to think planning a wedding is doable in 18 months from scratch?

[kiwicatastrophe]

Please don't flame. We haven't planned or decided or thought of a single thing and it's feeling a bit overwhelming. We have Dc2 due in may and I don't want that to be anymore stressful than it will be (lots of other things going on). Anyone that's congratulated us on our engagement has made a huge point of how if we don't book soon they will all be booked up and they all when we say we don't know where we are having it. The thought of thinking of any of it after what people have been saying is making me feel like I've got no idea what I'm doing. It's like our whole families have gone bridezilla asking constantly if so and so can be bridesmaid ect and I just want to scream leave me alone we don't know what we're doing. I know they are all just excited and not trying to be rude at all but am I right in thinking it's just not doable. should we postpone another year or two?

[Mehitabel6]

Of course you can! We had a white church wedding - all managed in 3 months!

[LaurieFairyCake]

I did it in 10 weeks and there were 120 people there.

I could easily have done it in a month, I have no idea what the fuss is about.

[CheeseEqualsHappiness]

Yeah, did mine in 7

[angelos02]

Once you've got the venue sorted you could easily sort a wedding in a few weeks. It is only as complicated as you (and your family/friends) make it.

[Mehitabel6]

But we didn't have a summer Saturday.

[Expedititition]

It really is very easy to plan a wedding. We had a big traditional wedding. Engaged end of August, married end of December.

[Mehitabel6]

We got the venue, sent out invitations and then did the rest. Not difficult.

[WishUponAStar88]

18 months is loads of time, however if you think it will be too much stress then postpone if you wish, it's your wedding! Personally I never found planning my wedding stressful as it was something I wanted to do. If it's becoming a chore to organise then perhaps a different/ smaller wedding would be better?

[elliejjtiny]

It's definitely doable. So many people have shorter engagements than that. We spent 2 years planning ours but that was mostly because we wanted to finish uni first. Ignore your family, weddings bring out the worst in some people.

[octopal]

Planned mine in under 6 months, church wedding with hotel reception after for 70 people.

[CountBapula]

Yup. We did ours in two months.

[Lj8893]

We booked our venue about a year in advance, but only really started planning our wedding now with about 7 months to go. Our wedding is very much on a budget and diy so needs quite a bit of planning though. 18 months is plenty of time!!!

[Mehitabel6]

We got engaged in October, married end of December.

[Sn00p4d]

Planned mine 2 years in advance, then did nothing for about 23 months, we just wanted a specific date hence the two years but it didn't take much organising really, and I had 2 to organise lol, youll be fine, do what you want there will always be people with their "opinions", just block them out if they're not useful! And congratulations! :)

[LadyLuck10]

It's more than ample time. I had almost 350 people and did it in 8 months. I had to book the venue a year in advance though, so you might want to check on that if you have a specific place in mind.

[isambardo]

It really depends what you want for your wedding. Do you want it big, organised down to the last detail, sit-down meal for lots of people etc? We always knew we wanted ours to be informal and relaxed, we catered for 50 people and it was organised from start to finish in three weeks. I never wanted to commit a year of my life to wedding planning!

Sit down with your partner and figure out what you both want then go from there. Your friends are right though, wedding venues, caterers etc get booked quickly and if you leave it you may not get your first choice.

Personally I would plan to enjoy the new baby next year and not get into big wedding planning.

[TheSkiingGardener]

Depends how fixed you are on where you want to have it. Popular places may be booked up for weekends already. However, as long as you are happy to look around and find somewhere available when you want it will be easy.

However, you may need to change your phone numbers and email address and not tell your relatives for a while.

[Permanentlyexhausted]

Whole church wedding with sit down meal for 80 and evening do with disco and buffet for 120 organised in 3 months, whilst working full time and with 11-14 month old baby in tow.

Depends on how much you're fussed about the details.

Mine was wedding and bridesmaid dress off the peg from monsoon, printed my own invites and orders of service, didn't bother with flowers in the church - just buttonholes and a posy for me, let the wedding planner at the hotel do what she thought fit as far as table decs, etc., made my own wedding favours ...

