Newbie help

blondy24

Hello Everyone,

Well my OH proposed at the weekend so we are now engaged :grinheart

I was just wondering where everyone started planning for their big day we have to sort out what year and the finances first I appreciate that but does anyone know any good wedding planner free sites or books to purchase.

Any help will be appreciated and I am sure to post on here more often from now on (yay!!)

Hollie84

Hi and congrats

Get yourself a note pad you will need one
as for books i find this site enough,everyone is so helpful and once you have decided a date join the room on here thats the month you chose everyone will help you on there aswell and you can share ideas

First up like you say u need a date,once you have done that you need to look at some venues,decide if you wast a civil ceremony or church wedding.also decide on a budget,once you have decided on all 3 book a date that suits you,then have a browse at some dresses

Ebay will be your best friend on the run up,i have bought so much on there,my underskirt,shoes,invites as im doing my own
By doing stuff yourself u will save alot of money.dont forget to haggle,we chose a package with our venue so couldnt haggle but its in our budget anyway.the church i got £100 knocked off aswell

Hollie84

Also gettingmarried.co.uk is a free wedding site

Minimoo24

start with what budget ur looking at, then u can go to dress, suits, invites then once you start on those you will know where to go next. also, go to afew wedding shows...altho they will tempt you with everything and it will cost ££££ good luck and congrats xxx

Hollie84

Go to free wedding shows,i was going to go to the one in b'ham next month but was put off when i was told how rubbish it was by a few people,so go to the free ones based at venues

Roz_V

Congratulations Blondy

First of all, work out what kind of wedding you want (civil/church/humanist etc) and roughly how many guests you will be inviting to the day/evening - write them down because I guarantee there'll be more than you think!! Then work out roughly when you want to get married (do you have a particular date/month/year that you'd prefer?) Then figure out the money - how much will you realistically be able to save by the wedding date, will anybody else be contributing etc. Do you feel happy with this spending this figure on what, esentially, is one day?

Then work out a budget - make a list of everything you will need for the wedding and put a cost next to it. If you don't know where to start with this, websites like Confetti offer free downloadable wedding planners/budgets which have all of the little details listed. I started with the Confetti one and removed about 50% of the stuff listed, and then added a few other bits in. Remember to consider what means the most to you and is worth spending money on, and what isn't so important (e.g. I didn't want a wedding breakfast, and therefore don't need place names/table plans/favours etc...)

Contact a few suppliers for quotes if you have no idea what things cost - a good supplier will be happy to help you out with guesstimates!

For venues, have a look on your local council's website for a list of approved premises. Even if you're not having a civil ceremony at a venue it's a good starting point for a list of hotels. I think in the end I just googled "Wedding Receptions Sheffield" and trawled to about page 3892 of the results before I found something I liked!!

And post on here lots - we're a nosy bunch really and happy to help, listen & suggest things when your fiancee gets bored of the endless wedding talk!!! (about 30 minutes after he proposed in my case :rotfl: )

Hollie84

Also invite who you want there not who others think u should have there,its your day so remember that

split_second

my tip (as a groom to be in 3 years) is dont look around and learn how to talk to people and ask questions, if you want something then say so, this goes with your fiance and also with venues/suppliers