where did you start?

This whole wedding planning thing has got me very overwhelmed... where did you start?

welcome and congrats

no need to feel overwhelmed, you just started so first just do research until you realize what you want as far as overall look, and all the details. Most of us didnt book things for months after we were engaged while we did alot of research and then you can just take one thing at a time.

You can start with reception halls, start making appts to look at them and booking that first would be the best

i booked the reception hall and the church first, then i looked at bands and booked the band, then photographer, then flowers, then dress

take one thing at a time and you'll be fine!

Start with the Reception Hall and church. You need to have that done before you can make any other decisions.

I did the band second, because I knew the band I wanted. Then I did the photographer and videographer because they tend to book up early.

I knew I wanted to get married in my church so I called the church to see when was good for them in Sept of 2009 and they were wide open.
I then started looking at all the halls I was interested in and once my search was narrowed down I brought my parents and FH to the halls and then we decided on the hall we all fell in love with. Called the church back and was able to book our date with no problems.
I would then go with the vendors in order of importance. Photography was teh most important thing to me and FH so we booked them first. Then looked into DJs and the florist.
Some really good advice I got from my friend who was getting married was book teh vendors 3 weeks to a month apart from each other. This way you have time to save deposits and its not crazy overwhelming.
It helped me out alot esp since I had the time to meet with the vendors and then go back and book them.
Within the first few months I booked teh hall/church/photographer/florist/DJ and got my dress and didnt feel stressed or overwhelemd at all since I passed myself

just take baby steps....I found that the 'bigger' stuff was actually way easier than the smaller stuff is for me.

First thing to do is ceremony location and RH. Once those two are crossed off, everything else kind of falls into place as far as major vendors.

If you have the time, the advice about seeing a vendor a month is a good idea so you don't go into deposit shock.

Also, everyone on these boards has been so extremely helpful to me every step of the way....so my biggest advice would be to use LIW - sometimes it's my saving grace!