Feeling clueless

You seem to have a lot of the big things done already! The priority should be nailing down the venue. If you feel communication is a concern, I would look at some other places as a backup! The Budget Savvy bride by Jessica Bishop is a great planning guide you can get for cheap on amazon! Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I didn't realize I got the big stuff done.

Sounds like you're doing great! You have most of the big stuff handled. If you are wanting a DJ, then you should probably start researching those, as they can book up early as well. Then you'll need an officiant, a dress, cake (or some other dessert), flowers (optional). You still have lots of time, which is good. I found that having more time to plan meant I had time to research the most affordable options in each category.

Good luck and happy planning!!

You really can't do much until you get the venue booked. The next big one would be the caterer.

You could start looking for a caterer as well as a live band since you’re having a black tie wedding. But you’ve done a lot. I wouldn’t book anything until you pay your deposit on the venue and actually secure the date.

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Of course! sometimes you feel like you have so much to do, you don't realize how far you've come! After you nail down the venue, start on the dress!

Agree with Kelly, Focus on signing the contract with the venue first. Then, since you are having a black tie affair, I would focus on a top notch caterer since you will have to have a multi course plated meal plus a premium open bar with white glove table side service. Then work on picking a band, a DJ is not appropriate for a black tie event. And make sure that your venue has valet service and you are covering it.

It sounds like you're doing great. I started planning 8 months before our wedding date so I would take your time and explore options. It's possible that you are not a priority to your venue yet because the wedding is not for a while but I would really push them to lock down your date.
Photographers book early too so I'm glad you have one booked. Next I would research options for DJ or live music and decide which you would like and get estimates.
Start looking at wedding dress and bridesmaid dress styles but I wouldn't try anything on until you're about a year out (trust me you will change you're mind a bunch) and most importantly sit down and create a budget before you do anything else.

Hopefully this helps!

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Yes, all of this. If you're requesting "black tie dress attire," then you need to actually throw a black tie event, which has very specific requirements. Do your wedding plans actually meet those requirements?

In addition, you don't actually have a date until you have a venue with contract signed, so I would put all other vendors on hold for now - you can research, just don't sign anything until you have your date and venue squared away.