Frequently Asked Questions

1. QUESTION:
   Wedding planning timeline?
   I’ve searched all over google, but all I can find are timelines for planning a wedding 12 months in advance. I need to find something for 8 months

   Can anyone tell me a good timeline for planning a wedding in 8 months?

   • ANSWER:
     There is an excellent article on ehow that gives you step by step instructions for planning a wedding in 8 months. You can start there and work with some of the checklists that they offer as well.

2. QUESTION:
   Where is a good online checklist and timeline for planning a wedding?
   I need to find a really good checklist and timeline as I’m getting married end of next year but I can’t find one that I like. Does anyone know of one that was helpful for them? Thanks so much!

   • ANSWER:
     Are you Australian? http://www.easyweddings.com.au has a great checklist that is broken down into dates leading up to your wedding so you know what you should be doing when. I love it. I think it’s better to find a checklist in your own country as sometimes there are traditions you might do in America that we don’t do in Australia.

3. QUESTION:
   What are the wedding planning steps?
   I have to save one thousand more dollars and then my fiance and I will have 4 thousand dollars to spend on a wedding. We are still going to save though so we can pay for other things as we go. I want to get married sometime next year.

   What is a good timeline for wedding planning? What are the steps? Thanks!

   • ANSWER:

     http://www.weddingplanning411.com/

4. QUESTION:
   Timeline of Events??!! ahhhh..wedding planning.. ?
   I’m trying to plan out the timeline of events for my wedding reception. We are arriving at the reception hall at 6pm… but my issue is that I can’t have the photographer there ALL night .. so I wanted to try and get the important parts such as cake cutting, first dances and so on included within the first hour and a half – to two hours of the reception .. and then i’m leaving disposable cameras on each table to capture moments from the rest of the reception. So I’m looking for some help on the timeline of events for that first hour and a half or so.. if anyone who’s done something similar or is doing something similar could you please let me know what your timeline is. I’m looking to include the main events such as cutting the cake, the toast, and first dances in the beginning time of the reception.. any help or input would be greatly appretiated!!! thanks so much!!

   • ANSWER:
     I work at a country club and this year it is very popular to cut the cake before dinner. That way it is out of the way and you can get pictures, plus when you do it later, it just cuts into dancing time. Many couples are also doing their first dance upon arrival to the reception. Usually the dj announces the wedding party, then announces the bride and groom and says that they will be enjoying their first dance as husband and wife. It is usually customary for toasts to be made before dinner so you won’t have to worry about that. Nowadays every wedding isn’t that cookie cutter timeline. Do what you want and what works.

5. QUESTION:
   Where do I find information on wedding planning?
   My boyfriend and I are tenatively planning to get married in the middle of 2010. I know that you can never start too early nor can you save enough money for the wedding. I have no idea how to plan a wedding and what the timeline is for certain things. Is there a website that can kind of give me a walk thru for planning a wedding? We want to do it ourselves so that it is our wedding and not our parents lol.

   • ANSWER:
     There are places online like The knot.com or even the email site for The Ritz Carlton will provide you with wedding ideas, planning/ budgets/ Schedules. Or go to your nearest chain bookstore…chances are they have a variety of wedding planning binders…..about .00. It’s always nice to have ideas of what you want, but know that like trends in fashion, what you want today may not be what you want in 2010. Buying a wedding dress more than a year ahead of your wedding might make you wish you had waited at least 6 months later. If I were you, I would first focus on saving for the wedding. If you want the whole ritzy church ceremony and Reception / DJ/ Limo thing for your wedding.plan to budget at least ,000….it’s a good idea that your wedding is in 2010!
     Big ticket items:
     1. Reception hall/ food /drinks
     2. Photographer
     3. ..videography is even more!
     4. Flowers/ Table decorations..i got my table flowers from costco!
     5. Invitations
     6. Party favors…forget those! who keeps those anyway?!?!?
     I hope this helped a little….good luck!

6. QUESTION:
   Can someone tell me what exactly the timeline is to plan a wedding?
   I’m helping my friend plan a wedding. I was so thrilled she told me she was engaged now, esp. to the perfect man. I just like to know when to plan what in a timeline format. Please?

   • ANSWER:
     9-12 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY:

     Be organized! Get yourself a planner to keep track of all your wedding details.

     Decide on style of your wedding,i.e.formal, informal, approximate amount of guests.

     Decide on approximate budget and who pays for what. Traditionally, wedding expenses are taken care of by the bride’s family while the groom’s takes care of the rings, the rehearsal dinner and the honeymoon. But remember, this is the 90’s, so anything goes. Be clear as to who’s willing to pay for what and how much.

     Decide on what religion (if any) pertains to your wedding ceremony.

     Make an appointment with the Officiant. Reserve ceremony site. Find out requirements . Make future appointments to plan music and discuss ceremony.

     Choose reception site

     Select a wedding date. Try to do this in conjunction with your cermony and recepton site selections.

     Select wedding attendants, best man, maid of honor etc.

     Secure a Caterer for your reception if your site does not come with one.

     Think about color schemes for florists church,reception and attire.

     Select Photographer

     Select Videographer

     Select Florist

     Select Musicians

     Discuss Honeymoon locations. Visit your travel agent. Get brochures.

     Start shopping for wedding dress and bridesmaid’s dresses.

     6-9 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY

     Select wedding dress. Set dates for fittings.

     Select Bridesmaids’ dresses.

     Start working on guest lists: Bride’s family, Groom’s family, the Bride & Groom’s list.

     4-6 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY

     Book your Honeymoon.

     Order your invitations,thank you cards, napkins and guest book.

     Order gifts & favors.

     Choose your music selections for your ceremony.

     Order wedding rings.

     Register with Bridal Gift Registry at your favorite stores.

     Plan your new home. Where are you going to live. Shop for furnishings.

     Select and reserve your Limousine service.

     Shop for Men’s attire.

     Confirm dates and arrangements:

     Select bakery and order wedding cake (if not offered in reception package)

     Reception site

     Caterers (off site)

     Florists

     Honeymoon

     Transportation arrangements

     Musicians for ceremony & reception

     Delivery date of wedding dress

     Photographer

     Videographer

     Ceremony site arrangements

     2 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY

     Mail invitations.

     Arrange for blood test if required in your state.

     Marriage License

     Plan date for rehearsal dinner. Select restaurant.

     Confirm date for wedding cake (if applicable)

     If possible make an appointment with a beauty professional for you and your bridesmaids on your wedding day.

     ONE MONTH BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY

     Pick up wedding rings.

     Final fittings for men’s attire. Confirm date pick-up time.

     Plan Bachelor and Bachelorette party. *Caution: Avoid picking the night before your wedding. It’ll get you in trouble every time.

     Make Hotel reservations for out-of-town guests.

     Select wedding day accessories, (pillow,rings,garter)

     Plan on getting documents i.e, legal, religious, medical in order.

     Make appointment for ceremony rehearsal.

     Assign attendant responsibilities i.e, tips and balance payments on day of wedding for musicians, limousines, photographer/videographer,DJ,musicians, Maitre D,bridal attendant,caterers etc.

     TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY

     Finalize arrangements with EVERYONE. Review details of your contracts.

     Finalize and review music selections for ceremony and reception.

     Start planning what to wear on your honeymoon. Review with travel agents all necessary documents.

     Get marriage lisence.

     ONE WEEK BEFORE YOUR WEDDING DAY

     Wedding ceremony rehearsal

     Rehearsal dinner

     Pack your bags. Don’t wait until the last minute.

     Go to a spa and pamper yourself and your bridesmaids.

     Guys, chill with your homeboys. It won’t last much longer.

     Present gifts to bridesmaids and ushers at the bachelor and bachelorette parties.

     Remind attendants about ceremony rehearsal day and time.

     Party!

     WEDDING DAY

     Breathe

     Give yourself plenty of time to get ready,at least 3 hours ahead of time.

     Breathe

     Don’t forget the rings and marriage lisence.

     Breathe

     Best man should have payment for officiant.

     Allow time for photos (if you’ve arranged this with your photographer & videographer)

     Breathe

     Most of all, have fun!

7. QUESTION:
   What is the timeline of dinner at a wedding reception?
   How long does it take, from start to end? Reason being, I’m planning my wedding w/astrology and might not have the ceremony until 6 pm. Am worried there won’t be enough time for everything. What time does the dancing usually start?

   • ANSWER:
     I would do the cermony at 4, people will be starving by 7. Ceremonies usually last 30 min to an hour and then dinner, and then dancing.

8. QUESTION:
   Where can I find a detailed timeline for a wedding and reception?
   I am planning and orchestrating my wedding without a “wedding planner”, to save money. I am having the wedding and reception at the same place and need to know how to time everything so that it isn’t confusing or unorganized to guests. I have enlisted a friend to act as a coordinator the day of the wedding….

