Newly engaged...where to start?!

VInsley197

So I recently got engaged (:j) and I've exchanged the ring for one that fits... but now I've no idea what to do now! I've started having a little nosy at venues but I don't know how much is sort of 'reasonable' for the kind of event we want.

Ideally we want to get married in an 'all-in-one' kind of venue (like a fancy hall/hotel) so there's no faffing about between places but I don't know what's a realistic budget to set for such an event so I know how much I need to save. Until I really know that I've no idea how long it'll take us to save and so roughly when we can plan the wedding for...

Any advice/tips/guidance would be very well received!

Valli

Keep an eye open for local wedding fairs. They're often held in wedding/reception venues and showcase everything you might want for your day. This will help you begin to formulate a budget.

And congratulations!

RRRivas

Start from your wedding dress and look out for wedding fairs so that you will get some really nice deals!

dktreesea

Moddershall Oaks? If you are in Crewe, this is probably close enough to go and see and have a tour. It's a great venue. Even has a spa. It would at least give you both a baseline so you had something to compare everything else with.


Further afield, Crewe Hall in Cheshire(?) is lovely,

lizzy85

Congrats to you. If you are not sure what to do, why not try hiring a wedding coordinator to help you with the process?

beckysbobbles1

First things first is to decide on a budget. Do you have £1000 to spend or £10k to spend?


That will determine most other things. Perhaps pick up a wedding planner where you can jot details down of supplies and ideas.

inkie

Work out your budget. Are you .ikely to get any help from family or is it down to you? You need to have that conversation. We are paying for daughters wedding and were up front with them when they got engaged.

Once you have worked out your budget, you will then know how many people you can invite depending upon the pph of the venue. If you want more people, you'll need a cheaper venue.
The first thing you need to book is the venue, then photographer, as these are the things that you sometimes struggle to get sorted, the rest of the stuff can be worked around that.

daivid

Don't forget to book the registrar in plenty of time, provisional bookings can be made up to two years in advance. If you want a particular time slot it may be worth booking as soon as you book the venue (or even in the grace period between pencilling in and paying a deposit). Someone I know forgot to get in touch with the Register office until a couple of months before, then had to explain to bride to be how a later ceremony would be better...

To find a venue I found the council lists of approved venues a great starting point, all councils seem to provide this list on their websites and often have links to the venues websites. By going through the council lists and venue websites I was able to reasonably quickly whittle down 100+ venues (we were looking in a 40min radius of home) down to 6 potentials that we visited.

Easterville

I decided to have a two year engagement so I could have as long as possible to plan everything I wanted. I
wrote lists and scrap booked anything I found interesting. (if only Pintrest was about when I got married!!)
I agree with everyone else, get our budget - even a rough one then you know what you have to work with.
Try to get the groom evolved with everything even if they don't want to at first. My husband really benefited from this as we worked as a team and both got excited with planning what we both wanted. My only advise that I would give that I didn't get was "always try to get good night's sleep from day one" this way you will minimise stress and have a clear head each morning. Good Luck with your Planning!!

Cerenia

Hello! I got engaged 7 weeks ago myself and just started this week with planning - we've made a guest list for the day and evening, to get an idea for venues - several I like will only take 40-50, but we've cut it down to 60 for the ceremony for example. We've made a spreadsheet for rough costings as well, and from what I can guestimate so far, it'll be looking at 7-10k for what we want, so skimming what we can - aiming for 7k myself, as I think thats what we can do with a little help.

I have a pinterest board with loads of ideas on, and my partner has seen them all as well - now booking into some venues to view now as well

AndyBSG

First things to do

- Set a budget. You may not know how much venues, food, dresses, etc cost but you DO know what you can afford. The wedding should be planned around your budget, not the other way round.

- Discuss with the OH the location radius of the wedding. If you can save £1,000 by having it 10 miles further away is that worth the added inconvenience?

- Get a rough guest list. You may agree that you'll only need somewhere that can accommodate around 100 people but once you start actually writing a list that can soon go up.

Once you have a rough idea on those three you'll then find that filters down a lot of the other options such as your budget limiting numbers, affecting whether you have a full sit down meal or a buffet and how much you do yourself or just pay to have done for you.