Ad Revenue 2008

Hi I am planning to propose to my girl this summer. What I am wondering about is, for those who have gone through getting engaged and also the planning stages of arranging a wedding, what are some good tips u can offer? Anything from picking the ring to good tips in planning the serermony. All good suggestions and input, on what to do/what not to do and things you know now (having gone through with it) that you can share with me are most welcome. Thanks!

* Do what you two want. Everyone else’s opinions don’t really matter, it’s your day and it’s you two that will remember more of the details forever!
* Don’t let other people bring you down because of your choices.
* Regardless of all the stress, it IS worth it. The memories will last forever.
* Be engaged for at least a year, or really close to it.
* Book places early, such as the church and reception hall, so that you have that task completed and reserved so it’s official!
* Do as much as possible beforehand, especially if you’re doing any D.I.Y. stuff.
** Congratulations!! **

Me and my now Fiance’ have been engaged for a month now, how long should we wait before having the actual wedding to get everything planned out? We were looking at wedding checklists and they all said the wedding date should be approximately 12 to 16 months from the engagement. I wouldn’t have a problem with that but what are your suggestions?

My sister pulled of her wedding in 6 months. She had 200 guests and made sure to tell everyone way before the invitations went out. It was a rush, but it was fantastic! Most weddings I’ve been to have been about 12 months.

I watch alot of Golden Girls much to the bane of my boyfriend. It always seems like someone is going to get married or thinks that they are going to get proposed to. Which character has the most planned weddings/engagements? I’m betting its Dorothy but maybe I’m wrong.

I love the Golden Girls! And I’m going to agree with you, it is Dorothy. She was going to remarry Stan about three times or so, and the last episodes show her getting married to Blanche’s uncle. So I have to say Dorothy.

I am wanting to have a wedding reception out in a medow, I have my location, but need idea’s on how to put it together, I dont know exactly what I am wanting, so was hoping for some ideas. I dont want it too formal, I want it relaxed, but no so relaxed that it feels like a little get together. I was thinking of a picnic – but worried it will be too casual. I really need help and idea’s for this. Something casual and relaxed, yet memorable for everyone, there will be less than 50 people, and I also dont want too expensive.

You could rent a tent and have tables under the tent circling a dance floor.
If you want to make it semi formal i’d suggest putting nicer tablecloths on the tables and have a lot of flowers on the tables. You’re going to be outside so you could easily just by potted plants that you like, Orchid’s, Lily’s, anything you like… have a colorful assortment of them on the tables.
As for food i would suggest a buffet. Something simple yet non BBQ like. Maybe pasta’s or chicken. You could do a Penne ala Vodka, Grilled Chicken and a few other simple items and sides. This way the bill isn’t high and everyone gets a good meal.

I think the key here is the tables and the atmosphere. If you don’t want it to be too picnic and garden party like i’d maybe decorate the tent up in the wedding colors with material and ribbon. Something simple that you and your bridesmaids could maybe do the day before.

Good Luck!

I’m getting married in 10 months and I’m totally lost. Can anyone recommend a good book or online resource to help plan for the wedding?

Theknot.com!!

I used that site a lot to help me. They have a checklist that is very easy to use and you can add/delete things to customize it to your needs. It tells you everything that you will need and when to have it done or purchased by as well.

I found a wedding planning worksheet that was great. Now I just need a worksheet to help me plan my wedding social. I have never planned a social before and was hoping to see a list of things to do, to help a little bit! Thanks in advance!!

Search for reception check list and you should be able to find what you need

So I’ve been dabling in this industry for awhile… planning weddings and parties. I LOVE it. Every couple or family I’ve worked with is astonished at how badly the industry takes advantage of the consumer, and how less stressful the event can be if you have help.
I really want to take this up a notch… be an event coordinator. The issue that will always remain though is… would you pay for it? How much would you pay for it?
Would you just pay for somebody to help you on the day of your event? Or would you pay somebody to guide you along the way… helping to make on budget decisions, and guiding you through all the fine print?