   • ANSWER:
     if you have hired a DJ (s)he should have a few examples from previous weddings.

     here is a timeline from the last wedding i did:

     5pm guests arrive
     5:30pm ceremony begins
     -groom and officiant take their place
     -seating of the mothers
     -bridal party enters
     -bride escorted by father
     -welcome words from officant
     -service
     -lighting of candles
     -vows/rings
     -pronouncement
     -bride and groom exit followed by party and guests

     6:20- 6:730 guests arrive at the ceremony location/ cocktail hour
     6:20-7:30pm photos for B&G and bridal party
     7:30pm bridal party is announced by the DJ
     7:35pm Bride and Groom are announced for the 1st time- head straight to the dance floor for 1st dance
     7:45 Bride and Groom are seated
     -best man and maid of honour toasts
     -any misc. toasts from family/guests

     7:55pm Bride and Groom get their dinner
     8:00pm dinner buffet open to guests
     8-8:45 classy music for dining
     8:45 start music for dancing
     9pm money dance
     9:30 cut cake
     9:45 bouquet toss
     10pm garter toss
     dancing
     11pm last song.

     Hope this helps you start a timeline.
     Best wishes

9. QUESTION:
   If I have 6 months to plan a wedding, what would the timeline be like? What do I have to do first?
   Please spell out exactly which things need to be done 6 months before, 5 months before, etc. I am clueless!!!

   • ANSWER:
     Congratulations! Only six months? Wow!

     Here’s how I’d do it:

     [6 months before]
     -Get a venue first and foremost. No sense in celebrating if you don’t have a place to celebrate. Venues are grabbed up quickly by crazy planning brides who reserve 2 years in advance! This should be done as soon as possible (6 months before).
     -Get get the place for the wedding ceremony (ex. church, temple, country club, etc.). Once again those crazy planning brides are snatching up those dates. This should be done as soon as poosible (6 months before).
     (You may also have to go to wedding classes or wedding counseling depending on the requirements of your religion or community).
     -Have an engagement party to ask your friends if they are willing to be a part of your wedding.
     -The wedding dress will determine what type of decoration for the venue and the guys tuxes if you are using white colors (ex. ivory linen vs. white linen table cloths). This has to be done early so that you have enough time for alterations. (6 months before).
     -Have your colors or theme picked out, this will help you pick your linens, tuxes, dresses and floral arrangements

     [5 months before]
     -Brides maids dresses can be picked out 5 months before. It has to be early to get the orders shipped etc. You need time for alterations.
     -Tuxes can been picked out. (5-4 months before) if there are no special occaisions (ex. prom, homecoming, more weddings, etc.), otherwise get them now!
     -There tends to be a lot of caterers, but book them early so that they can reserve your wedding date (5 months before).

     [4 months before]
     -Other services to book should be done at least 4 months before (ex. DJ’s, photographer, videographer, vocalists, florists, bar, limo, musicians). Don’t sweat the details or packages yet, just lock in the date first.
     -Purchase the invitations (or do this earlier if it takes a while to get them!)
     -Book the hair, makeup and nail salons for you and your bridesmaids. Schedule an initial trial run 2 or 3 weeks before your wedding date.
     -Reserve hotel rooms for guests
     -Engagement photos

     If you do all of this 4th months before the wedding you should be in good shape.

     3 months before
     -Gift registry
     -Send out the invitations, the earlier you get them out the better.
     -Pick out the cake (this is my favorite part).
     -By now, you should have your wedding garments. An initial fitting for alterations for your wedding party.
     -Purchase the cake server, cake knife, gift card box, address book, unity candles (if required), purses, gloves, handkerchiefs, jewelry.
     -Did you have your songs picked out yet?
     -Now is the time to sit down and plan with the other services (ex. limo service, photographer, videographer, dj, musicians, singers, bar service, etc.)

     2 months before
     -Now from 2 months to the wedding date you should get your rsvps and so you now know your true weddding attendance count. Meet with the caterers and florist to determine how many tables, dishes, etc.
     -Pick up your wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, shoes, purses from the order.
     -Plan your honeymoon if you plan on going right after the wedding.
     -Create programs for your ceremony
     -Purchase gifts for wedding party
     -Purchase gifts for each other.
     -Apply for marriage license with the city

     The last month (Crunch Time):
     -Here’s where the real planning occurs. One last meeting with florist, caterers, hall/venue, videographers, dj
     -Get permits for wedding shoot location
     -reserve a restaurant or country club for wedding rehearsal dinner
     -Pick up marriage license
     -Send itinerary to wedding party and limo service
     -Get wedding favors made
     -Print out wedding program
     -Make sure you’ve paid all of your services the minimum down payment.
     -Bring everything you need at the venue to the caterers
     -Purchase champaigne for the limo ride
     -Purchase thank you cards

     Then go to rehearsal, have a nice dinner, give the wedding party their gifts.

     Next day, have the girls take the limo to the salon, get dressed, give each other gifts, get Married and party at your venue!

     I just got married this past September so it’s still fresh in my mind. Good luck!

10. QUESTION:
    Help with Wedding Planning and Organization online?
    Does anyone know of a good site that will help me keep track of everything I need to plan my wedding? I also need a site that gives you a good timeline of when everything should be done, like send out invitations, book caterers etc. Please help! I have less then a year to go! Thanks!

    • ANSWER:
      Use the knot.This is the one that I am currently using and it has helped alot.

11. QUESTION:
    What is a normal wedding reception timeline?
    I was wondering how the events of the wedding reception usually take place. I am trying to plan everything out for the DJ, catering manager, etc. Anyone know of a site with a good checklist? Thanks for your help!

    • ANSWER:
      Well the guests arrive before you because you’ll be doing pictures at the church. So try to have some appetizers and soft music for the guests when they arrive. When you get there you should be introduced to the guests, then go sit down. Dinner will be served, speeches will be made, and you should cut the cake before the dancing starts so everyone will be there to watch, and then people can have dessert whenever they want. Then the first dance, bridal party dance, daddy daughter dance, and then everyone dances. The DJ should be experienced enough to know when to do things like the hokey pokey and the garter/bouquet throw.

      Try theknot.com, they have everything!

      Congratulations!

12. QUESTION:
    Just got engaged!! What’s the first step in planning a wedding?
    Is there a great wedding planner to buy or any other first steps? The whole thing looks very overwhelming from here. Any specifics for the DC area would be appreciated, too. Timeline on the wedding is about a year. Thank you!

    • ANSWER:
      Like the others said, join www.theknot.com

      I bought a binder and dividers. I labeled the dividers as needed and put ALL my ideas, contracts, lists, recipiets ect into this binder. I put a photo of my fiance and I on the front.

      Here is a “general checklist” that I used when I first started planning. I didn’t use ALL of it as listed, but I used it as a general idea.

      *Put These Items On Your Calendar First*
      •Wedding Date
      •Rehearsal Date
      •Invitations should be mailed 6 weeks before the wedding
      •Wedding dress should be ordered at least 6 months before the wedding
      •Bridesmaids’ dresses should be ordered at least 6 months before the wedding
      •Bride’s hair should be cut and colored approximately 15-20 days before the wedding
      •Groom’s hair should be cut 2 weeks before the wedding
      •Blood tests generally must be taken within 30 days of the wedding

      *Twelve to Six Months Before the Wedding *
      •Purchase engagement and wedding rings; arrange for engraving
      •Select a wedding date and time
      •Announce your engagement and wedding date
      •Discuss and create a preliminary budget with all involved
      •Determine your wedding theme or style
      •Reserve your ceremony location
      •Determine who will officiate the ceremony
      •Reserve your reception location
      •If you plan to have your reception outdoors, make alternate plans for bad weather
      •Decide in your color scheme
      •Determine the size of the guest list
      •Start compiling names and addresses of guests
      •Select bridal attendants
      •Obtain bridal attendants measurements and sizes
      •Select groomsmen
      •Obtain groomsmen’s measurements and shoe sizes
      •Plan reception
      •Select a caterer
      •Select a photographer
      •Select a florist
      •Select a band or DJ
      •Select soloists, organists, musicians for ceremony
      •Select your dress and order if necessary
      •Select your headpiece
      •Select bridesmaids’ dresses and order if necessary
      •Select and order invitations, matches, napkins, thank-you notes and programs
      •Start addressing invitations and announcements when they arrive
      •Pre-address than-you note envelopes while addressing invitations and announcements. (This saves a great deal of time later.)
      •Prepare maps and directions to include with your invitations.
      •Check with the post office for the amount of postage needed to mail the invitations when all the pieces are included in the envelope.
      •Register with bridal registries
      •Reserve the rehearsal dinner location
      •Select a baker for the cake

      *6-4 Months Before the Wedding*
      •Check with your local newspaper for the form and timing of your wedding announcement submission.
      •Have mothers select their dresses
      •Select the men’s formal wear
      •Choose songs that you would like for the band or DJ to play at your wedding
      •Keep gift checklist up to date and write thank-you notes daily
      •Arrange accommodations for attendants who do not live in town
      •Reserve a block of rooms for out-of-town guests
      •Hire limousines and/or other transportation
      •Make appointments for physicals and update your immunization shots and records
      •Shop for wedding rings
      •Start planning the honeymoon
      •Begin shopping for trousseau
      •Begin addressing invitations and announcements. (They should be sent 4-6 weeks before he wedding.)

