Congratulations you're getting Married! Did you know that most of all engagements start over the Winter Holidays? I personally got engaged on Christmas Morning in 2009, but that's a story for another day.
Now that you have screamed YES to those 4 sweet words where should you start in the planning process for your big day. So let's start planning your magical day.
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FIRST TO DO: Pick your Wedding Date!
Do you dream of a June Wedding? Or maybe a country Fall Wedding, what ever you have dreamed up from childhood to now this is the time to start planning!
Good to Know tips on picking your Wedding Date:
* Starting in April every year Weddings are held every weekend across the country!
* Most weddings are held on Saturday Afternoons.
* Some Vendors will offer Friday & Sunday Wedding Discounts.
SECOND TO DO: Pick your Maid of Honor!
Now that you have the perfect date circled in Red on your calendar, it's time to think of who will be helping you plan the big day, Your Maid of Honor! Come on let's face it we both know that your groom says he's totally going to help you plan, but you will bring him options and get the response "sure honey whatever you want for your special day."
Some Brides will pick their sisters, best friends, or even their female relative. These are all great starters for your Bride's Maids Possibles list but for your MOH you want someone who is:
* Lovable (you are going to be spending a LOT of time with her in the next year or so)
* Super Organized
* Great Party Planner (your last night of Freedom, so you don't want it to suck on account of a bad party planner.)
If your Sister, cousin, or best friend don't hold all these cards maybe they should stick to a Brides Maid and not the Maid of Honor.
THIRD TO DO: Find your local Bridals Shows!
O.K. We have a Date and Maid of Honor, it's time to search the internet for all your local Bridal Shows! That's right the true Mecca for brides to be! Where else are you going to find 100+ Wedding Vendors just for you! Well for you and the other 300+ Brides.
Bridal Shows are held at local hotels, convention halls, and even some churches. Each vendor will usually have a raffle for a great giveaway going on at their booth, & smart vendors will have a mailing list they ask you to sign up for. DO IT sign up, Wedding Vendors (like me) will send out promotions to their Bridal Show Attendees through that mailing list!
Good to Know tips for attending Bridal Shows:
* Pre-Register online for the Bridal Show. (Just incase you are not able to make it to the show in person. Premiere Vendors at the Bridal show will still be able to contact you after the show.)
** I could write for days about the DOs and DON'Ts of Bridal Shows and that's why I have dedicated a full post on them. Check back next week for the ins and outs.
FORTH TO DO: Put together your Bridal Binder!
So you have found the Bridal Shows that you plan to attend before your wedding and possible even meet some of your possible vendors, but now you need somewhere to keep up with all your new wedding information. Some department Stores (J.C. Pennies) offer free organization binders when you set up a gift registry at their story. But if you are more of a DIY Bride or just it ready to set up your registry here is a quick and easy way yo put your binder together.
* You will need a 2inch binder, tab dividers, clear page protectors, and notebook paper.
* You can download a free copy of binder inserts at : www.mybigdayplanner.com
* Make a tab for each planning area of your wedding day, (i.e. timeline, ceremony, reception, vendors, contracts, budget, gifts, honeymoon, get what I'm saying?)
* Now as you collect ideas and information place it all in your binder.
FIFTH TO DO: Contact &/or Book your in demand Vendors!
Now that the excitement has started to calm down and you are now seeing all the work involved in planning your dream wedding lets make the first step in finding your Wedding Vendors. Now there are certain Vendors that will book each wedding season very quickly. For example in the case of most photographers (like me) are booking weddings for 2014 all year long in 2013 so then when we have a bride with her wedding date only 6 months away (like most guides tell you to book then) we no longer have your date open.
So now there is what I like to call a "Gotta Book Early" Vendor List.
* Your Ceremony & Reception location. You need to make appointments with your top 4 locations with in a month on picking your date. Make sure The appointments are with in days of each other, don't book out longer than a week. You want to keep the excitement and feelings about each location fresh when you go to choice your location.
* Your Wedding Planner, make sure you book this vendor after your location. Some of the nicer locations now have Wedding coordinators on site and included in your contract. You will want to pick someone that you feel a contraction with, price is not everything. Again you are going to want someone with you that you can trust on your wedding day and if you don't feel connected with your planner there could be unhappy in counters on your wedding day.
* Your Photographer, (cough, cough) like I said we book up fast! Call your top 3 photographers and ask for a Free Consultation. If your photographer is a professional they will jump at the chance to sit down with you and show off all their beautiful work. Contracts will be discussed at consultations, but you don't have to sign a contract until you know you want to work with the photographer.
* Your Official, the rulers on who in Virginia can Marry you has changed in the last few years. Now your official has to be a member of a church here in Virginia to legally marry you and your groom. If you do not regularly attend a church you still have options. Your local Justice of the Peace is an option in some localities the justice will travel to your ceremony. Or there is also a small listing of officials on RichmondWeddings.com (not to forget a list of other vendors that pay to advertise with the site.)
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(You know I had to throw some of my work in there, I mean I am the right photographer for you... SEE ^^^)
What a To Do list right? But I hope that will help get you started on the road to planning a killer Wedding Day! Now don't forget that Pinterest Board you have started months ago before you were engaged. Time to go through and seriously think about all those pins!
If you haven't started a board that's ok, I am happy to share my own to get you started on the dreaming.
Go Get your Pin On!
BRIDES!! Did you enter for your chance at this months Wedding Giveaway?
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