shape
carat
color
clarity

Wedding Where do I start?!?

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.

Booper717

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
182
Hello Everyone!

I''ve been a memeber of pricescope for awhile, however I am new to this section of the forum! I just got engaged last week, and couldn''t be happier!!! The thing is... now that it''s time to start to think of a wedding... I don''t know where to begin. My fiance is not picky at all, the only thing he stresses is that he wants a ceremony. I was fine with just going to the court house and getting married, then having a large reception afterwords to celebrate with everyone. He, however, would prefer a small ceremony. We''ve been trying to think of dates and are at a loss. We''ve decided that we wld like to wait 1-2 years. Two years being the absolute longest, 1 1/2 years would be perfect!

I orginally was dead set on an outdoor wedding, however, now I''m leaning towards doing it inside because I really don''t want to have the stress of the weather weighing on me. We are not really religious, so we don''t think we''re going to get married in a church.

I guess other than shareing my confusion with you all I was wondering, what types of things do you take into consideration when picking a date? I have a couple weddings around that time so must be awear of them as well. Also, is there anyway to have an indoor wedding have an outdoors feel (without it costing an arm and a leg?) We are trying to do something inexpensive (but lovely!) because we would like to add an addition to the house soon.

Excuse me, I''m so new at this, and just don''t know where to turn!!!
7.gif
 
I think an indoor wedding could have an outdoor feel if it''s in a room with lots of huge windows and a view (think forest or mountains or a garden), rather than a hotel ballroom or country club that looks onto a golf course.
 
Somwhere with a big patio or gazebo? Then you could be outside but covered in case of rain.
 
An atrium would be a great idea...something that is more or less a room of windows. In Chicago, Navy Pier has the Crystal Garden...while not surrounded with trees and stuff, you bump up to Lake Michigan and it is beautiful at night with the city lights (btw, I got giddy butterflies just thinking about how amazing it is).

Maybe hire an event coordintor to help you scavage locations that you might never think of, or might over look?

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the ideas ladies! I''m not 100% sure we''re going to be going for an outdoors feel, I''m just trying to weigh the options and ideas and see what I''m drawn to the most! All input is helpful!


It''s hard for me because I just want to be married to my guy, while a wedding will be nice, if we cld do it tomorrow I wouldn''t care if it was in a barn!
 
Hi Booper,

You are just starting your journey, where as mine is coming to a close.

The best advice I could give you is to take your time to dream about what you want, do not go in a direction without really pondering how you want your day to come out.

I planned mine in 5 months, I'd say 7 months out is probably more sensible.

Good luck!

Iwanna

ETA: Mine W-ding is outside, we have a tent but it is going to be amazing weather!
 
You should start by working on a guest list and a budget, and as iwanna suggested, deciding what your priorities are.
 

We focused first on the time of year we wanted. Being that we are in Southern California, weather isnt too much of a big deal since we have many sunny days and it is plenty warm for most of the year. Of course, the flip side of that is that it can get really hot in the summer months so we decided spring or fall. Then, once we had that out of the way we decided next spring was a little too soon for us, so next fall it was.


Once we had the time of year settled, we started to look at venues. Because venues were important to us,we had a certain feel in mind, we left our date open and worked around the availability of the place we chose.


I second the whole covered pavilion or tented area to get that outdoor feel without being outdoors. I really wanted my ceremony and reception outdoors, however, all the nice places small enough for our wedding size and in our price budget had rules about amplified music outdoors and it was really important to us to have a DJ and dancing. We ended up with an outdoor ceremony location and our reception in a stone wine cellar that sits on a lake and has one wall open to the outside. It was a compromise for us, but we really love it and it allowed us to have everything we wanted.


I''ll attach a photo of what I mean, it still has a semi outdoor feel as its open facing a lake, but its totally covered and even has a way to close off those openings in case of inclement weather. Because of the stone and such, I dont feel indoors. Of course we are screwed if there is bad weather for the ceremony =)

The ceremony site is the top 3, the reception area is te bottom four. Hope it is big enough.



Westlake Village Collage4357252.JPG
 
Thank you all for some great advice! Gwyn, those pictures look amazing! Your wedding is going to be stunning!!


How did you all find out about venues in your area? I''m in PA and I don''t think we have much around here...
 
Booper, where in PA are you? There are a few of us in the Philly area, so if you''re nearby we could try to help!
 
Hi Booper! Congratulations!!
36.gif


I was in the same position as you ... no idea where to begin. What I found helpful was purchasing a few wedding planning related books.

One was the The Knot Book of Wedding Lists, another was a Wedding Planner - Easy Wedding Planner and another book Bridal Bargains, which has some great moving saving tips in there.

