Where do i start : (

[nmurch]

hellllllllllp!

someone point me in the right directionn...

i feel like i dont know where i should begin!

my FI and i have been engaged for OVER a year now and we kinda JUST set a date ( yes were bad ! ha ) anyways! it's going to be JAN 11 2011! and i just dont know where i should begin? where to look or anything like what comes first. dress rings hotel arrangements shoes hair std when to send out invites! my FI said to me

"nicole! i thought you would be good at this but i think your in way over your head! " and he's right, i am! i'm lost like i dont know where to start or how to create my budget as were in the middle of building a house etc.. PLUS i want it to be perfect .. we've been together for a long time ( he was my first BF ) and when i turned 18 we decided that we were going to get married so now i'm 19 ( still a baby : ) ) & set a true date ... it feels like alot of work... we both work FT and so it's hard to find the time .. can someone point me in the direction!!

could i be the worse bridee ever?? i dont even know where to begin, ha! sad day..

 

<3

 

thanks everyone so much..

[*Meagan*]

Hey girl! Dont freak out! Your letting yourself get overwhelmed and that is not the point of a DW.

 

Your first step would be to research and pick a resort. There are Travel agents on here that can help you. (ex. TA Jennifer, TA Maureen)

 

Once you do that I think you should pick a definite date and send out Save the dates. To let everyone know of your plans and to give them notice to start saving. I would also make a website for family and friends to visit and you can update with any and all information about the resort, location, and your wedding. Once those first two steps are done everything else will fall into place. You have quite a bit of time so dont stress out.

 

The third most important step would be to pick a photographer and book them so you know they are yours for your special day.

 

You will find tons of helpful and useful information on BDW and everyone is here to help.

[jdrewett]

Don't worry, this site will guide you through everything you need to know. I was in your same situation! My fiance and I have been dating for about 7 years. We were engaged last year. I did ZERO wedding planning until this month. With the help of the girls and information on the forums, it will all come together pretty easy. First, you should narrow down the general details....a few places and a few dates. Once you secure the place and date, you can send out the STDs and start shopping for all the fun stuff. You have plenty of time, so don't stress. : )

[~*Lisa*~]

First of all, CONGRATS on the engagement and setting the date! Secondly, welcome to the forum! You'll love it here, it's such a wonderful place full of great ideas and friends.

 

When we first got engaged and decided on a DW, we chose a resort and worked on our budget. I swear after that, things just fell into place. You start getting ideas, working on invites etc. It'll flow, not to worry! And if you do worry, you know you can always come and chat with us! I hope this helps a little!

[caribbeanLover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmurch hellllllllllp! someone point me in the right directionn... i feel like i dont know where i should begin! my FI and i have been engaged for OVER a year now and we kinda JUST set a date ( yes were bad ! ha ) anyways! it's going to be JAN 11 2011! and i just dont know where i should begin? where to look or anything like what comes first. dress rings hotel arrangements shoes hair std when to send out invites! my FI said to me "nicole! i thought you would be good at this but i think your in way over your head! " and he's right, i am! i'm lost like i dont know where to start or how to create my budget as were in the middle of building a house etc.. PLUS i want it to be perfect .. we've been together for a long time ( he was my first BF ) and when i turned 18 we decided that we were going to get married so now i'm 19 ( still a baby : ) ) & set a true date ... it feels like alot of work... we both work FT and so it's hard to find the time .. can someone point me in the direction!! could i be the worse bridee ever?? i dont even know where to begin, ha! sad day.. <3 thanks everyone so much..

Hi, and welcome to the site! Congrates!!!

After spending some time on this website, you'll have so many idea's you wont know what to do with them.

I say first, pick a budged for your wedding package, with that, you can kind of get an idea which island would be good. Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Turks and caicos ect.. then first out how much can your guest pay per couple, thats when you can look for your packages on line for Jan 2010 to get some sort of idea (they usualy have the same prices every year)
I said ok, no more then lets say $5000. So I knew I could go a little higher then Cuba, but couldn't afford turks. Then I figured a price for guest, when I go on vaca I don't want to spend more then 1300 per person. So i then started looking at resorts in the price range, 4-5*. Most of the time you can google the resort name and get their website, they will have the 'basic' wedding package with a price. You go from there to contact the coordinator.

everything else will fall into place from here, especially now your a member of BDW!

Good luck, and have fun planning!

[shortnsweet7675]

I think first you need to figure out where you want to have the wedding and the size of wedding you would like to have, then find out if your potential locations have the dates available that you would like to book. Everything else should follow that. Search some of the "planning threads" on this forum. That should help get you started. Good luck with all of your planning. You will be very busy!

[nmurch]

thanks ladies!!

 

well my DREAM would be Maui! butt, like i said were in the middle of building a house.. so thats outta the question. i then would like to stay either in the Mayan or Cancun.. i REALLY love the dreams hotels but does it love my budget? i keep telling myself i hope so lol...

 

do you ladies have any thoughts of mayan vs cancun or cabo?? all the mags make pretty much every hotel look nice i've been doing alot of tripadvisor.com.. and i'm not sure were pretty young but not party animals. i would say our guest list we will send out is 75 and i would say that maybe tops tops top 30 might come..

 

PS love BDW already.. i just wanna get on my crafty side and start making my boarding passes now

[lil_reeves]

We started with deciding the size of the wedding...a list is important, even just a rough idea.

 

Then think about travel expenses for your guests. How much do you think they could afford to travel. Talk to your family and this will give you a good idea. If they say $3000 a couple then you know for sure that some places will be out. It's tricky because even for us, we could've afforded the Bahamas but about 60% of the guests we wanted in attendance couldn't so we found the right place for us was Puerto Vallarta. (We are also doing a January wedding)

 

Once you know how much you want to spend for travel expenses you can talk to a travel agent and find out what locations will fit in with that budget in 2011.

 

Then once you know where you want to go come back to the forum here! It's amazing!!! You can read hotel reviews and get cost ideas from people who've already had their weddings or are currently in the planning stages.

 

Those are the main things...trust me you have plenty of time here. Once you find a location and set your list you'll be on the right path!!!

[lil_reeves]

Oh BTW ~ we're Alberta neighbours

 

You will find there's a lot of Canadians on here, LOL!

[Debs]

Don't forget budget buster locations that are Canuck friendly like Domincan and Cuba

 

Welcome and just jump right in!!