I have no idea what i'm doing!

CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement!

This website is SO helpful... from everything from budget, to guest management, vendor planning, checklist & mapping out your tables!

Wedding planning is Totally overwhelming! We are ALMOST one year away from our wedding & still have lots to plan. First thing we figured out was date (approx) and then did some venue searching. My advice is to first figure out your guest list so you know what size of venue you will need. Then I would make a list of things you want out of a venue and things you don't want. It makes it a lot easier to narrow them down.

Do you have any ideas on when you are wanting to get married or where?

This site and the app has been amazing for keeping me on track and letting me know what needs to be done. I have been stressed at all!

Even as a beginner wedding planner and going from helping people plan their weddings to planning your own wedding it is a totally different experience. Some basic things to remember is to breathe, remember to make the wedding a reflection of who you and your FH (future husband) are and no one else is) as I have seen on here some unhappy people because others are trying to control their wedding or have controlled their wedding. I am also experiencing a little too. And never be afraid to ask questions. We are all here to help each other out.

Use this site! It has saved me.

I would have never pulled off a wedding had i not utilized the check-list and the forums,vendor lists etc.

Defintely take full advantage of this site. It has helped my planning substantially! I can't thank this site enough for the amount of stuff it has saved me. Not to mention the paper I have saved. Everything electronic from the guest list, to the budget tool. Wedding website is also nice to!!

I get it!! The tools on this site are so helpful though, I found majority of my vendors on here!! I would definitely use a budget helper/tool, that had really helped me to keep track of payments and due dates. Also, I have a hard copy binder that my mother in law bought for me as an engagement gift, and it has been a life saver. I bring it to all of my meetings and keep all of the paper contracts, receipts, guest list and table lists inside. Since we have started getting RSVP's back, I also keep those in a ziploc bag inside the binder so I dont lose any. I would highly recommend for all of the offline details, there will be plenty! Also, using the planner and the wedding wire tools are a great starting point to see what you need for your specific wedding, and what you may not need. Keep us posted on how your planning goes

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The budget helper on Wedding Wire is a good starting point. I found that some things that I found important I would spend more on, so I would reduce the amounts in other categories. Have you chosen a venue yet?

View quoted message I do have a budget worked out currently, and have decided what my fiancé and are are cool with spending

I think all the brides have given you great advice. The budget is the number one item at the moment. Do you have any idea how much you can spend on your wedding?

I was feeling the exact same, as I haven't attended, or been a part of, many weddings myself. As for timelines, I was told to get these three things checked off:The venue, the dress, the officiant. These are time sensitive, and are vital to your wedding. The rest is details you want.
I can tell you what I got for my wedding and you can pick what you want to do.
I let my hubby pick the venue I bought my dress at a consignment shop I met my officiant thru wedding wire I found my photographer and DJ by googling. Picked based on reviews/price. My veil was lent to me. My pearls for the day were bought at winners and People's.Shoes were bought at Le Chateau. Lingerie bought at a sex shop and la senza I wore gloves for my fathers dance from kijiji. I let my bridesmaid pick the bridesmaid dresses and she picked from Express (closed down now) but we got a good price cuz we bought 5. I found my florist and hair stylist from wedding wire and couldn't be happier. I talked to a few of each but picked them based on photos and conversations. My makeup artist is a friend of mine who also baked my cake. My hubby picked and bought our flower girl dress from jjhouse.com. My bridesmaid thought of a Jenga set for a guestbook. She painted the sides my wedding colours, and left the remaining sides for ppl to sign and write a message on. I used candy as my party favour and bought at bulk barn. I bought the dishes and bags at dollarama. I used white candles with gold glitter as my centre pieces. I bought at dollarama. I did not decorate my reception area or ceremony with anything else. I bought my invites from vista. I registered at Amazon. I bought our rings at people's and had them engraved at the mall. I let my hubby pick and handle everyone's tuxes. I let my hubby pick and plan our honeymoon. It was a complete surprise for me. We went to vegas like I always wanted and it was amazing. I bought my bridal party jewelry and little champagne bottles.
If I'm forgetting something, you can ask me

I agree that using the Wedding Wire tools is a great place to start. I would say that once you have a budget and guest list sorted the next big things are your venue and dress. Venues book up quickly and some dresses can take several months to be ordered and delivered so you want to get on that as soon as possible. Depending on what type of venue you choose, the other vendor choices will easily fall into place.

I agree! The Wedding Wire checklist is so helpful! Just remember that it is a guideline, not the law. Don't be afraid to delete items you are not interested in doing and if you miss the deadline for something it is not the end of the world! I agree that you need to make sure you know your budget and the number of people you want first (Wedding Wire also has a great budget tool...again it's a tool; don't feel daunted by the sample budget. You do NOT have to spend 30,000 on your wedding!). The first thing you should book is your venue. Once you have a date and location, then you can start booking other vendors (food, photography, etc.)

Hey, for sure! I also wasn't really prepared or knowledgeable. There's a checklist on weddingwire that is pretty useful. Overall, the first 2 things you need are a guest list and a budget. Once you have those, you can figure out what type of venue works for you, what kind of a wedding you want to have, what your timeline for saving is, etc. And we're always here to help .