What Am I Forgetting - Wedding Planning

The 2 things we forgot:

- the marriage license (headsmack, or legal marriage was a week after the wedding)
- asking people to do toasts

Can you find a neutral spot for the ceremony so neither one of you "win" that arguement? Especially since both of you have reasons of some kind for not wanting the others choice.

M

You need to plan the time-line... of everything.
On the big day and anything else prior or on that day.

Favors?
Music? (For the ceremony)
Invitations?

Sounds like you have everything covered. If you are doing a sit down dinner, I recommend a seating chart. Also, as for a ceremony location, if it were me, I would pick a neutral location. If time allows and your photographer will do it, maybe you can get pictures at both locations. Also, check out theknot.com. They have a checklist of everything you may need.

1) rings
2) first song (the DJ will help, but start thinking now of that, plus the father/daughter, mother/son, wedding party songs too)
3) flowers - even if on a budget you need a bridal bouqet

ETA:
4) garter
5) many couples will buy a "gift" for the wedding party. Usually the guy gets one for each groomsman, gal for bridesmaids.
6) wedding cake
7) something borrowed, something blue...whatever the rest of that saying is.

ETA2:
8) transportation FROM the reception (even if just a sober friend, or a cab - don't get a DWI on your wedding night. Not the candid shot picture you were hoping for)
9) staging area (at least for the bride, if not all the bridesmaids). This is the room in the church, bedroom in the home, etc, that is used to get dressed and do makeup so it is fresh and un-mussed for the wedding.
10) photographer (friend designated with camera)

ETA3:
btw - congrats! And definitely read Riley's - good idea not to forget the license! And playing off that - don't forget all your name change stuff. Can't really get started until you have the marriage license, but put that on your calendar for September. :)

Have a soft drink with you before the ceremony, or something with sugar in it in case you feel faint. I just answered a question today about starting a wedding late and talked about that! (I nearly fainted before my ceremony, and a Coke got me down the aisle!)

Oh! And make sure you finalize your DVD if someone films the wedding. My husband taped Beetlejuice over our wedding and reception video. :(

Dawn

http://www.frugalbride.com/weddingplanningchecklist.html

Congrats!

Are you getting a video? THat was one thing that I thought I didn't need. That day my cousin jumped in and took a little bit of footage but not much. I haven't looked at the picture album that I had made in years but if we had a video it would be SO much fun to see and to show the kids. One of my life's big regrets. If I had it to do over I would have paid for the video and gone cheap on the photos.

Accomodation for the faraway guests?
Your wedding car
Gift lists
Make up and hair do
Shoes for bride and groom
Jewelry
Wedding cake
Spa, facial, creambath, waxing, shaving, hair cut, hair coloring, mani,,pedi before the big date
Lingerie for the first night
Documents for the wedding
The priest or your religion official guy
Honeymoon plan
Order catering so you can eat before the wedding vows. Don't start with empty stomach
Buy enema and vitamins, usually when you are nervous you can't go to the bathroom in the morning, and beside gassy your stomach will be big, and you can't fit in the wedding dress.

Good luck:)

What about flowers for you and the bridesmaids - and maybe for the tables?

the cake? go and taste all of the free cake you want! Even if you're making one. I mean they offer free cake tastings at fancy places for brides and you're a bride=)

what about alcohol or drinks and how it'll be served? And not necessary but a lot of people make a program now.

How about the marriage liscense, guest list, how about the date?

You said these things are "picked out" but have you actually BOUGHT them yet? If not, you are going to get hit with big expenses all at once since you don't have much time left. You need to get your dress asap in case it needs alterations, same thing for the maids. Some alterations takes a couple months and you don't have the time for that. Same thing for the invites, they usually go out 4-6 weeks prior but you need to make sure there are no typos in case you need to reorder if there is, you need time for that. Also, what about plates, napkins, utensils? What about favors? If you are having them printed, same thing, you need to get them early so there is time to reprint in case of errors. Are you having flowers? What about jewlery for you, groom and maids? Hair/,makeup appts made? Go online and find a checklist...some are broken down by a year in advance and then 6 months, monthly, weeks before, days before, etc. Its a lot of work...good luck!

Just in case you have children in the wedding.
At my son's wedding, the flower girl (granddaughter, age 5) melted down when it was about time to go down the aisle. She went under a table and refused to come out. It had been a long day of getting ready, pictures and etc. and I realized she had hit her wall.
I took her petals out of her basket and filled the bottom with nuts and mints. I put the petals back on top. I told her when she got done with the petals in the aisle she could come sit on Grandma's lap and have her snack. You never saw a flower girl place petals so carefully! (She didn't want to lose any of her snack!)
She was almost down the aisle when she ran out of petals and started on her snack. There was a collective gasp from the those in the crowd thought the flower girl was now eating her petals!
Remember, if you do have children, something will likely go wrong. Have plan B and C ready. A little something to snack on, or somebody to keep them busy, and the ring boy won't be standing on the bride's train playing peek-a-boo with her veil. That's what happened to my SIL!
The same advice works for big people as well. A few mints and nuts in the pocket, plenty of bottles of water around so nobody gets dehydrated and passes out.
We decided to get married a "week from Wednesday" and that was 32 years ago. We didn't have all the bells and whistles, but we stood before God and took our vows with those we loved most in attendance. So far, that seems to have been a winnin formula!

CONGRATS -

I will try hard not to duplicate anything that others have aready suggested.

