onanothercoast

Looking for some advice here…

So lately (since we got engaged) I’ve been a little MIA and preoccupied with learning every little thing I possibly can about throwing A WEDDING! And there is a TON of information that I’ve yet to actually digest and sift through, one thing I do know for sure is, weddings are freaking expensive. Holy cow, who would’ve thought that trying to throw a fun evening for your family and closest friends would amount to so much!

advicepostmebabe

So with that, my question to all of you who’ve already done the damn thing is, how did you do it?? I’ve been told to start with creating a guest list to really see how many people we want to invite and from there pick a venue. But since I really am in no rush to throw our wedding (because I do want every detail to be perfect and I know that will take some time) I figured I’d start a binder full of advice given to me from other bloggers, websites, friends, and family. So we’re starting here, today! Any advice for a bride to be???

Thank you in advance! Happy Tuesday!

xoxo,

Amanda

22 comments

  1. How many people is a good place to start! Just do what YOU really eant because everyone will have an opinion! And don’t give in to pressure to be the “perfect bride” you’re perfect already! Also focus on the marriage..the wedding is just one day! Good luck and congrats!xo

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  2. I have not gone through getting married experience yet but I sure have observed people going through the process very closely.

    Tips I think would be useful for any bride to be are

    -Keep yourself hydrated
    -Try not to stress over in any situation
    -Always keep yourself ahead of time in case of getting things done. Have yourself deadlines.
    -Prefer booking vendors who you can trust and are good at their job too
    -Make bookings in advance and have a strong follow up until the final day.
    -Guest list is most important to be finalized before hand

    People are right on making the guest list before and then planning on everything else. It will give you a clear mind to make arrangements for your big day

    Good luck bride to be! Best wishes from my side. I hope my little tips help you.

    Cheers!

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  4. First of all congratulations 🙂
    You make a lovely pair, and you have a great blog!
    Tips for you for someone who got married two years back-
    1. Try to distribute work amongst your friends and relatives, doing everything yourself will put you under lots of stress.
    2. Don’t force your partner to give opinions over stuff he’s not very interested in and vice-versa for him to, take the decisions alone in such cases.
    3. Pick and choose vendors early, ask for free trials if applicable.
    4. Try to make your wedding what you want, not what you think people will like.
    5. If you have a theme in mind, first close out the important items for it – like the decor and your outfits, if the smaller stuff doesn’t match later on it won’t be a big deal because you got the big ones covered.
    6. Stay happy and don’t worry, even if you achieve 60% of the wedding of your dreams, it will still be the happiest day of your lives 🙂

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  5. Since I’m in the thick of wedding planning myself, I think I can help. 🙂 The first thing I did was the guest list. It’s important to know how many guests because everything else will be contingent on that info. Then we started looking at venues. It helped that we loved the first one we toured and they had an availability around the time we wanted to get married. I wouldn’t suggest settling on a date before picking a venue- I feel like that would make things a bit difficult.

    Next we sent out Save the Dates. I read somewhere that its customary to send Save the Dates 9-12 months ahead of time, and the invites 3-6 months ahead of time. As for my Save the Dates and Invites, I found a seller on Etsy who sells PDF files, so you can print them yourself. I chose this route since we only have a guest list of about 30. You may not want to do this if you have a large guest list, but I’ve saved a bunch of money by making my own paper products.

    Then I would say, figure out your theme, be it love or rustic or just colors. I started perusing bridal bouquets and found one I fell in love with on ecoflower.com. I decided to order it and use the colors as my theme. If you want to see my bouquet, this is the one: https://www.ecoflower.com/collections/bridal-bouquets/products/secret-garden-bridal-bouquet. I like that it will last forever, so I’ll have a keepsake as a memento from my wedding day. 🙂

    Another way to save money is to not have a bridal party (which we do not), or at least a very limited bridal party. Little things like gifts, attire, transportation, extra parties, etc. really add up.

    Right now, I’ve secured a photographer, an officiant, and am getting ready to sign a contract with a cater who will also be doing my cake and have 6 months before the wedding. I just have to find an entertainer and the big stuff will be done.

