Clueless Bride - Where to Start

Budget, guest list, venue. You need to make sure your venue can hold your desired guest list.

Generally all inclusive venues tend to be cheaper.

Congrats and welcome! One of those photos would be great as an avatar.

Start with budget. Then determine guest list as you don't want to have a larger number than what your venue can hold. Then venue and then the bigger vendors. Check out the WW checklist.

First, update your avatar so you get more response.

Then congratulation and welcome are in order!

To your question, budget, guest list, venue in that order. Date can be decided once you find a venue that fit your budget and guest list. You should shop around a few to see which one best fit your needs. Good luck planning!

The above posters have the order of importance right. If you haven't already, lurk here before asking a lot of questions or making a lot of decisions on what you want to do at your wedding. You'll learn a lot.

What's that castle in your photo? It's beautiful!

But yes, get yourself a tentative guest list based on how many you can afford to feed, etc. Give yourself a little wiggle room because the list grows easily. If you plug your ideal budget into the WW budget tool, they can give you a basic breakdown of how much you can spend on each thing. Adjust to your needs but I found it helpful!

Also, I thought my all-inclusive was a little pricey but when I started looking at prices of bringing in everything individually it was way more! So all-inclusive usually saves you money and stress.

I agree with @goingtothechapel

Lurk first! Also you can search posts and find a lot of your answers there.

Also, the WW checklist is very helpful.

First of all, your ring is gorgeous! Congratulations to you and FH!

The type of venue depends on the type of vibe you are going for. I booked a mostly all-inclusive banquet facility (no music or photos) because I know the food and service or amazing. It is a little more on the formal side.

My friend is planning to book a barn and bring in separate caterers, bartenders, etc. because she is going for the more rustic, laid back vibe.

You should have a general number of guests in your head when you look at venues so that you will know if they can accommodate you or not. Have a target budget in mind, and a certain month/time of the year. Your date will be determined by their availability.

Happy planning!

You need to decide how much you can afford for your wedding. Then have some idea of a guest list (doesn't need to be final) so that you can search for venues that will accommodate. The venue won't care about your numbers until a few weeks before the wedding. They might ask roughly what number you're thinking to make sure that they comfortable fit that many people.

As far as whether it's better to get an all-inclusive versus bare bones really just depends. On a shit ton of factors. You generally need to do some research on prices in your area upfront to get an idea of whether an all-inclusive or a space-only type place is best. But also keep in mind that money isn't the ONLY factor. Think of your time and sanity too. For that reason, I went with a venue that included some things, but not the major stuff like catering, I wanted my freedom to pick my own.

Welcome to WW!! Definitely start with a rough draft of your budget and guest list, then start looking at venues

Type of venue is really a personal preference. I like the kind of "in between" service my venue provides - venue, food, booze, tables, chairs, linens, silverware, etc. It's not a fully "all inclusive" venue since I still get to choose my own other vendors (photographer, florist, etc), but the venue does provide all of the basics!

Budget.

Draft guest list

Research venues.

Then call to make appointments to make visits.

The banquet managers are going to ask you three things first: what's your budget, when would you "like" to get married, and how many guests.

The guest list isn't set in stone at this time, that's why it's called a draft just to give you an idea of how much money you're looking at. For instance if your budget is $15k for a 9/2017 wedding and you want to invite 300 people and the first venue tells you it's $150 pp, then you're either going to say "peace out", or decide to cut your guest list significantly. Some venues also have guest minimums so keep that in mind.

We chose to do a semi-inclusive venue. They take care of all the food and alcohol including the cake, tables/linens/chairs, etc. They are throwing in a free night at the hotel next door as well.

If you're religious, you should place budget first, then counseling with your pastor/preacher/priest to determine when they are available to do premarriage-prep and marry you, then go and find your venue, guest list, etc. We had such a hard time getting a religious entity involved, we're doing a civil ceremony, and looking at doing the religious part after with a small clutch of family some time after the legal wedding.