Planning my wedding

Start with a budget and a rough draft of your guest list. Then decide what month or season you want to get married in. Then you’ll find a venue that fits those three things. Once you have a venue and a date, you can start booking other major vendors.

Start with your budget and your venue. Then everything will kind of naturally flow from there. Once you have that down focus on what's important to you for the day and focus your time and energy onto those details.

I would start with a budget & guest list, then move forward with a venue. Once you have a venue, then you can focus on major vendors like photography, catering, DJ, officiant, etc. I'd start dress shopping in December/January. I'd ask your wedding party in January too. Some venues/vendors may already be booked for July 2020 so I'd try to get a jump on things while still staying organized & focused, so you aren't overwhelmed. I'd save things like decor, shoes, favors, etc. for last.

Congratulations on your engagement! Don't get frustrated, you have lots of time. Once the big things fall into place, you'll feel like it's soooo far away

First start with your budget and a rough draft of a guest list (so you know how big of a venue you need). The first things to book are generally your venue, your photographer, and your caterer. WeddingWire's vendor search is where I found most of the vendors I'm using, so I'd highly recommend starting there. This forum is great for any questions/concerns you have along the way! Happy planning!

Thank you that’s a great idea

View Quoted Comment Thank you ! And yes I’ve been looking on here to so many great ideas

View Quoted Comment Thank you I’m taking your advice to ! I needed this

We got married in July. The very first thing we did was create a budget. We used an Excel spreadsheet and listed each thing and now much we wanted to spend. My husband created it. It had formulas and everything. We also made a guest list so we knew approximately how many people we would be inviting then I looked for a venue. My husband didn't really help with researching venues or vendors, but we toured the venues with me and met with all of the vendors. I think the venue is the most important thing other than budget and guest list.

View Quoted Comment That’s so true ! I’m starting on that now !

Agree with all PPs that you should start with your total budget and guest list. Typically they recommend the venue by about 40-50% of your total budget. So once you know the total number of guests and your budget you can calculate the rough cost per person you can spend for your veue. After the venue then focus on the other major details/vendors such as photographer, DJ, Florist and Dress. After that your focus can be on the smaller details and timeline of your wedding day.

Congrats and happy planning!!

View Quoted Comment I was so excited to be engaged I planned most of the wedding within a month of being engaged.

The big three of budget, guest list and venue from there it's just the details

Think about budget and how many guests you want to invite. After you have that figured out, I would go with the most important vendors- the venue first, photographer second, and catering third. Everything after that kind of falls into place. One thing my cake vendor mentioned to me was that people are starting to book earlier and earlier each year, so I would make cake the fourth.