Where did you start?

We decided on budget and the time of year we both wanted to get married. I of course had my own thoughts and he had his so we took time together to talk about what we both wanted for our big day. The next big thing was starting a guest list so we could start looking at the size of venue we would be needing and how far our budget would take us.

We also enjoyed our engagement for about a month before we started any wedding planning discussion. Congratulations and look forward to hearing your plans!!

Pick the date and budget first so you can start looking for venues. Some venues get booked very quickly. There is one place near me that has like 3 year wait list at this point . After that, go on the hunt for the perfect dress. Those seem like the hardest things to pin down.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!

And no, i decided on a date a month after i got engaged and then changed it around 2 months after.

Just a tip I saw - create an email solely for wedding planning!!!

Also, the first step is to set a budget and know you’ll go over. I was shocked by the prices of most items so I’d definitely search for all the big items and understand general pricing in your area.

Some people say to set a date first. I think this is silly. We wanted to get married in September but our favorite venue only had availability in late August so that’s what we went with! A month/time of year is more realistic.

The first thing we did was set our budget. From there, we started a guest list to see approximately how many people would need to fit inside our venue. That’s when we started researching venues.
Don't get too tied down to a date until you know it works for the venue AND your VIP guests (family, bridal party). My fiancé and I had originally guessed our date would be October 21 but we found a venue that had August 8 available and that worked best for everyone.

Congratulations!!!!

First of all, be prepared for lots of unsolicited advice from family and friends (or even people you barely know) because we have gotten a ton of it. The best advice I have received so far, from my cousin, was "don't listen to anyone else's advice. It's your day, do what makes you happy."

You'll have to decide if you want a long engagement or just want to dive in. FH and I had agreed on a long engagement way before we even got engaged. For us, it was a financial decision to buy a house first, plus we figured more time = less stress.

For us, finding a venue was the first step, because we weren't set on a specific city or town (we looked all over Florida), so we couldn't really narrow down any other vendors until we picked a venue (we just booked it yesterday!!!!)

The other approach, depending on your budget and personality, is to look for a wedding planner early and have them help you with everything. We are doing 90% ourselves and will just have a day of coordinator.

Some things to consider before looking at venues:

-What season do you want? Is there a date that is special to you? (look at a calendar and see what day of the week it falls on in the next few years)

-Indoor or outdoor? Mix of both?

-Ceremony and reception at the same venue or different? If different, consider transportation from one to another. If there is a special place you met or love to go, you could consider a wedding there.

-Location: local or destination?

-Guest count: jot down your A list, people who you absolutely want at your wedding. Then decide if you want to keep it small or add extended friends and family.

-Colors or theme? You can definitely pick these later, once you have a venue, but if you KNOW you want blue, consider that when you look at the style and colors in a venue.

We toured 8 venues. Keep looking until you find what you love! Good luck!!

I started off with the date then the location because I didn't want it 2be booked so I did that 1st.. Than I sent out my Bridal invitations to the bridal party..

I set the date
Then figured out our budget and got the venue, since they fill up fast.
Next, we picked the wedding party and asked them.
We are a year out:
We have venue, DJ, officiant, catering, photographer, honeymoon, cake, my dress and veil, bridesmaids dresses and sandals, engagement photos for save the date.
We are ahead of schedule and I'm ok with that

Congratulations!!

We went for the date, budget, then the venue. I have a friend getting married in December and stumbled upon my dress when we decided to go dress shopping together. At first, I thought it was too early, but then I found out my dress would take 8-9 months to come in... I didn't know they took that long, but I'm in no rush for it- my day is next year and I have about 6 pounds that I'm working on getting rid of.

First off, Congrats!!

Something I did not do, is sit down and discuss what you actually want in a wedding. Do you want a big wedding, small wedding, elopement, destination? Elegant, simple, country? What kind of feel do you want?

Then comes budget, picking a date or time frame, and venue. All the details and hiring vendors come after that. Have fun!

We decided on a general season we wanted to get married in.
I chose late summer/fall, he chose spring/early summer.
We finally settled on early April.
I contacted my first vendor. She told me she was available March 28. She was most important to me, and I booked her and started looking for venues.
If I had it to do over again, I would probably get a couple dates from her and venue shop for those few dates also. But I'm happy with the venue we got. We got lucky.

We started with what season we wanted to get married. Then we discussed a estimated budget and colors for the wedding. Honestly just take on thing at time - don't get stuck on a date if you have too we originally wanted Sept of this year and we aren't getting married till 3/2020 lol

Hye girl! I got engaged on 5.25.19 too! So I am right there with you! Congratulations!

Prior to be engaged, I always wanted to get married in either September or October. We got engaged last August so I told everyone immediately after we got engaged we would probably get married in September of this week. My sister was engaged and was going to be getting married in October so we decided to go with September. Within two hours, my fiance's brother who got engaged two days before us announced they also wanted to get married in September so we changed out date to June or July because I didn't want to get married the same month as one of our siblings. After deciding on June or July, my fiance created a budget then we started looking for venues.

Congrats! i actually enjoyed time not wedding planning for a bit before i started. but first things i did were budget and guest list. then i did venue and date.

I would start with budget.

I got engaged on the 25th too!!!

Congrats!!!! The first thing we decided on was what season we wanted, and in what year! We originally wanted early fall (mid September-ish), and researched what kind of wedding style we wanted (soft, romantic, and natural/outdoorsy). Then we looked at venues that would fit that. The venue availability decided out actual date for us. After that we booked our DJ and our photographer, since those tend to book the fastest IMO. It’s a process. Get all the big things done first! Find your style, then book the Venue first, then look in photography/DJ/catering. Then your dress! Once the big things are done, the smaller ones start to fall into place a little easier and Its not quite as overwhelming!

Congrats!
I would say start with a budget and what you can afford. That will determine or soon or how long you need to wait for the wedding.
Then make a list of people you want in the wedding party. Make a guest list to have a rough number of guests.
Then Eventually tour venues

The first thing I did was figure out my guest list so I could pick a venue that would be big enough for it