      *Two Months Before the Wedding*
      •Finish addressing invitations and send them out.
      •Finalize all details with the caterer, photographer, florist, reception coordinator, musicians, etc.
      •Order the wedding cake if it is not supplied by the caterer.
      •Finalize the ceremony details with the officiant.
      •Make rehearsal and rehearsal dinner arrangements.
      •Plan the bridesmaids’ luncheon.
      •Make appointments with your hairdresser and mark-up artist.
      •Finalize honeymoon plans.

      *One Month Before*
      •Have a final fitting of the wedding dress and bridesmaids’ dresses.
      •Have a formal bridal portrait done.
      •Complete all physical and dental appointments.
      •Get blood test and marriage license.
      •Make transportation arrangements for the wedding day.
      •Purchase gifts for all of the attendants and particpants.
      •Purchase gift for your fiance
      •Keep careful records of the gifts you receive and write thank-you notes as you receive them.
      •Select responsible person to handle the guest book.
      •Make sure that all of the men’s attire has been ordered.
      •Pick up wedding rings and make sure they fit.
      •Take care of legal affairs such as changing the names on insurance policies, etc.
      •Reconfirm the accommodations for out-of-town guests.
      •Prepare wedding announcements to be sent to the newspaper.

      *Two Weeks Before*
      •Arrange to have wedding gifts moved to your new home.
      •Turn in a change of address card to the post office if necessary.
      •Finish addressing announcements to be mailed on the wedding day.
      •The groom should have his hair cut.
      •The bride should have her hair colored if necessary.

      *One Week Before*
      •Contact guests who have not responded.
      •Give the final count to the caterer and review the details.
      •Go over any final details with all wedding professionals you have hired.
      •Give the photographer a list of pictures you would like.
      •Give the videographer a list of shots you would like included in the video.
      •Give all musicians the lists of music for the ceremony and reception.
      •Plan the seating arrangements.
      •Continue to write thank-you notes.
      •Pack your suitcases for the honeymoon.
      •Make sure you have the marriage license.
      •Make sure that you have the wedding rings and they fit.
      •Make sure that all wedding attire is picked up and it fits.
      •Reconfirm all honeymoon reservations.
      •Make sure that you have your plane tickets.

      *The Day Before*
      •Have the bridesmaids luncheon if you are not having it the day of the wedding and you haven’t already had it.
      •The bride should have her nails done.
      •Have rehearsal with all participants, reviewing their duties at least twice.
      •Go over special seating or pew cards with the ushers.
      •Give any instructions about on the wedding day such as what time everyone should be at the church for pictures, what type of transportation is provided, where the reception is, etc.

      *The Wedding Day*
      •Have the bridesmaids’ luncheon if you have not already had it.
      •The bride should have her hair and makeup done.
      •Make sure that each of you have the rings.
      •Make sure that you have the marriage license.
      •Place the officiant’s fee in an envelope and give it to the best man so he may resent it after the ceremony.

13. QUESTION:
    Looking for wedding planning checklist online ?
    Like a checklist / timeline online i can use to get a good idea of everything i need to plan for my wedding next year .

    a good one

    • ANSWER:

14. QUESTION:
    Help with a wedding day timeline?
    I am one of those people who like to plan WAY ahead…so I am already thinking about a timeline for my wedding day (September 19th)
    & I would like to make 2 different timelines…one for girls & one for guys of the wedding party. I would like to include a seperate luncheon for the girls & guys…hair, makeup, getting ready, pictures, etc.

    The wedding starts at 5:00 sharp.

    Any advice/help/suggestions? Thanks!
    By the way…I’m not a “bridezilla” I just know how unorganized my fiance and his party can be sometimes. He leaves the planning and organizing to me. I’m not telling him what he has to do…just when to be the places that he needs to be.
    & I want there to be seperate luncheons because I don’t want him to see me at ALL before the wedding…make sense?

    Thanks to those who have helped!

    • ANSWER:
      This isn’t exactly what you’re looking for but you can alter it to suit your needs. When I was directing weddings I would give these to the wedding party at the rehearsal so there wouldn’t be any “I didn’t know I was supposed to do that then/be there then etc…
      It’s great to have a plan but just remember that things come up so make sure you can go with the flow if an accident or something comes up unexpectedly and messes with your plan!

      Wedding Day Timeline

      _____ Bride and her attendants arrive at church
      _____ Groom and his attendants arrive at church
      _____ Grandparents & special guests have arrived and are in room
      _____ Music begins
      _____ Ushers are dressed and ready to light candles/escort guests
      _____ Soloist is in place
      _____ Bride and attendants are dressed and ready
      _____ Groom & best man are in pastors office
      _____ Bridal party is in hall ready to process down the aisle
      _____ Grandparents/special guests are seated
      _____ Mother of the groom is seated
      _____ Mother of the bride is seated
      _____ Soloist sings
      _____ Pastor/Groom/Best man enter
      _____ Bridal party enters

15. QUESTION:
    What was the timeline of your wedding?
    We’re trying to figure out how we’re doing everything. We’re planning on getting married at about 6pm (it’s a friday wedding) and he refuses to see me before the wedding (which is fine). So we’re trying to figure out our timing, and I was curious as to where everyone else’s fit… We are having a 6 hour reception.
    Ann’s answer is exactly what I’m looking for. Anyone else?
    Cindy – I LOVE that you gave yourself a half hour to freak out!

    • ANSWER:
      here was my timeline (i got married last month)
      4pm wedding

      730am-8am – shower
      830-930 – hair appt
      10 – got to my moms house where i was getting ready. had some breakfast, glass a champagne, etc.Relaxed.
      11am – makeup.
      12 – had some more food….lol
      1230 – started getting dressed
      1 – photographers came to the house, bridesmaids came over and we started photos with family and the bridesmaids
      2 – limo came – grabbed all our last minute stuff we needed, honeymoon bag etc…..
      by 230 we were in the limo driving to downtown LA (45 min- 1 hr drive)
      got there at around 325pm – then i sat in the limo until my fiancee hid so he couldnt see me get out of the limo, lol
      330 – went into the bridal room in the church and did last minute touch ups, did some breathing techniques my friend taught me, lol…..i cried a little….it all just seem to hit me in that last 30 minutes before i was about to walk down the aisle. But im glad i had that time to calm down….
      4 – i walked down the aisle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      ceremony was from 4-445…then the bridal party and family took pics in the church for about 20 minutes…then we hopped back into the limos, and went to another spot for pictures….we were there for about 30 minutes….then drove to the reception (about 15 min away). During this whole time we had cocktail hour going on at the recpetion area for all the guests. When we arrived it was about 615pm, then everyone went into the hall, got seated and the bridal party was introduced. We did first dances, etc then. Speeches, dinner, then dancing.

      Give yourself enough time in the day to get ready. You dont want to be rushing and stressing out on your wedding day!

16. QUESTION:
    wedding photographs–timeline?
    My fiance and I are planning to do pictures before our wedding ceremony. I know we need to have time for photos of him alone, me alone, us together, and us with our families. And, I have a list of the photographs we want to have taken. What I don’t know is, about how long should we allow for these photographs? If we want to be at the church by 11:45am (need to leave the park where we are taking pictures at 11:30am), what time do we need to start? I am trying to estimate how long we will need the photographer.

    • ANSWER:
      Depending on how many pictures you want to take, you will probably need an hour to an hour and a half to take pictures. I’d ask for the photographer’s recommendation too. Chances are they will not ‘pad’ it too much. They know that you will know if they are tanking or standing around not taking pictures!

      Best wishes and good luck!

17. QUESTION:
    How do I coordinate a wedding reception?
    I am having my wedding reception on June 13,2009. My Fiance and I are planning a private ceremony with only immediate family prior to this date. Because I will be already married before this date would I still do the normal wedding reception timeline for example be introduced as the Mr. & Mrs, first dance, dance with father, cake cutting , toasting, and etc….

    • ANSWER:
      We are doing this as well. We plan on showing the reception guests a video of the ceremony as it will only be short then having ourselves introduced by a friend, probably something along the lines of And now to present Mr & Mrs. Then a cake and cocktail hour after which We are inviting anyone who would like to do a speech/toast to do so, we are having a band who will then say this is for _______, where we will have something like the first dance then get other guests up on the floor with us afterwards. There are no limits, you can do it however you would like to

18. QUESTION:
    If you were making a friend a wedding planning book(3 ring binder) what would you put in it?
    Topics i have covered: timeline/table, hiring a consultant, invitations, stationary, printers, where they are registered, ceramony site, ceramony schedule, ceremony music, the officiant, the rehersal, the rehersal party, choosing a gown for the bride, the bridesmaids and any other attendants, grooms renting/buying info, groomsmes renting/buying info, the reception site, setting up the reception site, reception time schedule, seating plan, choosing a florist, the flower order (for everyone and everywhere), reception music, reception music schedule, choosing a baker, choosing a caterer, transportation, photographer, photography schedule, gift records, honeymoon info, and how to change your name after you get married

    i realize this is alot of info for the bride but this book is suppose to be the “anything and everything” book for her wedding
    this book isnt just information, its worksheets to fill out along with info and tips,

    • ANSWER:
      sounds great – don’t forget to include folders where she can keep receipts, notes, things she’s cut out from magazines…ect.

