling cake tastings
-buy my shoes - I can''t decide what I want!
-buying paper, cutting, and printing up invitations
-figure out what I''m doing with hair and makeup
-secure rentals for day-of
-work with our friend and figure out our ceremony
-finish our website

Yeaaaaah, running a little behind!

 

[GoodSoul]

I know about how late I am in the dress shopping but I just didn''t dig any of the dresses that I tried on (more than 30 by now).. If I still don''t find any in the next 2-3 weeks, I''ll get grab a dress from nordstrom/NM or Jcrew.

Done:
Reception area and food w/deposit
Ceremony area confirmed
Photographer w/ deposit
started invitation design process
Finalizing the invite list

To Do:
Dress (veil, shoes and etc)
Makeup and Hair
FI''s wedding suit ensemble
Officiant
Florist
Cake
Ceremony Order
Reception Logistics - like where tables go, how many linens, etc
Invitations
Party Favors
Confirm DOC
ALL DIYs stuff
Co-ordinate out-of-town guests stay

Lots of catching up to do.

 

[Kim N]

I feel so behind! I'm exactly 5 months out today.

What we've done
Booked venue and caterer
Bought and received dress
Decided on cake
Got shoes and jewelry
MOB, FOB, and bridesmaid attire
Booked photographer
Designed invitations
Rings
Booked honeymoon
Secured officiant

What we still need to do
Dress alterations
Hoping to find better shoes
Rent tuxes
Music and sound system
Photography must-have list
Figure out videography
Flowers
Assemble and send out invitations
Learn how to dance
Hair and makeup
Gifts
Registry
Passport for honeymoon
Seating chart, table numbers, name cards
Vows
Website

 

[Blair138]

Oh dear...I know the feeling ladies, as soon as January hit, I was like OMG we're getting married THIS YEAR and I feel like I have so much left to do! July 11 for me too! Almost 5 months out!

Done
Dress
BM dress
Hotel room block
Reception
Church
DJ
Photography
Videography
‘guest book’
Save the Dates
Flowers
Cake serving set
Wine glasses for BM gifts
Card box
Bra
Hair comb
My shoes

TO BE DONE

Tuxes
BM shoes (found need to order)
BM jewelry
My jewelry
Garter
Rings
Honeymoon
Cake (bakery picked)
Pick menu
Chair covers
Aisle runner
Limos
Rehearsal dinner
Pens for guest book
Invitations
Favors
Cake topper
Thank you cards
Calligraphy
REGISTER
Parent gifts
GM gifts
Soloist
Hair
Programs/placecards
Marriage license
Welcome bags
Wands to wave after ceremony
Cocktail hour musician?
alterations

This list goes on and on and everytime I check something off I feel like I add something else!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

DOH! I forgot about the marriage license!!! LOL can''t forget about that now can we?

 

[newsboysgrl777]

YAY!!! July brides!! WOO HOO!!

LOL It's my first post where I've seen my month actually be singled out. LOL!!

Well, I've got to be honest, I'm not feeling ANY stress or anything and maybe I'm crazy? But it feels like I still have LOADS of time left. I think I felt WAAAY more stress in the very beginning with trying to figure out where we were going to have our reception and what date, etc. Now everything else feels like a piece of cake!

We are July 3, so some of you have even more time than I do, but I'm also not worried because I have a wedding planner who sends me emails every month with a 'checklist' of stuff I need to do. I KNOW there will be more things that will happen at the last minute (things I'm not even thinking about right now that I've seen on some of your lists), but for now...I'm not stressing. I know who I'm gonna marry and that was the most important step!! LOL That being said here's my timeline...

