Getting Dazes and Confused Already

[mengarelli09:)]

I know my wedding is a year and a half away but I am getting stressed with the where’s and when’s and the input of the husband-to-be. I am getting help from my good friend Kellie about just put it down and come back to it and I have done that. May be this will help line me out any help will do....

What I know I want:
Outside Wedding site
Simple Dress
Fun Atmosphere
Save Money


What I am confused about:
Invitation Style (Should I DIY)
When do you send out the save the date
Who to invite
Should I include the Husband-to-be

[lalalola]

You should always asked your FH's opinion but be prepared that he might not care at all and say "its nice" to everything u show him.

Definately get him to make up a guest list for his side!!!!

Sounds like u r on the right track. You are a year and half out and already has some good theme idea's!!!!!! Some brides have absolutely no clue what they want!!!!

[Sk8ermaiden]

What I am confused about:

Invitation Style (Should I DIY) - Yes, if you find a style you like that is DIYable. It is a lot of work, but you also have two extra slaves.

When do you send out the save the date - I think 9 months ahead of time is what I've seen most. But it can really range from 6-12 months.

Who to invite - Well that's up to y'all. We kept it to only famly we regularly see, or would regularly see if they lived closer. And friends, of course.

Should I include the Husband-to-be - Absolutely. You will need his support and for him to talk you down from the ledge at least a few times. He will be much more sympathetic to you, and the planning process will be less stressful on your relationship if he knows what is going on and that his opinion is valued. Plus, the more involved he is, the more he recognizes just how much work you're doing.

:p But I'm sure you want the opinions of people you don't see every week.

[Raychel]

:word:^^^^ITA!

[MsJessica07]

Hi, those are all great questions, and I have to tell you, you are not alone!

I'm gonna answer your specific questions, since you asked ;) and I'm sure a lot of other girls will jump right in as well. :welcome: to MLW!

I. Invitation Style: It is totally up to you and your budget. We made great invites using premade pocketfolds (www.cardsandpockets.com (http://www.cardsandpockets.com)) and inserts etc. that I designed myself. There are a lot of great places on the web to look, and we have a lot of great threads of invites as well.

II. Save the Dates depends on your situation: If you have a lot of people coming from out of town or everyone you know is very busy, at least 6 months in advance for the save the dates. Ours went out in February for our Labor Day weekend wedding, which is just about 6 months. Otherwise, sometimes Save-the-Dates aren't needed. Also, if you plan on doing magnets for Save-the-Dates, use something like VistaPrint rather than a specialized website for Save-the-Date magnets to save yourself a bundle.

III. Who to Invite: Also, depends on your situation. Some people have a strict limit (i.e. space limits or budget constraints) and so they start there. Others just started brainstorming lists (i.e. family members, family friends, friends from school/work/etc) of people and worked out what kind of numbers they were looking at. For instance, we realized that we would invite a lot more people than we thought because my husband's mom has a huge family. In the end, our wedding was about the same size as we'd hoped for because a lot of people couldn't come from out of town.

My general rule of thumb is that you invite people with whom you want to share that day with and that will make it feel like a special occassion. For me, having family was great but it was a group of 6 of my friends that made the real difference.

IV. Including Husband-to-Be: Well, does he want to be included? If so, figure out how that works. A lot of brides here did a lot of the legwork, narrowing something down to three or four choices that they would be happy with and having their fiances put in their opinion to make the decision final. He may not be into it, or he might be like my husband and have a specific opinion about certain parts of the event and have no idea about other parts (like the aisle runner...:lol:).

Some women like it better if their husband-to-be isn't as interested, because it allows them a lot of creative freedom. I liked that my husband was very interested, because it was his day as well as mine.

Hope that helped! Obviously this is all my opinion and I don't know a lot about your situation, but take it in and think about it. You do have a lot of time, but time is always marching on!

[Sk8ermaiden]

A lot of brides here did a lot of the legwork, narrowing something down to three or four choices that they would be happy with and having their fiances put in their opinion to make the decision final. He may not be into it, or he might be like my husband and have a specific opinion about certain parts of the event and have no idea about other parts (like the aisle runner...:lol:).



This is how I handled it and how Chris was. Flowers - didn't care, colors - didn't care, linens - didn't care. Cake, cake topper, tuxes, location, ceremony - CARED - a lot. Girls who cut guys out of the planning are the reson for all the stereotypes about the wedding being only for the woman. I HATE those stereotypes. :shakefist:

[MsJessica07]

This is how I handled it and how Chris was. Flowers - didn't care, colors - didn't care, linens - didn't care. Cake, cake topper, tuxes, location, ceremony - CARED - a lot. Girls who cut guys out of the planning are the reson for all the stereotypes about the wedding being only for the woman. I HATE those stereotypes. :shakefist:

I agree about those stereotypes..:shakefist:

I did a lot of narrowing down of things, like, I found ten cake designs that I liked, and then we settled on a favorite. I narrowed cake flavors to the ones I'd eat (I'm pickier) and asked which he'd like. Those were the kinds of things he didn't mind too much about and I just got his opinion. Some things, like the marriage contract and the workings of the ceremony he was very particular and interested in, but he didn't understand the aisle runner (and why I wanted it to be blue on the white floor...) until I explained a little. I think our wedding was enriched exponentially but him being involved, but I also knew that there were a lot of things about event planning in general and wedding planning in specific that I was more interested in.

[km]

:snowflake:

What I am confused about:
Invitation Style (Should I DIY)
If you feel like taking the project on go ahead....
Simple design to match your wedding
When do you send out the save the date
I have received them 4 months before

Who to invite
invite who you want to have at your wedding and what you can afford
Should I include the Husband-to-be
Yes, you pay for everyone, but you don't need to send an invitation just include them in your budget.

[km]

more on save the date cards I found on the web.

Since Save the Date cards are used as a preliminary invitation to your wedding, they should be sent at least 4 months before the wedding, which is about 2 months before your wedding invitations will be in the mail. Save the Dates are not necessary, but are especially important if many of your friends and family will have to travel to your wedding location or if your wedding date falls on or around any holidays. You may want to consider sending them out even earlier, especially if your wedding is taking place at a popular destination or vacation spot.