Rings weren't on your list.
comfy shoes (i changed into flats as soon as we got to the reception).
A hearty breakfast.
A sense of humor.
A guest book (if you want that sort of thing), favors (again optional in my opinion).
A bridal emergency kit (tylenol), a bandaid, moleskin, deoderant, a needle and thread, a hairpin, a duplicate lipstick.
A nice satchel to collect any money gifts in (and a designated person to hold onto this). Envelopes can get mislaid).

Congrats,
F. B.

I think everyone else has it covered. I'll just note that there's no law that says you have to be in "uncomfortable" shoes during the wedding, unless your dress is short and they will show. I wore tennis shoes the entire day! All white and embellished with a little lace with lace shoelaces, in case anyone happened to notice. Just tack everything on, so they can be removed afterwards, and you'll have a new pair of sneakers! =)

Cake? Rings? Flowers (if any)? Also music for the ceremony?? Just a couple thoughts...

*did you pick rings
*are you having flowers
*are you giving the people standing up in your wedding little gifts?
-I gave the girls in mine a necklace/earring set to wear and keep
*a garter and a throw bouquet

Have you registered anywhere?

We had the "wedding notebook" when planning ours 15 years ago (just before you could do everything electronically) and I still have it in my keepsake box. I looked through it recently and it made me smile, so keep some of your planning notes as momentos and look back and laugh. Our favorite was the bill for the liquor. Yikes. Oh well, everyone had fun.

Let us know which spot you choose for your wedding! Good luck!

cake
flowers
favors
bridesmaids/grooms gifts
chair/table/linen rental
prop for pictures, like really cool big frames, backdrop...

and all the actual planning that everyone else suggested.

Have fun, I love diy weddings! Mine was planned in about 2 months too :)

tons of good ideas here:
http://ruffledblog.com/
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/?s=wedding

Shoes. I forgot shoes for my wedding day. Silly.

One thing I don't think anyone mentioned yet...

THANK YOU NOTES....pack them in your bag to take on the honeymoon with you. Write them out with your groom, you do "your side" and he does his. People will be so happy to get one, and they will be especially impressed if he writes them, too. It is too often forgotten by new modern married couples, and seen as very rude and never forgotten by the guests who don't receive one (especially of the older generation). Just plain white ones that say "thank you " on the front, or even ones with a monogram of your and/or hubby's initials....they can be used for years afterward, we bought quite a few with our invitation order, they are not too expensive and i have used them for notecards ( we got the plain monogram with my initials) for the last 9 years.

Also, bubbles, rice(the wildlife friendsly fake stuff that dissolves), birdseed or bells, if you want to do that type of thing as you are leaving the ceremony or leaving the recpetion, whatever. Flower petals for the flower girl if you are having one. Pillow for the ring bearer if you are having one.

Also, I agree with the other poster who said to find somewhere neutral for the ceremony, not one side or the other, so no one "wins or loses" this disagreement, that would not be a good way to start a marriage.

We were married 9 years ago, we had the ceremony and reception in one location - it was a local county run park that used to be a boyscout camp, we had the ceremony outside in the clearing, and the recpetion in the lodge that was the old boyscout dining hall. Decor was very rustic/simple, tables covered in rolls of white paper - crayons laid out so people could color on the table papers( there were lots of kids invited), and candles in vases with cellophane wrapped and tied around them with a ribbon. Also on the tables, we put out our favors, little vellum envelopes full of flower seeds with a thank you poem and our names and date on them, we had plain index cards and lots of pens, and then signs around that asked people to wite down their wishes/advice for the newly weds - those were lots of neat quotes and good advice too, and we put out like 100 disposable cameras ( bought at Sam's) on the tables for people to take candids, and we got lots of shots we never would've gotten from the photographer alone. I made all the bouquets and boutenniers/corsages for the wedding party and parents/grandparents. We had a main 2 layer cake for us and the bridal party ( 5 bidesmaids and groomsmen) and cupcakes for all the guests, so there was not an additional task for someone to cut the cake. We had picnic style food, little sandwiches, ham and cheese or turkey and cheese, veggies and dip, chips, fruit salad, potato salad, and beer or wine or soda variety in coolers.

We have had lots of compliments about our wedding, people saying it was the most fun and relaxed wedding and reception they ever went to, that is always a great thing to hear. We did the whole thing with 200 guests and 12 in the wedding party for right around $3000, including my dress, his suit (which we bought to keep) and everything else, including our simple honeymoon to my family's cabin on a lake in Wisconsin ( you don't need fancy or expensive to have a fun honeymoon). And we did mention in the invite that the wedding would be outside and the style was casual/comfortable, so they would dress for the weather, not like a more fancy/traditional indoor wedding and reception.

Remember the wedding is just one day, make sure you are prepared for the marriage which should be for the rest of your lives, it is much more important that the wedding itself!

Best Wishes!
Jessie

Looks like these ladies have the missing items covered. I would just suggest you have several people serving dinner. The food is what people complain about or rave about the most at a reception. You don't want the people who get their food later complaining that it was cold or overheated, or that they were starving.

I agree.My wedding date is August 12, 2012.
Cake
Flowers
Bridal Shower
Chairs, Tables, Linens
Favors (if you decide to do them)
You should be getting your dress like now. You have to order it, wait for it to come in and have time for alterations. June, July and August are busy months for weddings and it takes a little longer for dresses to come in.
You also have to decide what type of ceremony you want to have...is there anything you want to include? Do you want it to be a traditional ceremony? Any Bible readings?
Will you be having a rehearsal?
Will there be out of town guests? If so, you have to figure out acommodations for them.
Also, transportations...will you be getting a limo for you, groom, bridesmaids and groomsmen? How will everyone be getting from the ceremony to the reception? Any shuttle bus?
I cant think of anything else at this moment :-) Good luck! It will be beautiful!