I have to say, I really appreciate the fact that 1) a lot of my friends have already gotten married so I have learned a bunch from their weddings and 2) that I've already gotten a ton of great advice from them.
Some of this advice includes-
- BREATHE
- Have fun and enjoy the planning process
- This is your day, don't worry about anyone else and what they think (well, except for your fiance)
- Don't try to do everything alone
On a more wedding reception related note-
- Have an idea of when you want to get married, not a specific date so you will have more choices when looking at venues
- Find out what each venue allows and doesn't allow, don't be afraid to ask
- It's about having good music, open bar, and good cake and or appitizers. We all know the food is going to suck
- Keep track of everything with checklists or binders, but don't let that stuff overwhelm you
- Figure out your budget so you don't go over board
WHEW! I'm sure there is more, but that's mostly what I remember. I have a whole tip board of advice from what you should do when you first get engaged to figuring out your budget to questions to ask your venue to what to do if something goes wrong, yada yada yada; 99 pins at the time I wrote this post. Let's start putting some of these to the test. Since Scott and I are going to have to have the budget talk with our families soon, and I like to use numbers to back up my reasoning, I wanted to start to get a lot of major planning figured out (not finalized). We wrote up a preliminary guest list to get an idea of if our estimate of 150 was correct (not so much). We have a theme in mind, an Old Hollywood Glamour theme with clean lines and modern updates (I figured it would be nice to be able to include Scott in this, so I didn't want to go overboard on theme), but we're still flexible on it so that it will make sense with a venue.
Speaking of, we have tours with 4 of them in this next week or so. We're going to look at The McNichols Building, Studios at Overland Crossing, Dickens Opera House and The Curtis. I already ruled out The Manor House, Della Terra Mountain Chateau, and Seawell Grand Ballroom; not because I didn't like them, but when I started looking at all of the costs, I already knew it would be well above whatever budget we have. While I know you can negotiate, I don't think we could have gotten them down that much. I have a feeling this is happening with The Curtis too, but I REALLY want to tour there ;)
First set of pins I reviewed were the "what you should do as soon as you get engaged" pins. I'm a week in and wanted to see if I'm on the right track/what else I have to do.
First up- SheFinds and 10 Things to do as Soon as You Get Engaged. Awesome. Mostly good tips and things I knew like getting your ring insured if you haven't already, talk budget, pick a date (or season/month), figure out a diet plan and start it (if needed), figure out location, and adopt a better beauty habits (esp if you don't have them now, like me who still breaks out like a teenager). Somethings are not really needed or you don't have to necessarily do ASAP, like getting a manicure because you'll be showing off your ring or sign up for Pinterest (but seriously, it makes my life easier), hire a wedding planner (I think you should figure that budget out first), and sign up for sales alerts (I feel like most people do this already in this day and age).
Next- Reader's Digest with 13 things to do after you get engaged. They at least included making calls to friends and family so that you aren't just telling the world via Facebook. I liked some of their reasoning too such as knowing a time frame as to when you're getting married, because everyone will ask! Also, prepared to tell the proposal story over and over... They also included the idea of making a guest list early, budgeting and saving, and relax!
Third- Glamour with You're Engaged, Now What? So mostly the same stuff, they also suggest getting your ring sized (luckily I got to pick mine out, so no issue), create a wedding blog (hey, what do you know! However, their idea sounds more like starting your wedding website early), daydream your ideas, plan time with just your fiance and DON'T talk wedding, and get a wedding planner- not a person an actual book (yup, totally did this, my phone wasn't cutting it).
So there are plenty more out there, I also liked MSN's article and TheKnot's article too, but they all basically had the same ideas. Turns out I actually have done/thought of most of this; go me! But if I hadn't Pinterest was here to help (or the internet in general). Between all of the various sites, I'd say it's more like 35 things you should know/do right after you get engaged. Main take away is be gracious, start thinking/planning early, and be prepared. And crazy enough, a lot of the general advice my friends gave me too.
Because this post is already massively long and will be two parts, we'll end with that for now. Stay tuned for my take on the venue checklist stuff...
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