Wedding Planner

Okay so I am beyond excited that this christmas my now fiance proposed and I couldn't have been happier.

This website and all of your comments about everything are comforting but making me a tiny bit nervous that I have no idea if I am capable of planning a wedding....As it is I feel like I'm not going to get the venue for the date we want....do I get married there? when should I find florists, etc???

So I was wondering if anyone had a wedding planner and if so, who they would suggest...how pricey are they?

For those of you without one, do you feel it would have been easier without one. How are you planning things in relation to the wedding so things aren't off schedule.

All tips appreciated haha :)

Look forward to getting to know all you 2009 brides to be!!!

:)

dont get overwhelmed......its crazy at first and then it just becomes natural!



congrats by the way!!!!!

Congratulations and welcome! I know I don't know you, but you are TOTALLY capable of planning a wedding on your own. You have plenty of time to plan and if you take it step by step you will be fine. Start off with the big stuff first. Look for reception halls. If you are definitely set on a date, try to narrow halls down to a particular style you like. If you are set on a particular hall, try to be open minded to different dates.

After you do your hall, I would do the Church or temple (if you are getting married in one) and then move on to the photographer and DJ. Florists are somewhat easier to book i think because I would imagine they can do more than one wedding at a time. You can definitely do this...don't panic.

For me, I didn't want to use a wedding planner. In my opinion, it was a waste of a lot of money that I didnt have. Plenty of women and men plan their own weddings every year. No, I am no martha stewart, but I can certainly plan and create a wedding that is perfect for FH and I. Good luck and have faith in yourself!

Congratulations
Welcome to the boards. It gets addicting, but it is so much fun.
I am not using a wedding planner and I would imagine they can be pricey, but I can't help in that area.
All of your questions and feelings on the wedding are normal and it is going to be stressful deciding, but it will also be a lot of fun. I believe you will be able to get the date you want. some people haven't picked their places yet. Take your time and go see many different venues. I would suggest to put things in order of what is most important and take one thing at a time. These boards are very helpful, so if you want to read reviews on any vendor I would do a search.
Venetian Yacht Club is amazing. Enjoy and ask lots of us questions. I still get some anxiety of the choices I made already, but its normal. Its a big special day and I am sure you will make the best decision for you and FH.
HTH.

Wow, thank you so much. It's funny how someone you dont know but who knows what your going through can make you just step back and breathe.

As you know, you get soooo excited for the big day and you want everything perfect...its like a mini obsession.

Glad to have met you and look forward to working towards our big day together, online :)

Congrats and welcome.

This site is notorious for making you feel like you are so behind....don't be overwhelmed. Many girls have almost everything done but many of us don't. Go at your own pace!

As for a planner I would never get one because I love having a hand in every aspect of my wedding. Every detail that I have done so far has FH and myself in it and I am really enjoying the whole thing. I wouldn't want someone else doing it all for me.

But if you are more comfy having one, go for it!!

Congratulation!!!
1st dont get overwhelmed with the wedding planning we all go through that phase when we just get engaged, enjoy your engagment and take it one day at time. After that the 1st thing you should focus is in RH, as mentioned before check different RH and compare (I personally will recomend 3-5 but is as many as you feel comfortable some girls just have to visit 1 other have to visit 5). And remember you can always count with this chat with anything you need even if is only to vent about anything or anyone.
And the most important thing I can say is HAVE FUN you and your FH can do this.

Welcome to the boards and congratulations on your engagement.

I have hired a wedding planner. The common misconception is that the planner does the planning... thats far from the truth. The planner simply serves as a consultant, secretary, coordinator for your event. They make your vision, not theirs, a reality. Every decision that me and my FH have made so far has been ours, we hired the planner because we wanted some one to know our wedding inside and out, from every contract to every word spoken so that on the day of we can be left to enjoy our day. She keeps me from stressing out. Her fee was very reasonable considering that we are going to be engaged for two years and will have her as our consultant every step of the way. Also because I live in Maryland Now and am planning my wedding long distance I wanted some who had connections in New York to help me. She has been great so far, and has been with me for every major decision, she was even with me when I brought my dress.