(In order of having gotten them done...LOL!!):
1-Chose my BMs & MOH
2-Chose my dress (AND it was from a very small bridal shop and the size was PERFECT, so no need to have it custom made or anything! So I've been able to "SEE" my dress many times!!)
3-Visited MANY sites and went to an ‘open house’ at the one we decided on.
4-Set a date (yes, I got my dress BEFORE the date was officially set..LOL)
5-Chose a wedding planner
6-Chose a reception venue (Found out our church wasn't available that day

and started discussing options )
7-Went to a fitting & paid for the alterations....which led to-
8-Had a crisis about my dress and thought I made a mistake. Found another dress that I liked. Tried to figure out a way to exchange my dress for the one I really wanted with my bridal shop person. Realized I was freaking out for no reason..and decided to stay with my original dress...LOL! .... which led to-
9-Had another fitting and made some changes on things and absolutely loved my dress again! (BTW: I didn't fit into the dress the first fitting!! OOPS! LOL. I fit into it the second time)
10-In between 7 & 8 I found the shoes I wanted and bought them (but I needed to keep 7 & 8 together for dramatic purposes in this list )
11-Started looking at bridesmaid dresses and colors.
12-Had my wedding planner completely bail out on us and we lost about $350 and had to start all over again and find another one!! Yeah...totally mad about that still!!
13-Had an engagement party
14-Decided we STILL wanted a planner and so we met with several other planners.
15-Booked our photographer
16-Decided on the bridesmaids dresses.
17-Decided on another planner (and she is WAAAAY better and I'm SO thankful for her and actually glad #12 on our list happened, just not that we lost our $$! )
18-Booked the limo
19-Made Save The Dates
20-FINALLY decided on the colors for the bridal party.
21-Booked the DJ
22-Had a consultation with a florist
23-Sent our Save The Dates out with Christmas cards
24-Put deposit on my wedding band
25-Booked hotel room for wedding night
26-Finally got all my BMs & MOH in to be measured and put deposits on their dresses and dresses were ordered.
27-Booked with the florist
28-Met our wedding planner at HER church (where she is ALSO the wedding coordinator) and decided we'd have our ceremony there
29-Got a block of rooms at a hotel for our guests
30-Bought a wedding band for FI (not sure if it's 'the one' though..but it was a good deal so we just went for it)
31-Went to some bakeries for cake tastings, signed with one and paid for it completely

Currently:
32-Looking at invitations & figuring out how I want to make my own…
33-Trying to figure out WHO is going to do my hair & make-up…
34-Thinking of customizing my current veil (professionally…LOL)…
35-Throwing around ideas for our ‘small’ honeymoon right after the wedding (we’ll save up and have a much larger one next Jan or Feb)
36-Dreaming of the big day…

And I KNOW there is probably stuff I left out...and that there's a ton more to do, but I’m NOT all that concerned. I have 5 FULL months exactly left for all of it (from THIS day – Feb 3)

Rachel (Rae)

PS Sorry this was so long *blush*

ETA: DOH!! Forgot to mention that I got a pearl & pink sapphire necklace and bracelet set and then ordered a very pretty pink sapph/pearl ring to go with that and I'm still on the look-out for the perfect pearl earrings to match. LOL!! And, can I add that I'm such a dork that in like September I paid for this service that will help you fill out ALL the paperwork you need for your name change and I've already got that ALL set. I just need to mail it out once I get a copy of our marriage cert. LOL!!! i'm a dork..ha ha. If anyone is interested it's www.missnowmrs.com. It was only like $20 and it helped you do EVERYTHING!

 

[DMBFiredancer]

Date: 2/2/2009 8:53:15 AM
Author: Lanie
I''m July 25th...can''t believe that''s 6 months away!


I''ve got to get my list down...thanks for doing this so I can see what I still need to do.

i''m 7/25, too!

 

[DMBFiredancer]

Date: 2/2/2009 7:34:01 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
DOH! I forgot about the marriage license!!! LOL can''t forget about that now can we?

doh! how much in advance do you have to get that? LOL....i forgot, too!

 

[Blair138]

DMB-Every state is different. In IL ours are good for 60 days but there is a one day waiting period. FI and I will probably go sometime in June. Your church or wherever you are getting married can give you information about your license. Mine told us the appropriate place to go in the county we are getting married in.