    I guess the biggest piece of advise is just to take your time. Over the weeks, months, maybe even year, you can slowly accumulate decor and ideas you want to incorporate. You’ll also be able to save up more money so you don’t have to go into debt. Planning a wedding is stressful enough- you don’t need debt as another stressor on top of it.

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    • You are absolutely right! I knew you’d have good advice and I’m literally screenshotting this and saving it in my camera roll to refer to throughout the process! And thank you for the helpful sites! I can’t wait to check them out. I feel like you got your wedding all planned out perfectly! Good luck finding your entertainer! Are you looking to do a DJ or live band?? Joey insists on having a live band and I feel like that’s going to be real tough to find lol

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      • We’re wanting a solo acoustic guitarist. We’re not having a dance floor though we are doing a first dance. I’m wanting more of a nice dinner vibe with romantic music in the background. I’ll probably be using gigmasters.com to book an entertainer. You can use that site for really anything related to weddings, so check that one too.

        I also used Zola.com to build our wedding website and to handle our RSVPs (when we send them out) instead of doing paper responses through the mail. You can also register through Zola, but they take a little off the top- just keep that in mind.

        I also have been using a Wedding Planner template I’ve found on Google Sheets to keep track of how much we’re spending, guest list, and all that. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done and all the equations are already in place.

        Let me know if you need any other insights or direction. There’s so much and it can be somewhat overwhelming- I know.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Thank you so so so much. I’m so lucky to have your wealth of information and help at hand! I’ll look into those websites for sure. I cannot wait to see how your wedding is!! I only feel bad that I’m learning all these things from you but have nothing to offer back! I’m sorry!

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  6. I got married almost 10 years ago. We’ll be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary and 15 years together this August! Anyway, I love planning and had done all of my wedding planning by myself. First off, make this wedding all about you guys. Don’t worry about what your family or friends think or want. I know that sounds kind of mean or whatever, but the wedding day is yours and is between the two of you. So, make it yours. Have it be the way you want it to be and make it memorable for you guys. And yes, weddings are expensive, but they don’t have to be. Make sure to not be in debt over it. We paid cash for everything (without help from our parents) and were glad we didn’t go broke over it. You surely will want to go on a honeymoon right after the wedding as well. Trust me on this; it’s better and will be extra special. Make sure you don’t spend all of your money on the wedding. The honeymoon is just as important! I know people wait, but it’s just not the same. Plus, leaving for the honeymoon right after the wedding makes it all about you guys and takes you guys away from everyone and the real world. It helps you unwind from the wedding. With that said, I would first see how much money you have to work with and stick to that budget. From there, pick a venue/place first on where you want to get married and have the reception. That is usually the biggest cost. I wanted an urban downtown wedding, so I chose to marry and have a reception at a modern and luxury hotel. Luckily, I found the hotel at a wedding convention which was a new one and was taking its first year of wedding reservations. Because of that, I think the cost was reasonable. After touring the hotel, I booked right away and got that taken care of. It was easy having it at a hotel like that because it included food cost and people to take care of everything for you. After that, I got my wedding dress, which was heavily discounted because it was last season’s. I didn’t care because it was just the dress I wanted at a boutique wedding place. You can get deals like that if you don’t mind it being last season. From there, I just handled one thing at a time. It was quite easy for me. I can go on and on with tips, like on flowers, etc., and where to get things. If you want to chat some more, I’d be happy to provide and help in any way. Just email me and ask away. It will be easier that way. I seriously could have been a wedding planner if I wanted. 🙂

    Anyway, congrats! Happy for you!

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  7. My best advice, and the advice I gave to both of my sons who got married last year, is to have the wedding that you and your husband-to-be want. Don’t try to please parents or friends or family. There are only two that matter and that is the two of you. If you want a quiet ceremony on the top of a mountain with no guests then do that. If it’s the full white wedding extravaganza then go for that. But make sure it’s exactly what ‘you’ want with no external pressure.

    You need to both sit down and independently write a list of what you want from your wedding, and then compare. One of my sons got married on an island in Slovenia with 9 guests, no extended family and no friends, and it was magical. The other had an English country marquee with all the bells and whistles. That was wonderful too.

    Imagine it’s just going to be just the two of you. What would you do?

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