Any opinions welcome, thanks!

If I could afford it I’d hire someone to to the planning for our family parties, it’s most often a really stressful disaster. It’s everything from planning a date that fits about 50 persons or more, to finding somewhere to be, to finding somewhere for all of them to stay since they come from all over the country and in some cases from other countries. Then the food and the entertainment and … (*sigh*) We do the cooking ourselves and then make a buffet to save us the trouble of serving it all, but it’s still a lot of work.

I can easily picture a "budget" option where you have a number of different suggestions on how to make things easier even though we do most of the job ourselves. Places to go, things to serve, themes that can be used. Different suggestions that can be mixed and matched and you get paid for putting things together.

While planning your wedding, what did you discover was a myth? We have so many ideas about weddings and how they should go, but many people find out things they didn’t know about wedding planning.

Thanks!

That the details matter the most. Biggest myth of all time. Don’t kill yourself over silly things like invitations, ceremony programs, ribbon, linens, etc…

On my wedding day, I didn’t even notice most of the details. I did notice the flowers…and that was about it.

Maybe other people, like guests, noticed the smaller details, but I didn’t.

My fiance is military, I’m in college and we are working with a $15,000 max budget. We are looking to keep the count under 100 people. Does anyone have any tips on how to cut costs to keep a wedding pocket-friendly?

We plan on:
Possibly having sunday brunch instead of saturday night dinner
Printing our own invites
Making our own favors

This is my idea if you guys arent necessarily set on a church wedding:
Know anyone with a spacious backyard with a beautiful view? Have in the back yard, for free. Rent chairs. Another option is to rent a hall, maybe a clubhouse,

That way everything is in one place. People all already seated. Just Bring the food and the cake out after the wedding. A friend of mine rented a hall fro 750 and did this with it. Also for favors serving trays utensils, ballons, flowers, etc. go to http://www.dollartreedirect.com/ or http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/shared…

For your invites-http://www.formal-invitations.com/ or Target- have kinkos print them for you after you make a template. Should run about 15.00 you can also so that with the programs.

For food- 2 options ask friends or family to cook- lasagne or spaghetti will give you more bang for your buck, a nice salad and french or garlic bread.
Party punch- 1/2 gallon fruit punch, 1 pint raspberry sherbert, 1/2 liter lemon lime pop ( 7up Sprite or an off Brand) Also since there arent that many people catering for them might not be that expensive.

For a cake Costco or Sams club: They both make something similar to this, with out all of the frilly stuff at 12.00 a cake so about 36 and the stand is about 15. You can use some flowers to decorate it and cover the stand any way you want.

http://www.smokeymountainwedding.org/Cake%203%20Tier.jpg

you can also do the cupcake and cutting cake look

http://www.ouroneheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/black-and-white-wedding-cake-lecupcake.jpg

Another option is order a smaller cake for you 2 to cut, mount it on a nice stand
and serve from a larger sheet cake.

Don’t be afraid to do the wedding bouquets yourself, theyre easy once you get a book from like hobby lobby and alot of the tools can be found at your local dollar store.

Do all of this and I swear you will come in at your goal amount or less. You just gotta be willing to put in a little leg work.

Also with makeing favors and bouquets- ask your mother and bridal party to come over and help make a girls night of it. Maybe cook a meal for them, nothing to fancy or order some pizza.

I remember when I was younger, I thought weddings were utterly boring and usually lame.
That has changed! Partly because the wedding industry has come so far and also because I am truly in love with my fiance!!

Now I want a big day of celebration and lush, beautiful elements, I have become addicted to wedding planning.

Have you always loved weddings?

Omg, I am alot like you in that sense! While everyone else is talking about "this day they’ve been planing since they were 4 with a sheet as a viel in the backyard" I was thinking HUH? That was never me. Weddings were just not my thing, I didn’t love them or hate them they were just there!

But that did change when I got engaged. I absolutley love the planning process all around now and seeing what other people are doing! I am really going to be sad when it’s all over

Great question!