      For myself, I used a looseleaf notebook and the folders really helped for stuff I couldn’t hole punch.

19. QUESTION:
    What is a good wedding day timeline?
    I need help planning out my wedding day time line. All the ones I found online are too early or they are for formal dinners and I just can’t find one that would work for a casual dinner with the ceremony starting around 4:30 or 5. I need to make a schedule for the following:
    Getting ready
    The Ceremony (15-30 min) short but sweet
    Pictures
    Cocktail hour
    Indroduction at reception (The Ceremony and Reception will most likely be at the same location)
    Dinner (probably buffet style)
    Cake
    First Dance
    All other dances (Father & Bride, Mother & Groom, etc.)
    Garter Toss
    Bouquet Toss

    They don’t have to go in that exact order and let me know if there is something I forgot.
    I would like some help with actual times.

    • ANSWER:
      That looks about right. I made the PERFECT wedding day timeline and NO ONE followed it! The pastor even forgot about the wedding, key people were late, and nothing happened on time. So don’t freak if something doesn’t happen when it’s “supposed” to, it’s bound to happen at least once.

      Be sure to give an approximate 10 minute buffer between the pre-ceremony events and about 5 minutes for ceremony events just so that the whole schedule isn’t ruined if one person or event is later than expected.

      Good luck!

      EDIT: The getting ready time will depend a lot on how many attendants you have and how much you’ll need to do. Give this time frame at least a half hour extra time because SOMEONE is going to be late.

      The woman who mentioned taking time before the ceremony for pictures is right, most couples have the pictures of her and her maids, he and his men, as well as them individually with their families if everyone is there already.

      The time frame for pictures after the ceremony will depend on your photographer and how many people are going to be photographed. If you have huge families, it’s going to take at least an hour and a half, and that’s assuming that everyone’s there where they should be and you don’t have to have your brother chase after grandma who’s walking around outside.

      The reception shouldn’t need to be closely scheduled really. Set a time for the cake and dancing, and let everything else flow around those times.

      Good luck!

20. QUESTION:
    suggestions wedding ceremony timeline?
    For our wedding reception: first hour is cocktail hours…then bridal entrance followed by our first dance, father/daughter dance and mother/son dance. After these dances, guest make their dinner orders and during this time, we plan to make our rounds to each table to give thanks to our guest. Once dinner orders are done and our rounds to table are done, we will have toasts. Next, people will eat and dance….then after guest have some time to eat and dance a little, we will have cake cutting, followed by removal of garter/garter toss/bouquet toss/garter on…then end of the last hour or so with dancing!!

    What did you do (or plan on doing) for your wedding reception timeline? And any suggestions?

    • ANSWER:
      1. Cocktail hour (1.5 hours)
      2. Me and my fiance’s grand entrance
      3. First dance
      4. Toasts (5-10 minutes)
      5. Eating time! (2 hours)
      6. Cake cutting (10 minutes?)
      7.. Father/Daughter dance
      8.. Mother/Son dance
      9. Party time! (dancing) (2 hours)
      10. Cake serving
      11. Little more partying (15-30 minutes)
      12. Last dance
      13. Grand exit! (complete with the toss of rose petals)

      …I don’t exactly have all the timing planned out, as you can see…:/

      TIP: Generally it takes a while for the caterers to actually cut the cake to be served for the guests. It’s not a 5-minute process, I can tell you that much.

21. QUESTION:
    On the wedding day – when do the flowers get delivered?
    I’m planning my wedding and I’m trying to figure out when/how the bouquets and flowers for the centerpieces get delivered. Or do they not get delivered? Do I have to pick them up from the florist? What is the timeline?

    • ANSWER:
      You should be able to pick the time. Ours were delivered around noon – wedding was at 2.

22. QUESTION:
    How long does a wedding reception last? What is the typical timeline?
    I am trying to plan my reception….I am having a 4 course meal…and dancing…a few speeches…

    • ANSWER:
      It depends upon your venue.
      The most typical I have seen is 4-hours, generally as follows:
      Hour 1 – Cocktail hour
      Hour 2 – introduction, first dances, toast, speeches & beginning of the meal
      Hour 3 – conclusion of the meal & dancing
      Hour 4 – cake cutting & serving, dancing continues

      some venues don’t limit your time, others allow 5 or 6 hours for receptions and the time is spaced out more.

23. QUESTION:
    Wedding Reception Timeline?
    We are planning on serving dinner at 6:30. We would like to cut the cake after dinner, should we plan on doing so at 7 or at 7:15?

    • ANSWER:
      Cake cutting probably shouldn’t be done until 730 at the earliest. You have to give people time for their food to settle. If you’re doing a buffet style dinner, then you have to have time to excuse all the tables, let them get their food, and eat. I had dinner served, then we did the bridal dance and the dance with the parents, and cut the cake after that.

24. QUESTION:
    Steps to planning a wedding?
    I am getting married May 22, 2010 and I am trying to slowly figure out a good timeline of things I should have done by certain times. I have my guest list and my dress. I am working on a place for the wedding and the reception ( I live in a town where it isn’t that busy to request closer to your date ). I am wanting to start buying things each week to have a jump start, If I buy 1 thing a week and spend 10-50 bucks it is not as bad as it would be to buy everything at once. For example I picked up the guest book and pen the other day. We do not have help from anyone paying for the wedding and are trying to keep it around 00.00. Any ideas of cheap little things I can start buying now. Also any suggestions as what I need to start doing to get to planning? Any wedding information is helpful. I am totally not a planner.

    • ANSWER:

25. QUESTION:
    What is a good detailed timeline for a may 2010 wedding?
    I am having a wedding in may of 2010. We are having our wedding and reception in the same place but the place we are having both only allows a 5 hr rental for both the ceremony and reception. We are getting married at 5pm but the rental begins at 4:30. I am assuming our ceremony will be over at 5:30 and then we will be having our professional pictures taken for about an hour and during that hour we are planning on having cocktail hour for our guests. So what would be a good timeline for my wedding be? Also is 3 hours long enough for a reception for dinner and cake and dancing? Thanks any help or suggestions would be great!!

    • ANSWER:

26. QUESTION:
    Did you really follow that annoying wedding timeline checklist…?
    or did you just plan things as you saw fit?

    • ANSWER:
      I didn’t do it in that exact order, but I was glad to have it because there were things that I forgot to do and it reminded me to get them done!

27. QUESTION:
    wedding day timeline HELP?
    I made my own invitations and realized that I put 5:30 for the time of the ceremony instead of 5 (we were originally thinking 5:30 and I forgot to change it). we cant be to the church until 4,which is fine since I was only planning on an hour there beforehand anyway. my photos will be taken at a park beforehand for the most part. but here is the dilema: I want to eat dinner at 7pm. cant be late either since the caterer is very particular about serving dinner. the ceremony and reception are only like 5 minutes away. my ceremony will be about 20 minutes, maybe 30. then the dance will start at 8pm which is also on the invitations, since we have a seperate invitation for some people that are only coming to the dance like co workers, etc. dont give my gripe about not feeding everyone. anyway. is this timeline ok? the caterer said only an hour is needed from the time dinner is served til the time everything is cleared since its a small plated dinner.
    I can always reprint the invitations if need be but really dont want to.
    obviously if I leave it at 5:30 on the invitations I will start the ceremony at 5:30
    not much of a cocktail hour anyway, no food ordered for that. I think I should be ok.
    the guests will be able to get into the reception hall and there will be a bar available for them.

    • ANSWER:
      If the caterer says dinner will only take an hour, I would believe them. I work for a reception hall, and we tell couples dinner takes an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the number of courses, but we do that to cover our buts if something happens in the kitchen, and dinner service runs a little long…typically dinner service where I work takes 45 minutes to an hour.

      My only comment would be that you won’t have much of a cocktail hour, probably not more than 30 minutes, so if you’ve ordered a bunch of hors d’oeuvres to be served before dinner, you might want to cut back on those, as there might not be enough time to serve them all before dinner begins. It will just be wasted money.

28. QUESTION:
    Would this be ok for a general wedding timeline?
    I always wanted a full sit down dinner at my wedding but these days you’re looking at between – 0 per person (for dinner,dessert,drinks). That’s heaps! I dont know if my partner and I can afford that!

    So, what im thinking is this:

    - Ceremony – mid to late afternoon.
    - Bridal party have photos and meet up with imidiate family for dinner.
    - Meal while, guest go off an have their own dinner.
    - We all meet up at about 8/8:30pm and sit down for dessert,coffee,drinks and dancing.

    I would plan quite an extravagant dessert selection and would still have a first dance and a father/daughter dance, speaches etc.

    What do you think? Do you think its a bit cheap? Do you think guests will mind having to do their own thing for dinner?
    I really want to do something at night…so we can dance the night away!

