What to expect?

I would definitely look at photographers and catering next. We interviewed about 10 photographers before we decided on one. There is a wide range of prices and styles and experience! I also booked hair, make up and DJ around the same time. Officiant/minister is important too of course

Definitely photographer next! They do book up rather quickly. But there are so many fantastic photographers to choose from. Interview a few and then pick the one you guys connect best with and have the same ideas as!

I did photographer next!!

I also booked hair and makeup and DJ but those were through friends and family connections.

Use the weddingwire checklist for timeline!

Carmela,
The next step your taking is good for the photographer to book in advance. I wojkd also suggest a videographer and decorator once you know your colours and theme. Anything small can be online shopping to save tons. Favours buy in quantity based on the discount given. Good luck on your planning.

Hey Joey,

my my fiancé and I did set a budget but I can’t seem to figure out how to change the totals on the website. I believe we have booked a venue, we are going to go put a deposit on it this Friday! I’m getting so excited. We also booked the church ceremony so it’s all coming together. Now I can finally breath just because there was limited dates already for April 2019. With coordinating the church dates and the venue was a bit challenging.

Definitely budget, but yes I looked for photographers after the venue was booked.

Hi again Carmela, who have you started looking to book? Can we help you search for some vendors? Have you worked on setting your budget?

Because we live in such a small city we had to focus on booking all of our big vendors right away (venue, DJ, photographer, florist) as there aren't many to choose from and if you want the best you need to get it done quickly. After that I picked out my dress because I already knew what I wanted. From there we've just been booking little things here and there.

Thanks everyone for your amazing input!!! This all really helps!!

Probably different in different cities, but I found most vendors tough to find an opening with the wedding eight months away. If there is something you really want, book it now. Photography was really important to me, and I did end up finding one I really liked. The one that surprised me was hair and make-up! The place I really wanted was booked, and the place I ended up booking had a later time than I wanted.

Hey Carmela, welcome! I'd advise your next bookings should be caterer and photographer.

I booked my photographer next after getting my date and venue.

View quoted message Thanks Chelsea. I will definitely look into this! We still need to think about our enteraintment. I know everyone does the photo booth with the props but I’m thinking about going in a different direction maybe.
Magazine thanks for your help!

View quoted message Thank you for those tips Nicole,
I will look into Bridal Blossoms. It’s really convient when you find a floral and decor person bundled up in one.
I think once we book the venue and photographer, we can breath and have fun.
Thank you for all you support, tips and ideas.

Usually photographer and your source of entertainment would be the next two biggest things as they do book up fast.

Hi Carmela,

It depends on your wedding date and what is important to you. I work in the industry and I found planning my wedding to be fun and interactive with my spouse. Do not stress about things, listen to your music together, talk about the photos you want captured that day, share in the vision and the dream of the day together and enjoy every step because when the day arrives it will go so very fast!

I would suggest you meet and interview DJ's so you know who is taking care of your music. the music you and your wedding party will walk to, and exit with. The music for your introductions, the person who may MC the night and get your guests partying and having fun.

We had an amazing decorator and florist(she did both) 25 years experience and so passionate and works with your budget- check out Bridal Blossom in Mississauga, Mariana---she also does wedding planning, so you can ask for her help on next steps. if you do connect with her please tell her Nicole and Matt referred you, because she really is AMAZING and can help make the plans a great experience!

I wish you both the very best with your planning and remember that the planning together is what it is all about... LOVE and BEING TOGETHER is what counts!

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Very true. Our venue came with catering on-site, so it wasn't anything we had to worry about. Good call!

I think Andrea's list is great. I would add that if your venue doesn't come with catering that you should look for a caterer and a photographer at the same time as they both book up quickly. The caterer we had for our wedding is booked through next year already I believe.

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No problem! Enjoy the planning!

This is extremely helpful!! Its good to know what to book soon, b/c I am worried that the vendor I want will be booked. Thank you for your comment.

The order I went in was:

1. Venue (and date)

2. Photographer

3. DJ

4. Florist

5. Transportation

6. Baker

If you want a decorator, I would put that somewhere between photographer and DJ as those book up quick as well, but we did our own decorations, so it wasn't a consideration for me. We got engaged in June 2016 with a September 2017 wedding date in mind and I had all of my vendors booked by November (mostly because I didn't want to be doing vendor research and meetings during the holidays which are crazy enough). Other things to consider are the type of favours you want - do they need to be made, do they need to be ordered ahead of time, etc and factor that in as well...custom items may take a fixed amount of time and you'll want to plan for that. Once We had our vendors booked, we knew how much we needed to save to pay them, so we were able to formulate our budget and our "amount to put away" each month.

Also, as soon as I had a date, I pretty much went dress shopping...because I was way too excited not to!

Have fun