So you want to get married? Here are a couple things you need to do. First of all you need to at least allow 1 year for planning. Believe me when I say my wedding barely conformed to the 1-year thing. My wife’s dress alone took 5 months to get.
You need to go to your county Courthouse (in the county where you will be married) to apply for a license and get your blood tested (they will help you with that).
Go buy a wedding planner book! It is Very helpful.
Start reserving stuff as soon as possible. Don’t call a church a month before you need it because chances are it will be occupied and its plain rude. There are many people besides you that are getting married (don’t forget that funerals are at churches as well).
Other possible things to reserve:
- Decorations (candles,lights and other stuff some churches have this but not many).
- Caterer for food.
- Reception Area (can be the church if they have room)
- Honeymoon - Expect to spend at least $1500 or so.
You need to sit with your future wife and decide how many people you want to come and who. Make a list! Remember if you cater food it will cost about $8 a plate. Always expect about 75% of the people to show but never cut down on the food. If you invited 100 people you better have enough food for them. It’s a bad thing to run out of food. Send the invitations out about 4 –6 months before the wedding so they have to have time to reply. I sent everyone a self addressed and STAMPED return envelope. I spent about $60 on stamps that day.
Find your bestman / Maid of honor and groomsmen / bridesmaids. Fortunately they pay for their own dresses and tux’s. However, the bridesmaid’s dresses can take a while to get so earlier the better. The wedding party requires small gifts at the reception. My wife let the bridesmaids keep their jewelry. I bought all my groomsmen a nice pocketknife.
You will get a lot of money from your wedding! So don’t fret too much. Register for wedding gifts at nice stores like Sears, JC Penney, or similar. Remember you need things like plates, towels, washcloths, and all that stuff you take for granted at your parents house. Make sure you tell your guests in their invitations what store(s) your registered at.
Registering at a store like Sears is awesome. They give you a hand scanner and you run around the store scanning all the things you would like for your wedding. Then they dump all the info into the computer and compile a list. When your guests go out to buy you a gift, they can print out the list at any Sears in the U.S.A.. Once they buy your gift, it gets deleted off the list. No more getting 10 toasters for your wedding! Awesome idea!
These are just a few things you can do. Every Wedding is different and you are welcome to experiment. Make sure you have enough time to do everything you want. You will find that planning a wedding is crazy and expect numerous mental blocks. It gets worse as you get closer to THAT DAY. Remember to keep calm and the honeymoon is right after!
I have seen weddings planned in a month! There should be warning labels all over that for RISK OF HEART ATTACK! Don’t believe me? Try it yourself…
Have a wonderful wedding! Remember that it is fun and something you will remember forever.