    If I have to compromise on the dinner, I dont want to have to compromise on the time. I want something at night….bit wierd dancing during the morning.

    I cant expect people to take too much time off of work – week day wedding would be too hard. I dont mind the idea of an afternoon wedding with an afternoon tea…that would be good.

    Then immediate family and birdal party ONLY could go for dinner…that could work!
    ps. Im in Australia. We have family spead across several states so we will be having the wedding in a different state to where we live, a state that is a central location for everyone attending….so 90% of guest will have to travel to get there…
    Getting Stronger Every Day –
    Thats a good idea – we could have dinner seperatly…(eg. I would have dinner with my mum, mum in law and bridesmaids)…then have a late ceremony, followed by a dessert night! Thatd be fun!
    Stephanie….Thanks for all your ideas!

    I really like the idea of having a dessert reception…but if we have a late ceremony and go to the respection straight away…when do we do photos?

    We could do our individual photos before the wedding but when do we do the the couple/bridal party photos?

    Could we leave the reception for an hour?

    I would have preferred out door photos – at sunset….hmm.

    There is so much to consider!!

    • ANSWER:
      OH NO! You can’t do this! I’m sorry but this isn’t a good idea. Your guests won’t like having to leave and come back hours later, especially if they’ve travelled from out of town and don’t know the area.
      Based on the fact that you really want to have dancing and such, a dessert reception would be perfect for you!

      — The Dessert Reception —
      Best held later in the evening (like around 8pm). Because of the time of night, it is perfect for dancing away into the wee-hours!
      Avoid doing this around dinner time hours of 5-6:30pm as guests will arrive expecting a full meal.
      A dessert reception is perfect for getting people to mingle, as it is less of a sit-down type thing. Serve the desserts buffet style with small portions of everything so people can sample a bunch of everything. Also, you’ll want to include a couple savory items so your guests don’t go into a sugar coma! (Think a cheese display, fruit, etc.) Note: Wedding cake is still expected, however you can save money on that because people won’t be eating as much of it as they would at a regular dinner reception. Keep portions small!
      To avoid long lines, make sure to set things up around the room so its not one line feeding the whole place… otherwise you run into a “traffic jam” kind of situation.
      Also, because this is a more mingle-friendly event, you should plan for seats to accommodate about 65% of your guests.
      Informing guests: Important! To ensure guests don’t arrive starving and expecting a full meal, you should phrase the invites like this: “Dessert reception immediately following the ceremony”

      My best friend is doing a dessert reception too! They can be so much fun!

      Congrats and best of luck with your wedding plans! Feel free to zap me an email any time and I’ll be more than happy to help!!

      EDIT:
      As far as the photos issue, you have a few options. I suggest talking with your photographer and ask them their opinion too. Since its late in the evening, you want to think about where your photos will be. As soon as the ceremony is done, you and your hubby and bridal party/parents run off and do photos, just as you would during a regular dinner reception while everyone else is having cocktails.
      Your other option (which gives you more time with your guests) is to get some of the posed, group photos out of the way before the ceremony even starts — that is, if you’re ok with seeing your man before the ceremony. This option will give you more daylight for photos too! If you’re considering seeing your hubby-to-be before the ceremony but don’t want to miss out on that moment when you first see him then consider this — you can have a great private moment before the ceremony where you see each other for the first time and share some private words… it could be really sweet and romantic. And then you could also have your sunset photos!

29. QUESTION:
    wedding flowers/cake timeline?
    Ok Girls, So I’m getting married next June, I’m very well ahead of planning but I was just curious, when is a good time to start looking at flowers and the cake? Everyone is telling me to start now because June is a popular month (especially for the flowers). Any advice?? Thanks in advance!

    • ANSWER:
      Start looking and planning now. You will probably change your mind many times before you get married, but at least you will have the time to look at everything.

      Good luck to you.

30. QUESTION:
    Wedding Day Timeline?
    Our reception is about 25 minutes from our cermony site. We can’t get into the reception area until 5:30. How should we plan our day around this (from the ceremony start time to the reception). I need help with a basic time line for the day.

    • ANSWER:
      Ceremony 3 p.m., then you go for pictures after
      Cocktails 5:30 p.m.
      Dinner 6:30 p.m. – the wedding party arrives just before dinner is to begin
      Program after the dinner
      about 8 – cake cutting
      8:30 – first dances, then open dance
      about 10:30 – bouquet/garter throw, late lunch
      Dancing til whenever you have to leave venue…

31. QUESTION:
    What’s a good timeline for an out of state wedding?
    Alright, my fiance and I live in Florida. We are getting married on April 16th, 2011. I know it seems far away, but I’d like to get a jump on things. We are getting married in Buffalo, NY (my hometown). I see the distance being an issue. We already have the basics like our theme, wedding colors, etc picked out. We even came up with our (almost) complete Guestlist.

    We won’t be able to get up to NY until August. We are going up for a wedding so we are going to kill two birds with one stone and see what we can do for our wedding while we’re up there.

    I don’t want to wait until August to book our venue and church because I don’t want to risk the chances of no availability. We’ll only be 8 months from the wedding, and April is a pretty popular month… not to mention we’re getting married on a Saturday. No, we can’t change our date.

    We will most likely head up to Buffalo a month before the wedding to finalize everything as well. (We will be moving shortly before/after the wedding… so basically Buffalo will be our transition place.)

    My question is… what should be done before we get up to NY in August, and what should be done WHILE we’re up there in August, what can be done the 7 months before we head up there again and what can wait until we are up there the month before the wedding?

    Also, what are your thoughts on a wedding planner?

    Any helpful books or websites on planning an out of state wedding would be great, but I need more than that. Personal advice is best.
    You can mostly certainly pick a date and find a venue that meets that date give or take a week… I should have clarified. That’s the date we’re shooting for. We’ll move it a week or two for the right venue, but not much more than that due to other family weddings and the timing.

    Of course the whole thing isn’t going to be planned in 8 months! We have 18 months! You CAN plan a wedding from a distance.

    It’s our choice to get married in Buffalo and I don’t think I should have to move it to Florida just because of the distance. Long distance weddings have been planned and carried out before.

    • ANSWER:
      Venue…venue…venue! A lot of things will start to fall into place once you pick your venue, and since this is your hometown, it will be a lot easier to start checking with places. This is by far the first thing you do. Obviously, since you know the date, you can start checking with nearby churches, but you won’t even know which ones are closest until you have that venue picked. I don’t see a problem finding one this far out, and I assume you have local people who can eyeball the specific room or hall for you just to make sure.

      After that’s done, you have a bit of waiting period. You don’t want to book the florist, photographer, etc. this far out. There’s no reason to and there’s too much chance of something going wrong. I’d think your August visit would be fine for this sort of thing.

      As for a wedding planner, I didn’t use one and a lot of what I did was out-of-state (not to mention in an unfamiliar area!). But I also kept mine small – about 60 guests. If you’re having a larger wedding and can afford it, I’d be more tempted, but I honestly never felt the need for one. I knew exactly what I wanted.

32. QUESTION:
    In general, how long does it take for a fiance visa to completely process?
    Specifically, it is to bring a UK citizen into the US. From the time of the submission of the first papers, to the granting of the visa, how long may it take? It’s hard to plan a wedding when the timeline relys on the government!

    • ANSWER:
      i asked this same question…the whole thing usually takes 6-7 months from filing your petition to him getting the final go ahead after his interview at the embassy. Once in the u.s. you will have 90 days to get married or he will have to return to the U.K.

      i am going through the same thing right now…trying to file my petition right now for my fiance! good luck to you!

33. QUESTION:
    How long before a wedding do you post your announcement?
    My wedding is february and my mom is hassling me to hurry up and put our announcement in the paper. And how long before the wedding should you have the bridal shower? This is my first wedding that ive even helped plan and since it is mine I want to do things right. Anyone know a timeline?

    • ANSWER:
      In my opinion, doing things “right” is doing things the way you want them done. It is YOUR wedding after all. Put the announcement in the paper when you feel it is appropriate. I don’t think there is technically a “right ” or “wrong” time. Some people put the announcement right after the engagement, some do it months before the wedding, and some wait until the wedding is already over.
      As far as the bridal shower, same deal applies. Since you probably aren’t throwing your own bridal shower you should find a day that works for you and your maid of honor and still leaves the maid of honor enough time to plan out what she wants to do.
      Don’t stress too much & congrats in advance.

34. QUESTION:
    I am wondering if I have the grounds to sue my wedding planner and get my 40 deposit back?
    I am wondering if I have the grounds to sue my wedding planner and get my 40 deposit back on account that she did not provide the wedding services promised in the full wedding planning package and she has caused me a lot of frustration.

    The wedding services contract was signed on Apr 11, 2008 for a Jul 11, 2009 wedding date and the deposit does say non-refundable on the contract. The total cost was 80. Due to personal issues we had to put our wedding plans on hold and on Jul 28, 2008 I told her she can book another wedding on the Jul 11, 2009 date because we didn’t know if this date was possible for us anymore and she granted that our deposit can be used for another date before end of 2010.