It just depends on what you want

[Gennz]

Totally. Got engaged in late March, married 5 Jan, everything planned from the other side of the world (living in UK, married in NZ). Was a white church wedding with 120 guests. Could have done it in 3 months easily. Just don't have a massive bridal party that need to be co-ordinated and don't get all crazed and bridezilla-esque about silly things like party favours and chair sashes.

[BitterHoneyGreenNight]

Yes of course it is!

A friend of mine got married recently after spending just 12 weeks planning. It was a lovely day.

[CMOTDibbler]

Yes, but decide on what you and your fiance want from the day, book it, and then tell everyone else what you are doing, and then repeat 'we've made our decisions and are very happy with them' as many times as necessary.

All you need is somewhere to get married, someone to marry you, and somewhere to celebrate. Everything else is extras

[JustAShopGirl]

Yep easily done.. we were engaged in April, married in September. Find a venue, name a date and it all fits from there.

[BistoBear]

18 months is loads of time, we were 15 months from engagement to wedding day. Planned everything ourselves whilst I finished my degree and then started a new job.

Pinterest is your friend for wedding planning :)

[Dovahkiin]

Easily done - did it in 6 months. Just be prepared to have a Friday wedding - places do get booked up. Book your venue and then leave everything else to focus on DC2. Plenty of time. Good luck!

[BiddyPop]

My DSisIL got engaged last Christmas Eve, (it was a complete surprise - so much so that she was still shaking sitting in her Mum's kitchen 3 hours later!! A good surprise, but still a shock!). Their wedding is next June, so almost exactly 18 months. They booked the hotel first, relatively quickly but it still took a couple of months to check out all the local ones and make decisions. She just gets on with bits and pieces for a few weeks and then lets life take over again too. All pretty much organized at this stage except BM and FG dresses (we don't care what DD wears, if SIL can persuade her not to wear a tracksuit, we're happy, but other SIL is very fussy about what her 2 DDs wear and all have to match - BMs it's more a case of SIL and her 2 BMs agreeing, as the FG will be cream dresses with a ribbon sash to match BM colours - so the 2 searches are separate). And of course, MIL still has to get her outfit (and so do I come to think of it! Post Christmas sales were great for the last wedding we had).

One of my DSis's got engaged in July, also a surprise. She is organizing for Sept next year in Rome and has already bought her dress and working away on bits. BM and MoHonor have to agree dresses yet (I have to meet BM - not a clue what I want let alone how to work with her as we are completely different styles), but she has got her own dress. I think DSis has been persuaded (by the various parents involved) to go pretty much no DCs (except stbBIL's DNephew as ringbearer), but she's torn on that and doesn't want to exclude them (we are all more thinking of the reality of bringing them to Rome in school time for 3-4 days, and entertaining them in a hotel and not the most child-friendly city, not trying to exclude them but being realistic). Rome was only decided 10 days ago, so it's basically going to be all done within 10 months.

Lots of stuff is lovely but optional. The things that are important are Bride, Groom, celebrant and 2 witnesses. After that, having your friends and family is nice, and maybe a bit of music (but local music school may have groups, church may have a choir/organist/soloist etc or your iPod can have a playlist on it). A bit of grub doesn't go astray. The wedding party (B, G, BM, BM, etc) can be fussy and formal or relaxed and quite casual - depending on what YOU like. A handful of flowers, or huge bouquet - you could organize those the week before. Sitting down to think of some nice things to say does take time admittedly, especially if you are not used to it. All the rest are extras - which are lovely, but you don't have to have them.

So first of all, you and your Fiancé need to sit down and decide what you both want. Not what others want - you 2. What type of ceremony, and what kind of party afterwards, and how formal you want to be (both in outfits and the day itself). Then work backwords from what takes longest to do, and just do lists of what you would like and ideas of how to achieve it. And start slowly looking and ticking off those items one by one - you eat the elephant best by taking one bite at a time!!