You can definately plan your wedding on your own, and hiring a planner has to be something that you really want as the cost has to be factored into your budget.

Also I felt like you did in the beginning, overwhelmed, and some times when I hear how far some of the girls have gotten I start to feel like Im very behind in my planning, but im starting to learn that everyone situation is unique, and everyone know their budgets. Do what you can at your own time..

I do agree with Imt in that you first need to secure your reception hall and ceremony locations, as that will lock in your date.

This board is an excellent site, and everyone on here is really helpful and sweet!

Happy Planning and feel free to contact us anytime!!

I'm too much of a control freak....I have to do everything myself so it can get done my way....so we have decided to do the entire wedding ourselves.

BTW: CONGRATS & WELCOME!

You guys are alllll so amazing, glad to have found you....your all officially bride friends in my head :)

Congrats on the engagement and take some time to enjoy it. i think before you look for a wedding planner take some time and search this site, their is so much helpful information and helpful people.
We were all at the point that you are now but, things will come together.

congrats!!! :) Welcome to the boards!

one panick attack at a time :) We help eachother breathe a little easier lol

Congrats on your engagement and welcome!

I was the girl who was going to have a planner NO MATTER what because I hate being bothered wtih details. I'm totally the person that tells people what I want and then hand over my credit card and let you do it.

But as I've been going through the process, I'm starting to realize that I don't really need a planner. FH is sooooooooooooooo anal, so he's keeping track of the budget and paperwork. We're also pretty laid back and just kind of go with the flow. So far the only real problem we encountered was that we couldn't get the time we wanted at the church for our original date, so we just picked another date. And honestly, there was nothing a wedding planner could do about that one!

Just take each thing one step at a time. I've found the Planning section on here to be a great resource. I was amazed at how many things I was able to check off on some of the timeline lists without realizing it.

At this point, I think the only thing I will consider spending the money on is a DOC (Day of Coordinator) simply because I don't want to be bothered with anything on that day. And if that doesn't fit into the budget I may have my brother-in-law to be the 'go to' person.

GOOD LUCK and you'll be fine!!!!! If you're anything like me, you're probably just overwhelmed because you're hearing all these wonderful ideas and plans. But don't worry, soon you're vision will come through and you won't be so overwhelmed.

Welcome NY PEACH!!! and congrats on your engagement!!!!

It's all very overwhelming at first.. but just take a deep breathe and relax.. and trust me youhave PLENTY OF TIME! i felt that way at first too.. i was like oooo my god I need to get everything done NOW ASAP!!!!! and then I started to realize that I just needed to take a deep breathe and that I had time to think about things.... and then once you start planning you realize that things really do fall into place.. once we had our venue and church I felt sooo much better about things.. i can't even tell you............. so trust me that overwhelmed feeling will go away..
You can DEFINITELY plan your own wedding!

And you can always vent to us

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Posted by longislandlibrarian
i was like oooo my god I need to get everything done NOW ASAP!!!!!

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OMG!! I was sooooooo like this too. But then I realized my wedding is happening in 2009 NOT 2008!

I think we're just all so conditioned with IM's, cell phones and work enviornments where everything has to be done now (at least at my job) that we just get it into our heads that we have to have everything done NOW.

Now, on the other hand, don't be like me and procrastinate about everything and then you find yourself this time next year having done nothing!

Congrats and welcome!! WE didn't hire a wedding planner because we are both pretty resourceful so we decided to put the money elsewhere. I agree with that this website has many useful tools you should check out including budget calculator ,the guest list, etc. My suggestion is make a list of RHs you like the most and try to go there so you can book that first. You will feel so much better once you have a place, it like this heavy burden being lifted off your shoulder. And if you still feel u need to hire a planner. Go for it!! Relax and remember we all went through what you are going through. It is going to be fun, i promise.