    On Sep 9, 2009 we continued our wedding planning for Jul 31, 2010. We met on Sep 25, 2009 to discuss the contract and given that we were only 9-10 months from the July 31, 2010 date I expressed concerns that we needed to make decisions on videographers and photographers soon since I was already in contact with some of them and they were booking up fast for July next year. She told me not to worry and that she will get me a summary timeline of what needs to be done and when. A week later, I still did not get her summary timeline and have not heard from her with any updates. So knowing that my vendors are booking up fast I decided to complete some of my own research on videographers and photographers. I sent her an update email of my research and asked her to complete additional research for me because again I stressed that I needed to make a decision soon. At this point I was frustrated that the wedding planner was not ahead of me and I felt like I needed to manage her work. She replied back basically telling me I needed to trust her and that she sets a scheduled plan so that every brides gets treated fairly. At this point I still have not gotten her summary timeline and I felt I had decisions to be made and that each wedding is different and planning should be flexible so that urgent decisions can be made in a timely manner so deadlines are not missed. For me at that time, I felt an urgency to complete research on videographers and photographers and this urgency was justified since the videographer I was most interested in contacted me on the Sunday and said he has a client meeting scheduled for Wed and that if this couple books that will be the last July wedding he can take. I forwarded this to my wedding planner hoping she’d now see the urgency but instead she told me to “hang tight” and that since I was already in discussion with them already that I should continue and let her know what happens. Then on Monday she sends me an email telling me that this videographer is the best priced but does not give me any specific vendor names or prices so I’m not sure if she’s even done the research. At this moment we lost all confidence in her wedding planning abilities since a seasoned wedding planner should have a list of vendor contacts and prices on hand and should not take too much time to do some additional research if needed. Feeling a lot of frustration I told her on Monday (Oct 5, 2009) that I don’t think this wedding planning is working out and that we need to renegotiate our contract and she agrees but sets up a meeting to discuss on Oct 23, 2009 (3 weeks later). By the time the meeting came along I’ve already booked my reception venue, videographer, photographer in Edmonton, and photographer in Vancouver without her help because she dropped all contact with us since Oct 5, 2009. She offered to change the contract to the Day of Service for 50 but we feel the service is unnecessary and over priced. Is there anyway this information justifies that she has not done her job and that is the only reason why we wanted to renegotiate the contract and that she should give us our 40 deposit back?

    • ANSWER:

35. QUESTION:
    Planning-When should we have sorted various things out by?
    When should venue, officiant, decorations, dresses etc be bought or hired by? When do invites go out? Basically if you could outline a timeline for me, that would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea when I should start looking into various aspects of wedding preparation.

    • ANSWER:
      First, figure out what is more important. Where your wedding is or where the reception is.

      If you’re in love with a church, go reserve a date as soon as you’ve figured out about the time you’d like to get married. Then you can look around for reception areas that work with that date.

      If you have a reception hall that you must have book that first. There are plenty of churches of different denominations or you can have a casual wedding – choices are pretty open.

      Either way, these are the first choices you’ll want to make. These will set the rest of your time line.

      Supposing that you have a year….

      Decorations – will most likely figure themselves out. Hotels will usually provide linens or have a contact and your florist will most likely provide the center pieces. If you are making your own or planning to do something else, get a trusted family member involved and put them in charge of it. You can start personal decorations anytime and might even be able to buy off season things on clearance! Don’t leave this for the last minute – get them done and store them.

      Dresses – every boutique wants a different order date. Generally 6 months before the wedding. Your dresses will arrive weeks to 3 months later. Get your dress altered 3-4 weeks before the big day.

      Invitations – send save the dates out 6 months prior. Send travel information to close family that you want to be there around 5 months. Send the formal invites out 6-8 weeks prior to the wedding date and ask for an RSVP 2 weeks before. If you are buying them, find a vendor that you like early on and see what their turn around time is. Order everything accordingly. You can probably expect 3-8 weeks.

      Flowers- Start looking around early or ask friends/family for references. Book a florist about 4 months prior.

      Cake – another good referenced service. I would say about 4 months prior on this too.

      DJ – Book as soon as you find one you like. They fill up quickly. If you’re not sure, try to attend a wedding fair. A lot of DJs will give a VERY good discount if you book with them that day.

      Photographer – earlier is better. Especially if you’re looking for engagement photos. They good ones will also book early, so find some one you like and get it out of the way.

      The biggest thing to remember is that people who provide wedding services do it for a living. You really can’t do anything too early. Pay your deposit, sign contracts and you are pretty much good to go. Have fun too! You only get to do this once!

36. QUESTION:
    what is the deadline to pay back amended taxes?
    both my boyfriend and myself have to amend our taxes. he is going to end up owing 0. I have yet to do mine. We are planning our wedding and this might wipe us out of going on our honeymoon. Just wondering what the timeline is for paying these. Anybody know?

    • ANSWER:
      The deadline to pay your taxes without incurring penalties and interest is 4/15. However, if you can’t afford to pay it (or don’t want to) you can always request an extension to pay of up to four months or a monthly installment agreement if you need more time than that.

37. QUESTION:
    Getting married in May. What do I need do when?
    I need a timeline for planning for a wedding for about 100 people.

    • ANSWER:
      Hey! I’m getting married in May too! )

      I’ve booked the church,
      ~booked the reception place,
      ~Bought my dress,
      ~Bought suits for the groom/groomsmen (they were on sale so it was cheaper to buy than hire!),
      ~picked patterns and materiels for the bridesmaids (the seamstress wants to make a start on the dresses in Feb),
      ~Bought table favours,
      ~decided on centre pieces,
      ~decided to buy rather than D.I.Y invites so am currently compiling a database of all guests addresses for the printers and will mail out at start of Feb,
      ~Booked our photographer

      Now we need to:
      ~Order (and pick) a cake
      ~Order (and pick) our wedding rings
      ~Order (already chosen) our flowers
      ~Book (and decide on!) our honeymoon
      ~Buy some shoes!
      ~Decide on reception menu
      ~Have pre-wedding photo shoot
      ~Book wedding cars
      ~Book hairdresser (for day and a trial)
      ~Book make up person (for day and a trial)
      ~Hire DJ
      ~Pick wedding songs
      ~Bachelor and Bachelorette partys!

      I’m sure i’ve left stuff out, but I hope that gives you some idea!

      Just remeber, before you do anything, make sure your reception place and ceremony place is available and BOOK it!

      Also if you are ordering pre-made dresses do it NOW as they can take a few months to come in!

      PS: if you have interstate guests, might be a good idea to let them know the date when you have booked the reception/ceremony so they can start book travel arrangements and start saving.

      Good luck!

38. QUESTION:
    What amount is a fair (or competitive) price to coordinate a Vegas wedding?
    I just started my event planning company, and I was thinking I will specialize in Vegas and Reno weddings. Not your typical drive-thru weddings, but weddings where the party would like to have something decent, with possible reception, etc…

    Note: I am from California and will be traveling to coordinate these weddings.

    So, I was going to put my ad out, but I was trying to think of a fair price to charge for wedding coordination. My fee would not cover the venue or accessories because some locations are dirt cheap and some are in the high thousands. My fee would only cover MY SERVICES, which would be consulting with the couple, researching, getting the best rates, booking the location, working with the vendors, wedding party and guests, managing the guests lists, invitations, being onsite and coordinating at the actual event, providing a timeline, etc…

    I also planned to provide the full wedding party with a free gift as part of my services.

    So… my question is, what would be a fair price to charge for these services? I have to take into account that I would typically need to be present at the locations so travel costs for me would probably be between 0-300 alone (for airfare and room if needed). I would like to make sure that I account for that in my rates. Note: I won’t need airfare for Reno since I’m just a few hours away.

    I know that people go to Vegas and Reno to SAVE money, so I want to be realistic. The goal is to do all the work for them so they can enjoy their vacation and have great memories of their event. But I still have to make some kind of profit… what would be a fair (or competitive) flat rate?

    I’d really love to hear from brides/grooms, wedding coordinators, and Vegas locals if possible as well.

    Thanks in advance!
    ec123456, that’s why I said my services would not be for the average drive-thru wedding. This would be for an actual mid to higher end wedding ceremony and possible reception or planned weekend with activities, etc… Many people have “real” weddings in Vegas, I’ve seen them at the Bellagio all the time.

    • ANSWER:
      The answer is different for everyone. It’s al about the rate you command. When my sister started out coordinating, her rates beat out more established coordinators so she could get the job. Of course, it still needs to provide you the financial support you need, I’d say put yourself in your clients shoes. Ask yourself what your average budget is, and what you would pay for YOU. Might help

      Here’s a quick idea though for suggestions for your clients, especially the ones on a budget….

      I got married a week and a half ago and used this KnotPic website to collect all the photos from all the guests. The photos are still coming in. I have so many now.

      We were fortunate enough to have a decent budget so we had a photographer too. This is just really convenient so I’m trying to spread the word. I can’t love this enough. It’s here: http://knotpic.com.

      I’n thinking that if you didn’t have a photographer, this would be a sweet way to make sure you got everyone’s shots.

