Where should I begin on planning my wedding？

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I'm planning my wedding, but I have no idea where to start. Where should I begin?

Think about:

A husband
Date
Place
Invitations
Food
Clothes

Do you have any recommendations for wedding planning or clothes shopping ?

Start with the guest list. Think about who you actually want there. When you have a rough idea of numbers then you can look at the venue. A mistake a lot of people make is picking a fancy venue that’s either too small and cramped to fit everyone comfortably (or it’s expensive and you end up cutting corners meaning your guests usually end up out of pocket and hungry), or too big and you end up inviting people you don’t really want.

You venue may have a package for decoration/ food etc or you’ll be inspired by the location. You’ll then have your date and that will help you pick your wedding/ bridesmaids dresses etc.

Start with the date and the budget.

How much is saved / will be saved within two months of an ideal date?

What kind of wedding do you both want?

• Church, wedding breakfast, evening party
• Hotel but basically as above
• Registry office and a pub lunch
• Bare foot in the woods and a hog roast Etc etc etc

Guest list. Same people all day? Day and evening guests? How many absolute minimum/ how many ideally?

Then look at venues, based on that size.

Can you afford that? How much is left for other stuff? Keep looking until it's right. Book the date. If you need two venues (church and room for example) make a provisional booking until the other is confirmed.

Outfits. What do you want? Go online to get ideas and book some shopping visits.

Then sort the rest. Photographer. Flowers. Bridesmaids. Entertainment. Menus.

Save the dates go out to inform people of the date. Invitations are to request a response. It depends when the wedding is as to when to send them out.

My supper is ready now. Congratulations and good luck

Where do I look to find vendor information, including venues, dresses, flowers, food, photographers, etc.?

Doesn't sound like you've done any sort of research to help yourself at all.

A basic google search would give you some websites /apps with hints and tips on how to start. Such as Hitched or Bridebrook.

Figure out your must attend people.

Then talk about generally how big of a wedding you want to have. Do you want to invite everyone you know or just your close circle?

sit down and figure out a ballpark budget of what you think you can afford.

then go look at venues in an area that you know will work for your must attend list and can handle your potential guest list size.

This will give you an idea of your budget is realistic for your ideas. Then you can work up a full budget with your venue in mind.

before you book the venue, check the date with your must attend list. You want to be sure they are available before you finalize. You don’t have to check with everyone, just the people you would be devastated if they couldn’t make it.

once the venue is booked, then work on the dress and any vendors you need.

Get onto Hitched.com I found it invaluable for help for all things practical. Venue, dress shops, flowers, caterers etc

Work out how many guests
wirk out your budget
Join bridebook

Try and attend some local wedding fairs, they will have cars, dresses, florists, caterers etc

Venues. Look up local hotels, fancy buildings or Google wedding venues near X.
Dresses. Google wedding dress shops near X.
Flowers. Google wedding flowers near X.
Food will probably come with venue or Google wedding food near X
Etc.

I would begin by imagining what kind of wedding you (and your fiancé) want. Then examine costs and decide your budget. Knowing how much you can spend is crucial to any decisions made.

The venue and date is the thing to sort first. For that you need to know roughly how many people you want to invite and your budget.

You work out if you want traditional type church/estate wedding or something else, beach/woods/parachute wedding.

Ideally you would book the venue, at the vary least, 1 year in advance but 18months/two years might because for popular places.

Once you have set a date, you need to organise food, drink, seating.

Once venue and food is set up. Send save the date cards to guests.

Then clothes for bride and groom plus bridal parties if you have them.

Then hotel room booking if away from home. Plus shuttle buses for guests if needed.

These are the really important stuff to sort everything else is just frills. I would recommend a photographer personally as very worthwhile.

Make a list of things you definitely want and things you couldn't care less about and go from there, don't be pressured into having stuff you don't want to fulfil others expectations.
Budget accordingly.
Watch don't tell the bride

First off, congratulations!

With regards to the actual wedding, I think you are taking the wrong approach. You haven't given many details, but I get the strong impression that you think you have to plan the wedding you think other people expect to see.

However, this is* *your wedding (and likely your money as well). What sort of parties and events have you enjoyed the most in the past? Start from there and plan a day you will actually enjoy, rather than worry about pleasing others. Enjoyment if the most important aspect of the day.

I prefer to have a small but very warm and intimate wedding. I have visited Hitched, but I found there are too many vendor options, and I'm not sure how to filter them.

Have you and fiancé agreed a budget?

Do you have an idea of the size of wedding you want? Do you want a registry office, a church or a venue based ceremony? What time of year?

To be honest, posters can give you ideas, but it's you who needs to do the research. If you've already searched on hitched and struggled, then I'm not sure how you think an online forum that has millions of users from across the globe can help you.

I'd suggest having another look at hitched and the other forum posters have recommended. Spend time to browse the categories and filter options. Ask friends and family about your local area. Find a local wedding discussion group.

Once you've decided on a venue, you might find that they have a list of recommended florists, caterers etc.

Can your fiancée use google at all?

As most people have said the venue is the main thing. Many only let you use approved vendors anyway or if not they’ll have a list of ones they’ve used before and recommended.

Decide if you want a venue where you’re in one place for the whole day or church/registry office and then Google wedding venues in the area you want to get married in. Look and see which ones you like the look of and are right for the number of guests you want. You may at this stage be able to gauge if you can afford them but you might need to contact a few for ideas of prices. Then go and view a few, you’ll quite quickly narrow them down to what you like and don’t. Once the venue (and date) is sorted the rest will fall into place.

The thing I found the hardest to get was the photographer. So don't leave that till the end. I'd go in this order.
Wedding Location
Reception
Date
Bridesmaids/flower girl
Best man
Photographer
Guest list
Your dress/shoes
Partners suit/shoes
Flowers/buttonholes
Book your hair/make up/pedi.
Bridesmaids/flower girl dresses
Save the date cards
Honeymoon
Pick invites
Favours

Wear your shoes around the house to break them in about a month before the wedding date.

We only had 36 people, for a london wedding. Where are you? You just put a l9cation in. Sit down at your laptop and just get started looking. You sound a bit overwhelmed but once you start,you will feel much better

Yes, I am quite nervous right now. I've decided to start by securing the venue first.

By the way, if you have any good recommendations for clothing suppliers, I would be happy to consider them.

1. The honeymoon, if youre having one after the wedding - where do you want to go, and what's the best time of year for that?

1. The guest list - agree that with your partner and just check your parents aren't expecting to invite people off their own bat (my MIL invited 30 people without asking me and then said they couldn't uninvite them).

1. The budget- the numbers on the guest list will mean you then gave an idea what kind of venue, food and drink and other things you can afford.

Then the venue.

Once you've got that lot sorted, other things follow - I wouldn't start buying clothes until you know how you're going to feed the number of guests you want.