I went a bit overboard but, needless to say, I''m well versed with the process now and feel a whole heck of a lot more confident about the decisions we have made or have to make.

Good luck! You''ll figure it out in no time and once you get rolling, there will be no stopping you ... your day will be wonderful!
35.gif
 
I used herecomestheguide.com which is an amazing resource for all california. Not sure if PA has an equivilent. I got a copy of the book as well but I did most everything through online searches and phone calls to specific venues.
 
The best advice I''ve received is to pick your top three priorities and focus on those. That''s helped me so much because we can''t afford every beautiful thing I want, but it makes me feel better to splurge a bit on the few things that are really important. It also helped us make decisions and narrow down vendor choices (for example, good food was important to us, so I was able to nix a bunch of vendors who didn''t offer what I wanted).

Good luck with your planning and you have many great ladies here to help you out!
 
Again, thank you all fo your adivce. Unfortunately, I''m not near Philly, I live about 30-40 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. (I''m jealous because I''ve always wanted to see the Rocky Statue!!! LOL, HUGE fan!!!!)

Anyways, I did go out and buy one book, a small one, on wedding planning. I also bought the stuff to make my own wedding planning book. A binder, some diver tabs, and sheet protectors. I plan on making the sections and typing/printing out all of the information I get and keeping it organized in the binder. I got the other book to know where to begin, and so I''m sure not to forget anything! So hopefully, with the two of them I''ll be in good shape!

I''ve already gotton some price quotes, and (gasp!) it was a TON more than I expected, but I figured it would be. The frist thing I want to do is get a solid guest list. I''ve asked my mom, my dad, my grandma, and my fiance''s parents to all make a list of who they should feel should be invited. They know that that does NOT mean they will be, but I just wanted that to make sure I didn''t overlook someone who I wanted to be there. They understood, and are currently making the lists. I too am making a list with my FI. We started out wanting only 100 ppl, but my FI comes from a large Italian Family so it was bumped to 200, then I heard price quotes per head... and it''s been knocked down to 150. That is HOPEFULLY where it will STAY!

I''m still trying to find some diffrent venues, I only found three so far and one is terribly out of our price range. As for the ceremony site, I''m still clueless.
33.gif


As always, thank you all for your advice! I need all I can get!!
 
Hey Booper, just wanted to say that I''m originally from Pittsburgh! The northern suburbs, specifically. Which area are you in? Maybe I could think of some venues.

Oh, and you''re off to a great start with the binder. Print out everything; it makes it so much easier to find it later.
 
Hey, thank you! I live in a small rural township. About 30 min. from Monroeville and 15 from Harmerville. If those places help any. I live in Allegheny County.
 
ditto on the budget comment. you have to know how much you have and want to spend. remember that, on average, catering costs about half of your total budget. so if you have a budget of $25,000 and want to have 100 guests, your cathering will run you about $12,500 , so you''ll need to look for a place that will cost you under $125 per person. in my experience, i feel like it''s more like 40 percent, but that''s just us in the NY metro area. figuring all this ahead of time will allow you to not spend time looking at dream locations that are out of your budget OR it will make you trim your guest list so you can have it where you want, just with less people.

hope this helps! :-)
 
Hey Booper! I''m still not sure exactly where you are, but I am from the South Hills of Pittsburgh, and I just got married in the McMurray/Canonsburg area. If you are from those parts, let me know cause I can send a bunch of resources your way!

I would suggest figuring out a budget/guest list, and then starting to look for venues, because there is a HUGE difference in prices around the Pitts. area. We were even considering the Pittsburgh Zoo for a while, until I found out we were having our ceremony at the church I went to when growing up, and then downtown was too far.
 
I''ve come up with a pretty good guest list, of course, it''s not the finale draft, but it''s close. It totals at 120 people. I can think of 2 people I fogot already, so I''m gonna say a close esitmate will be 150 people.

I''ve looked at alot of locations online and called a few. Tomorrow I may go look at a banquet room in the Clarion Hotel. It''s important to me not to spend alot of money. My budget is probably considerably less than alot of yours out there! We are actually trying to find a place where we can have the wedding ceremony and reception in the same building/room. I''m trying to find a good spot between casual and formal.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

Sabine- I''m about 1 1/2 from you, i mapquested it lol. I''m terrible with directions. I saw that you can get the zoo, that would be so awesome, I''m a big fan of the zoo and was just there this weekend, lol. However, again, I''m trying to spend as little as I can with it still being nice and I think the zoo would be slightly out of our price range!

I appricate all ideas and advice!
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Top