      I also noticed that they are doing promo codes from their Twitter page. Not sure which ones work but…. http://twitter.com/knotpic.

      Good luck to you both!

39. QUESTION:
    Remarriage timing after death of spouse?
    Looking for some insight. Say a man’s wife died in September of 2007. By February 2008 he had met a new woman and she moved into his home with his 8 year old daughter. By June, announce your wedding plans for March or 2009. What do you think of of timeline? Appropriate or not? Any thoughts on the actions of the man or the woman? Should the deceased wife’s family be ok with this?

    • ANSWER:
      Each person moves ahead in life at their own comfort level. I know people that have never dated or remarried after losing a spouse, and then there are others that just move forward as soon as possible. A lot of it depends on the type of marriage they had, their feelings about that deceased spouse, and what they truly want out of the rest of their life. When my husband passed away I started dating 4 months later, but we had a platonic relationship because he had an 8 year affair 17years before his death. Now I’m dedicated to getting my college degree and I’m happy dating the man in my life right now. If marriage enters the picture it won’t be until well after I graduate.

40. QUESTION:
    Wedding Dress Problem?
    I’m not getting married yet, but I have an upcoming surgery on my left shoulder that will leave a two inch scar on the front. I’m fine with the surgery (a bone graft), but I’m upset because I always wanted a strapless wedding dress.

    Does anyone have words of advice/encouragement that I’ll be able to have my dream dress without problems? My boyfriend and I have discussed getting married and the timeline falls at the point that my scar would be healed but red (and maybe stretched, as is common with front shoulder scars). I don’t want to wait much longer because we’re moving west and it would be hard to plan a wedding from a province away.

    • ANSWER:
      You have a couple of choices. First of all, you need to decide which is more important, having a strapless dress or not showing a scar. Once you make and fully accept that decision, everything else will fall into place.

      Let’s see….you can decide that you are going to wear a strapless dress, regardless of the scar. So then you look into make-up that covers up scars. Keep in mind that you will be hugging people all day and your make-up may rub off on their clothing. Or your scar may show through. A spray tan may help conceal the scar somewhat. Having had a bone graft is part of who you are, so be proud of the scar. You can have the scar digitally removed from the photos if you hire a quality photographer, but each time they remove the scar in photos, it will cost you money. Although, keep in mind that the photos that people order directly from the photographer will still have your scar.

      Your other choice is that you decide that you would be too self conscious with the scar showing, so you need a dress that would cover the scar. You could get an off the shoulder dress…so one shoulder is bare. That might be a good compromise. Many strapless dresses also can be made/altered with straps. So try on all the strapless dresses you want and talk to the sales woman about your issue and she can show you different things that they can do for you. She does this for a living, so see what she suggests.

      And even if you buy a dress and have straps sewn in, you always have the option on your wedding day of having the straps up or down…based on how comfortable you feel.

41. QUESTION:
    in need of a free,comprehensive,detailed wedding checklist and worksheets online???please help asap xx?
    my sister has asked me to plan her wedding at short notice . its a june wedding and im a novice ,no experience..so id love some help with checklists,worksheets ,timeline sheets ,budget sheets…if u could help it would be brill..thank u soo much xxxx
    ps..i dont mind if u have all the elements from different websites it ok..

    thank you in advance xx

    • ANSWER:
      Another website that I LOVE to frequent besides the one mentioned before me is www.bestdestinationwedding.com

      I know it isn’t a destination wedding, but a lot of brides will post things like this on the website to share with other brides.

42. QUESTION:
    Timing Wedding Invite Mailing? Should I feel bad it is near relative’s bridal shower?
    Background: Now-Fiance & I were talking marriage in Summer ’07. He ordered ring in Fall & because of long-distance relationship we began planning before I had my ring. He had a cousin marry in Oct ’07 & we knew another cousin was planning for Oct ’08. We decided on Oct ’09 and after I got the ring @ Christmas ’07 we issued engagement announcements in Jan ’08 stating our date – 10/31/09 (yes, nearly 2 full years notice).
    In 2008, we selected our reception venue & gave non-refundable deposit. We love the venue & are not going to change it (so please don’t suggest that).
    The venue has an unusual timeline because it is on a military installation. We must provide the legal names of all guests attending & pay the balance for catering 60 days before the event – - that is August 31, 2009.
    In the ‘normal’ world, you wouldn’t send invites out until that time, so we realize it is goofy and have verbally informed much of our families.
    We setup a schedule to send the invites out at the beginning of July so guests would have about 6 weeks to book a room at the hotel where we have a block of rooms (block lifts 8/15/09) and give us their RSVP for the wedding so we meet the 8/31/09 deadline.
    Everything was going smoothly until I got a bridal shower invite for a cousin’s wedding (fiance’s family) which will be on July 11th.

    Is this girl going to think I’m evil if I send my wedding invites out as I had planned and they all arrive just before her shower?
    Should I just sit on them until after her shower and give guests less time to RSVP? They would still have about a month.
    I feel bad because I don’t want her to think I’m trying to ‘steal her thunder’ or anything. I don’t know her well at all (she seems very nice, but she is the girlfriend of my now-fiance’s cousin & lives out of state so I’ve only met her a handful of times) and I don’t feel it would be right to call her and ask her feelings about it.

    So, YA Users – what should I do?
    ~ remember, changing venues is not an option, I just have to work with their unusual schedule ~
    Ivy – We included a note about our venue’s requirements with our save-the-date cards and are repeating it in the actual invitation.
    We also did RSVP’s where we put #___ of __2__ accepts

    And I filled in the 2 (or other appropriate #) so the people fully understand exactly who and how many are invited to the wedding.

    • ANSWER:
      Oh no, no… not a big deal at all!!!
      Weddings happen every day and people need to realize that they get one day not an entire year or however long it takes them to plan it.

      You’re not stealing thunder at all, you’re just inviting people to an event. The B2B probably won’t even notice.

43. QUESTION:
    I’m so confused about the wedding…?
    Okay so I have a pink and gold color scheme for my wedding. Both my reception and ceremony will be in a beautiful hotel.
    Here is the timeline of the wedding:
    1 week before: Bachlor/ette parties, my wedding hair and makeup trial run.
    Day before: Tux pick-up, rehearsal dinner, rehearsal. Everyone checks in to the hotel rooms we’ll be staying in for the night. (I get the bridal suite, a room for my four bridesmaids, a room for the groom, one for the groomsmen and two for our parents, also out of town guests) We’ll be staying in the hotel so we don’t have to waste time driving over with stuff the day of.
    Day of: Wake up, get ready, if the timing is right, it will go like this:
    10:00. Everyone awake, breakfast.
    10:30. Makeup artist and hairstylists arrive.
    11:00. Bridesmaids and mom(s) begin to get ready and done up.
    11:30. Bouquets, centerpieces, linens, etc. arrive (wedding planner)
    1:30. Bridesmaids and parents should have makeup and hair finished
    1:45: Light and quick lunch
    2:00. I get my hair and makeup done
    3:30. Dresses get on, a few pictures with my friends.
    4:00. Guests should be getting seated
    4:15. Ceremony
    5:00. Cocktail hour, photos with wedding party
    6:00. Guests go into the reception room. (Me and groom get a sneak peek. and photos are taken with it empty)
    6:15. We are announced and 1st dance
    6:30. Toasts
    6:45. Dinner is brought out by the servers (5 courses)
    8:00. Dancing, festivities (bouquet toss?)
    9:45. Cake cutting
    10:15. More dancing and celebrating.
    10:45. Last dance
    11:00. We leave.

    That is the timeline my coordinator gave me. He said that the centerpieces and boquets might be delievered earlier and that he will make sure that everything is there. Also, my parents and wedding planner will be delievering the presents to my/our townhouse before they leave.
    Does it sound like a plan? (sorry its so long)
    Thanks.

    • ANSWER:
      Ditto daVIDica. The timings all sound about right, you hired the planner so that you did not have to worry about this stuff. Let her work her magic

44. QUESTION:
    Need some opinions on food at our wedding?
    With where we are having the wedding we have to do the catering through them. We are planning on having around 200 guests. Right now our timeline is a social hour from 5 to 6. 6 to 7 would be time to eat or munch. And then 7 to 8 would be toasts and such from best man or whatever. 8-12 would be dance. If we choose a dinner it would be chicken breast, red potatos, and veggies. The total rough cost of this would be 3000. The other way of going is getting barbecue meatballs, chicken wings, shrimp, augratin potatos, scalloped potatoes, and 2 types of salads and dinner rolls. The cost of this would be roughly 1200.
    We would like to save some money on the food but would it be wrong not to feed our guests an actual dinner? And if we just do the appetizers they definately won’t be limited to 2 meatballs, 2 wings, etc. There will be enough to go around.
    With the money we would save by doing this we want to get a photo booth.
    But its both of our parents that are tryhing to put in our head that we need to feed a dinner.

