To not get how when you buy a wedding package from somewhere it's a years worth of work?

[feellikeahugefailure]

I'm probably being U, but i just dont see how a wedding is so much work.

You choose a package from a venue that does them every weekend. Pick who's coming and sitting where, the entertainment, photographer, go tasting to decide what to eat, flowers, dress. Sure its a few weekends of sorting stuff, but I don't see how people claim to have spent a year organising their wedding?

[katienana]

I had an 18 month engagement. I enjoyed planning and choosing, I also made my own favours and some of the stationery. I could have done it in 6 weeks but I wouldn't have wanted to rush and I.think it was worth it to have the day we wanted and that our guests enjoyed.

[Fluffsnuts]

16 weeks from engagement to wedding for me. And it was a big white wedding. Was easy to organise once we set the date, we had whole weeks where we didn't even mention the wedding. I really don't see what the fuss is about.

[GlindatheFairy]

MN anecdotes seems to suggest that some people should spend a bit more effort planning their weddings- at least considering their guests a bit more. I think 50% of my planning time was considering how guests would feel about things and making sure everyone would have a lovely time. Buying a dress took me about ten minutes. I went and tried something on because I was just passing a shop that was having a big sale and everything was such a bargain- got a really inexpensive dress I sort of liked and thought it would do as a back up in case I didn't find anything else. Later I decided it was the one I was going to wear and had it altered to fit really well.

[milliemolliemou]

And has anyone in the media examined the claim people spend an average £20,000 a wedding? and where that alleged fact comes from? Seriously. One of the wedding magazines had a couple who did a wedding for £5000 in a village where everyone contributed and go them, but some people can't even afford this. And why should they ahead of rental/buying a house/looking after kids?

The wedding industry is an industry so clearly wants to ramp up expectations. MumsHQ should put in on the backburner to find out the facts after more important stuff.

[hazeimcgee]

Fluffs you must be lucky enough to be able tp buy off the rack - we were told min 6 months from order to fonal fottong

[hazeimcgee]

Fitting

[Okay377]

I honestly don't understand the fuss. Our cat's a vicar so one morning we just stayed in bed, got married and consummated it with a shag.

[Fluffsnuts]

hazeimcgee I did end up buying one off the rack as I saw one I liked that was on sale but the 2 shops I went in to said 8 weeks from ordering to getting it to the shop then 2 weeks for fitting/ alterations. But it was a December wedding so a bit quieter. We had a tight deadline due to a terminally ill relative that we really wanted there, some things were none negotiable and it helped me rule out lots of places, such as venues that couldn't do the date and shops that wouldn't commit to time frames etc.

GlindatheFairy most of our time was spent thinking of the guests too. Things like the canapes on arrival at the venue from the church as I hated the long wait for food at weddings. Plenty of free drink. The food being served from the back table to the top table, rather than top table first.

[Lorelei76]

okay "Our cat's a vicar"

if that could be taken literally, it would make even me want to get married

[Lorelei76]

Pearl, I think it depends if the cat put a collar on....

[Fuckoffdailymailyoufuckers]

Booked our wedding four months in advance and didn't start planning until two months before the day. Including the wedding dress! It can be done far quicker than the one to two years a lot of people take.

[RichardBucket]

I can't stand what weddings have become. Hate them.

[welshweasel]

I had no issue getting a dress within 8 weeks either. I had pretty much free choice of both of the shops I went to. They even admitted a lot of the 'you need 6 months' is hype and they aren't going to turn down a sale. I'm sure there are some high end dresses which would be unavailable on that time scale but that wasn't a concern for me!

[Lorelei76]

actually Okay, I'm slightly worried you might have given the police a crucial lead by sharing this info

thompson-catworks.com/p872557330/h2A59C98C#h2a59c98c

[ImYourMama]

My entire wedding was organised and booked/deposits paid in a day, another day for dress shopping but that's about it!

[TuppencePenny]

It's obviously not a years worth of work but depends how much time and consideration you want to put into it, eg:

Venue. Choose one you know or visit three or four when you have time off and then choose.

Dress. But online or go to a few dress shops on Saturdays. Many take six months to make and then a couple of months of fittings.

Taking bridesmaids dress shopping. Some want to be involved and try in before they buy. Another weekend gone.

Photographer- I know couples who have wanted to meet the person beforehand and then there's the researching of various people and their portfolios before meeting them.

Similar thing for DJs/ band and choosing a playlist. Then you can go into favours, stationary, hair and make up. Food etc.

Basically some people enjoy an engagement deliberating over every decision and choosing exactly what they like. It doesn't take a year but you can easily drag it out over a year and a lot of suppliers and contractors get booked up well in advance so if you wanted a certain venue etc then you could easily need at least a year to have what you want.

[Bluechip]

lorelei don't tell me that makes our marriage void

[TuppencePenny]

Of course it CAN be done in a week but it can be done over a year too. Some dresses can be bought off the rack by some are handmade and cost £10,000. There is no right or wrong answer to this.

[hazeimcgee]

I think we need the opposite to the oh i booked my wedding in 1 hr for £5 competition.

Who's had longest peruod pf actual planning? Long engagements don't count unless you are actually planning. And who had the most elaborate stuff? I'm thinking flamingo's in the lake or a 12 piece orchestra in the loo's!

[MrsKoala]

We booked the registry office and the hotel (not near where we lived) for 2 nights. Then i phoned the nearest pub and asked them to reserve 6 tables from 4pm and to put 20 bottles of prosecco in the fridge. I sent an email/text round to those invited. The following week i went to town and bought a red cocktail dress from Coast and a shrug from john lewis I also bought dh a matching tie.

One evening we ran into h samuel just as it was closing with our screaming 3month old and picked the first rings we saw in our size. I ordered 2 gateauxs from a baker near the rego office. We arrived the night before to stay at the hotel with our baby and popped into a florist and asked for a posy of white roses and 6 button holes. In the morning we collected flowers and cakes and delivered them to the pub (which we had never been into yet).

Got dressed/ready. Went to the rego office and got married. Half the people we'd invited turned up late and a bit pissed as they'd all been in the pub for a couple of hours beforehand. DH's 'best man wasn't there, so he called him and he said, oh yeah, i got in late last night so i'm too tired to come'. We walked to the pub, opened the wine and ordered loads of bar snacks from the menu and put our card behind the bar with a 1k limit.

DHs parents didn't come. No one bought us gifts as it 'wasn't a proper wedding'

It was horrible and as i said before i really regret it. I think there is a happy medium between a mahoosive shebang which takes 4 years and a second mortgage and what we did.

[MaisieDotes]

I once (pre-recession, maybe about 10 years ago) eavesdropped upon overheard a woman at the next table tell her companion that she was about to give up her job six months prior to her wedding so as to have time to plan it.

She also said her colours were brown and orange- or "chocolate and amber" as she called them < boak face

I was agog at the entire conversation. I was so annoyed when my own lunch date arrived and I had to listen to them instead

[hazeimcgee]

Who quits work to plan a wedding?? Maybe she jad to fetch the flamingo's for the lake??