We booked a place... now what?

[Diamond Confused]

What is the next step and how soon should i get started with the rest of the details? Can i take a three month break from wedding stuff? Is it possible to do the rest just 6 months before?


AHHHHHH I don''t know what I''m supposed to do!!!

 

[elrohwen]

I would get your photographer booked, because the good ones often get snapped up quickly. I''d also work on the dress and BM dresses. Are you doing save the dates? It''s probably a good idea to get that done too if you have a lot of out of town guests. They''ll need to know soon so they can take time off.

Otherwise, you can push a bunch of other things out until 6 months before. Just ask yourself what things are the most important to you and do those now. If finding a great DJ isn''t that important, for example, you can wait on it a bit and get whoever isn''t booked yet. But if you want a popular band or string quartet, you should book now so that you''re not disappointed when they get booked up. Just prioritize and work down your to do list starting with what is most important.

Also, theknot.com has a nice checklist that you can access if you join. It will tell you at what point in the process you should be looking into certain things.

 

[elrohwen]

I would get your photographer booked, because the good ones often get snapped up quickly. I''d also work on the dress and BM dresses. Are you doing save the dates? It''s probably a good idea to get that done too if you have a lot of out of town guests. They''ll need to know soon so they can take time off.

Otherwise, you can push a bunch of other things out until 6 months before. Just ask yourself what things are the most important to you and do those now. If finding a great DJ isn''t that important, for example, you can wait on it a bit and get whoever isn''t booked yet. But if you want a popular band or string quartet, you should book now so that you''re not disappointed when they get booked up. Just prioritize and work down your to do list starting with what is most important.

Also, theknot.com has a nice checklist that you can access if you join. It will tell you at what point in the process you should be looking into certain things.

 

[Fleur_de_Lis]

Perhaps, if funds allocate it, you should get a wedding/event coordinator. Sounds like you may need one. They can inform you on what to do, when to do it and so on. If you''re exceedingly busy, such as my FI and I are, they can even go to vendor meetings for you. If that''s not plausible, or in the budget, then I second whomever said the photographer should be booked soon, followed closely by getting and sending out STDs (if you are doing them).

 

[havernell]

If hiring a wedding coordinator isn't feasible (or if you just want to educate yourself anyway), just look online for a wedding planning time-line (theknot.com has one as elrohwen mentioned). Such a time-line will suggest what what you should be doing at the 12 month mark, the 9 month mark, the 6 month mark, etc... Most wedding books also contain this info, so you could just spend an evening at Borders/Barnes and Noble flipping through some of those to get a feel for what you should do when.

Does your venue include food or do you have to hire an outside caterer? If you have to hire a caterer that should probably be tackled as soon as possible.

 

[tlh]

Yup, vote photog next, The great ones book up a year in advance almost! Then you can rest up and do the flowers 6 months before and cake stuff 3-4 months before...

 

[AmberGretchen]

Definitely photog and start looking for a dress - some can take 4-6 months or more to come in, and you don''t want to be stressing about whether it will arrive in time!

 

[Sparkalicious]

Ahh, Diamond Confused - Now the fun starts!

I would suggest the following:

- Arm yourself with some wedding planning resources, i.e., buy/read some wedding planning related books/magazines/websites (The Knot)
- Book ceremony site/church if separate from reception venue.
- Research, Interview and hire a wedding planner or day of coordinator, if desired.
- Research, Interview and hire major wedding vendors -
- photographer, florist, DJ, officiant, as applicable
- Determine Guest List
- Select wedding party
- Select & send out Save the Dates, if you want them
- Start looking for wedding dress & bridesmaid dresses
- Select invites

This is all that I can think of right now to keep you busy, however, it does depend on the level of formality, type and size of your wedding. Some of this stuff may not be applicable. ...