    Just would like some thoughts on what other people think

    • ANSWER:

45. QUESTION:
    Wedding day “agenda” ~ does it work?
    Ok, we are trying to plan the events that will take place on our wedding day, here is the timeline we have so far:

    9am: Me, my mom (& bridesmaids?) go to the reception site to finish last minute decorations (MOST of this will have been done the day before)

    10am-12pm: Hair, makeup & get dressed.

    12pm: Leave for the ceremony site.

    12:30-1:30pm Take some pics (Me, my family & bridemaids only ~ won’t see fiance until after ceremony)

    1:30pm Go back inside & wait =( While the boys get some pics taken. The ceremony is at 2:30pm, so we figure the boys will have pics done until a lot of guests start to arrive ~ then they will quit the pics & start to usher/seat the guests.

    2:30pm Ceremony

    3:30pm-4:30pm finish the photos. I HOPE we don’t have to wait until 3:30 to do this, but want to leave ample time to great guests, etc. after the ceremony. The reception will be held at another location, so hopefully guests will start to leave shortly after the ceremony.
    I forgot to add that the agenda for the boys ~ they will be at the ceremony site at 11am to set up chairs/wedding arch (we have to do this ourselves.)
    Hopefully they will be done by the time we arrive at 12:30pm. They can go inside & get dressed while we are getting our pics taken.

    This leaves them an hour to get dressed ~ does it take longer than that for men to get ready???? They will already be shaved/showered, etc.
    Jessica S: Oooohhhh ~ I will definately freak if it doesn’t work out Maybe I should open the champagne early?

    • ANSWER:
      that sounds just right. i might have to steal your schedule.
      i’ll alter it a tad since my wedding is at 3pm.

      you have it all laid out properly. congrats!!

      ps – i’ll have the wine flowing by lunch time myself – join me in a drink pre wedding!!
      it will keep us calm and collected
      just don’t drink too much then you have to tinkle with that dress on – ugh!

46. QUESTION:
    How long is Army Officer training?
    I plan on becoming an Officer in the Army. I’m trying to get a timeline for a wedding for after when (if) I get commissioned.

    I understand I’d have to go to Basic training (9 weeks), and then on to OCS (14 weeks), but once I got commissioned, from there on out how long would I be in training til I’m at my first post? Thanks a million.

    • ANSWER:
      I can’t speak for all the branches, but I spent about 6 months total at my Armor Officers Basic course which included one follow on course of three weeks. I reported to my duty station about two weeks after that.

47. QUESTION:
    Wedding dinner question!?
    ok so i want to have an outdoor wedding and i wanted it to end by like 7 (early one) but i want it to go into the night now so i was thinking if it started at 3 it would end at like 10 that would be great but then i have to push the dinner back from like 6 to 7. is that too late for lunch? it would be a late lunch or maybe just lunch for dinner!

    help! how should i set up my timeline it needs to be seven hours total with the meal at the third hour and go into the night for a while and i dont want it to be too late becuase i was planning on serving lunch

    THANKS!!
    CORRECTION: they won’t be waiting 3 hours. the ceremony is from 3 to 4 then photosfrom 4 to 5 the cocktails and hor dourves from 5 to 6. and fyi 7 hours is the average length of a wedding and dinner is usually served during the third hour which i why i wrote that.
    i can’t beeilve people are saying 10 is too late for it to end most wedding have i been to go past midnight!

    • ANSWER:
      Well, have a cocktail hour and light snacks and then a hour or so later do lunch but normally lunch is at noon for most people so yeah.

48. QUESTION:
    Question for wedding photographers?
    Are you asked/required to have a backup camera? I am jumping into photography, I say jumping because I am buying very good professional equipment, I have a 5d mark 2, 4 L series lenses, etc on order. I’m getting all my orders EXCEPT the 5d mark 2 early next week.

    There is no timeline when I’ll get the 5d mark 2, I ordered it last week through ritz, and seems it can be a few weeks to several months.

    If I really need a backup camera, or it will hurt business, and so I can start practicing, I was considering getting maybe a cannon 30D or 40D, something under ,000 that takes good quality pictures, I can use my lenses on, etc.

    So in wedding photography, can you get away with one or will you loose business because they want piece of mind of a backup, AND which model would you suggest? Again I wasn’t planning on getting a 2nd camera so quick, but I’m eager to start practicing and if I need a backup anyway, now is the time to do it while I await my 5d mark 2.

    • ANSWER:
      Do not even think about doing a wedding without a back-up camera. Imagine the bride walking down the isle with her father, 150 guests watching on, you line up for the perfect shot…….and your camera fails! You say “STOP. Please just wait here, I have to go to the shops and buy another camera. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours”

      Sounds rather ridiculous, but it is a reality that you could easily face. I have a Nikon D200 sitting in the bottom of my camera bag that never gets used. I wish I could sell it, but I’m not that brave. I had a high end digital slr fail on me before.

      Some people may ask you if you have a back-up camera, and some may go a step further and ask if your back-up is of equal quality to your main camera/s. I would suggest a Canon 30D or similar as a back-up. It doesn’t have to be new. You will also need a back-up flash, batteries, memory cards and so on. Also, secondhand is just fine.

      All the best in your new career.

49. QUESTION:
    Help me figure out my reception timeline?
    Reception starts at 5:30 and ends at 10:30. We will have cake cutting, garter toss, bouquet toss for our special events. Also we will have mother groom dance, father daughter dance. But no other special dances, other people are welcome to dance following those two dances.

    Groom and I plan to sneak away at 10 pm. GM will put the gifts in the getaway car with us and we will go home that night (mini moon takes place the next day.)

    So, given these events we will have at our wedding…how would you orchestrate the reception timeline? How would you arrange it timewise?

    Thanks!
    What order would you put the events in? That’s the most important thing, is the order of events and the times allowed for each event. OH and I also forgot we will also have TOAST….and I don’t know what order the people give their toasts in.
    The moh will give a toast, best man will give a toast, our parents might each want to give a toast…I’m not sure about that one.
    I’m sorry I totally forgot bride groom dance

    • ANSWER:
      if your reception starts at 5:30, you should plan to have your grand entrance at about 5:45. the length of time you will need to do this depends upon how many people are in your bridal party.

      normally, the bride and grooms grandparents and their perspective escorts go first and then the bride and grooms parents, followed by the wedding party attendents in the same order they walked down the aisle. last of course will be you and your new husband.

      the weddings i have done recently have begun a new trend of doing the first dance…the bride and groom dance…right at the beginning. the wedding party stands around the dance floor and the bride and groom go right into their dance as soon as they are introduced. then everyone takes their seats.

      the meal sevice will come first. you should alot 45 minutes to one hour for that, depending upon how many guests and whether or not it is a served meal or buffet.

      near the end of the meal, the best man and moh of honor toasts take place. if your father wants to give you a toast, this would be a good time to do it, then you can naturally lead into the father/daughter dance. when the dance is just over half way done, have your dj ask the other fathers and daughters to join you on the floor. guests love this and it keeps them from getting bored with just watching you dance.

      then, if the groom’s mother wishes to give a toast, it is an easy lead in for the mother/groom dance. a really nice symbolic thing to do is for the mother to lead her son to you and let the two of you finish the dance together while the dj invites everyone to joint you all on the floor. then the dj announces the floor is open for dancing and you can begin to socialize with your new husband and go around speaking to all of your guests.

      all of that will bring you to about 8pm or so. at that point, you can ask the guests to be seated once again for the cake cutting and service. give that about 30 to 45 minutes, again depending upon how many guests you have. and then go back to dancing and socializing.

      have the bouquet and garter toss at about 9:30 to 9:45 and then do whatever you have planned to do with the two who catch them…whether it is a special dance or photos of them on each other’s laps or whatever. that way the focus can be off of you and your new husband as you sneak away at 10pm. after you do that have your parents or parent give the “thank you for coming” speech and the dj announce the last dance.

      i do want to mention that sneaking away is going to rob your guests of one of the most fun and highly anticipated parts of the reception..the bride and groom send off. most people really look forward to showering the couple with bubbles, birdseed, rose petals, confetti or lighting sparklers or whatever while they run out to their waiting limo or get away car. too bad you are planning to take that away from them.

50. QUESTION:
    Info for bridesmaids?
    On Sunday I’m hosting a brunch for my bridesmaids. This will be the first “official” meeting to discuss the wedding. I was going to give them a packet with basic info like the planning timeline, what I need to do and what I’ve already done, etc. just so we are all on the same page. Other stuff included would be pictures of bridesmaids gowns I liked, favors I was looking at, the invitation we chose, etc.

    I don’t want or expect the bridesmaids to keep them, but I just want the information to be available/at hand for each of them for the duration of the brunch.

    Anyway, so my question is this: do you think it will be considered bridezilla-ish for me to do that? I already know it’s a little type A, but I just don’t want to seem like I’m being too controlling or asking too much of them.

    PS – My mom was also thinking of getting them bridesmaids books. Not sure exactly what, but I think like a “guide.” I feel that that is definitely being a little over the top, but she’s set on it. What do you guys think?

    • ANSWER:
      I think it’s a good idea. I think they need to be informed of what is going on and I think they would appreciate you incorporating them into the wedding a little more.