A question of timing... how late is too late?

[ashrose]

Oh wonderful ladies of BDW... its been a whirlwind couple of months. I had taken a break on wedding planning because it hurt way too much to even dream about it. Between a possible lack of funds for a wedding and the very really possibility of breaking up completely, my FI and I have just been way in over our heads.

 

I have a question. We're now 6 months out from our DW. We've been planning a DW since last year around this time... so we've had the blessing of a long time to plan and save.

 

But as of today, nothing has gone our way in terms of finances... with both of us laid off, our parents refusing to help, and our small business not quite at the level we had visioned, we just flat out don't have the money. FI keeps telling me to keep the faith and hold on - he says we have plenty of time to get the money (apparently he plans on quickly growing our business).

 

So what do we do? How late is too late to book the hotel and allow our guests to book? I mean... we have the date, time, and gazebo reserved at the resort... and I've come really close to booking the room block. But we just don't quite have the money for a full deposit yet... and I'm feeling totally irresponsible about not being able to send out our save the dates with information about booking.

 

Advice?

[michellepicksbrent]

I would let your guests know sooner rather than later. Instead of booking a block of rooms, could you find a TA who would be able to arrange accomodations for your guests at a special rate without you having to pay for the deposit? Some TAs will offer a rate for guests so long as they book by a certain date.

 

I hope it all works out for you

[TammyB]

Have you guys already started saving money for your wedding, or did you have to use it all since your unemployeed? I guess, IMO I would see how cheap you can do everything, I had a very small budget when planning my wedding, but in the end it was still beautiful and was well worth it. With that said, I would think you probably have 2 more months before you should really decide if you want to postpone your wedding, so that your guest don't start booking.

[Amarillis]

I agree with Tammy - you have at most 2 months before deciding to plan or postpone...

 

I guess my other question is, ... are your family and friends who will be invited 'in the know' about the DW? Meaning the ones that you desparately want to be in attendance at the wedding? I would be verbally telling those 'special' people that your intention is to get married away in the next six months, to give them time to save money for the trip.

[Tilly in the Sun]

Is there any way you could ask your quests to put down a little each for their deposit. Our TA has told us that once we book we or the guests need have a week come up with a deposit of $2000 or $200 per person (10 people will secure the group rate). We have a few guests that WANT to put down their own deposit so it helps for later on when the full payment is due. Unless you are paying for your guests I think that could work. Good luck

[ashrose]

Thanks for all the tips...

 

Everyone knows it is a DW. As soon as we decided on DW, we picked a date 18 months out and told our closest friends and family... then a few months after that we had an engagement party and reminded them... so its not like it is going to blindside anyone.

 

People are just getting kinda ansy about booking (my aunt already booked on her own) which makes me ansy about not giving them the opportunity to book.... and in order for that we need to get the contract signed with our deposit.

 

We've been barely skating by on unemployment... my "pay" was cut in half going on unemployment - leaving me just enough for some of my bills and then I went through a series of 3 bad roomates in a row who stole about 2500 dollars from me in total (which was my wedding money). So yeah... we are at the square root of nothing right now.

 

2 months you say? Ok. 2 months it is.

[Destination Scout]

How many people do you have coming? You have a little more leeway if you have a small party.