Lafayette - I think that is a great way to personalize your wedding! That is what we are trying to do, little personal touches that have sentimental value to us! That's one of the reasons we are getting married in Mendocino, it's a special place to us and something we want to share with our friends and family.

Shannon

I feel like we've made so many big decisions already that we will be a year away from the wedding with nothing to do! We've already:

Decided on a venue, date, officiant, photographer, florist, baker
Decided on cake design, flowers, ceremony decorations, reception decorations, centerpieces, style, theme, colors, and invitations!

A few pics of what we have planned, my bouquet, Shelley's lei and the invitations we will order:

You do have a lot done, Shannon!

Trust me, I have everything organized and ahead of schedule, too, and there are some things you just can't do ahead of time. There will still be plenty to do! You'll still have seating charts and placecards, if you make them. Plus, most brides wait to create and print their programs until the last month before the wedding, too.

I'm having my invitations printed two months before they need to be in the mail so I have plenty of time to stuff them. Thank God the printer is doing the names and addresses when he does the return addresses on the envelopes so that horrible chore is done!

Are you registering anywhere? That can be a fun next step! We actually found our band at Macy's...

Hello ladies,
Can I join in the fun? My name is Karis and I was once a member...but I don't even remember what my screen name was!
Anywho, I am marrying my hunny May 17th and am trying to lose some weight before I have to buy a dress this spring!
We are doing things a little differently in that we are having a destination wedding with immediate family and then a reception for all our family and friends when we get back.

Hi Karis!

The married away and return reception idea sounds awesome! How much weight are you looking to lose?

What kind of dress are you getting?

Lafayette, thanks for the welcome!

I am going to try and lose 30 pounds- I think I managed to make a ticker

I am getting a real beachy dress for the ceremony that will be in Hawaii, we are planning on bare feet and pretty laid back. I may just get a white sun dress from J Crew or something like that.

I'm getting something different for the reception- I will try to find a pic to post!

I guess I will have to do it some other time because I don't have 10 posts yet!

I still haven't figured out how to post pictures... I was just thinking the other day that I would post before and after photos if it weren't for the awful before photos seeing the light of day in that scenario!

Just wanted to pop in and say "hi" to the newcomers Karis and Shannon (I'm a Shannon too )

Shannon - You have so much done, I am put to shame! I really love your e bands, so pretty!

Karis - A destination wedding sounds so fun! The sales lady said the dress I picked out (pix here) is very popular for traveling brides, our wedding is in the city we live in but the ceremony is outdoors in a garden so a little informal.

Lafayette - Sorry about your aunt and her spawn Hopefully it doesn't ruin your party!

Shananigans, thanks for the welcome and I love your dress! how pretty! I will try to hang around more so I can post pictures soon of what I want

I just noticed how similar our "boats" are! I am getting married May 17th and have almost the exact same weight goals! Cool.

I'm trying to get to 145 by Thanksgiving... my original goal was 140 but I'll settle for what's realistic and hope for the best! These last pounds are taking an awful lot of effort to drop! At 135, I order my wedding dress! Wish me luck!

How's everyone else faring?

Just wanted to say hi to all of you - I miss you now that I don't have wedding updates to report!

hope you all are managing your stress as well as you can!

Hi all - I saw this forum and just wanted to jump in and say a big resounding "HELLO!" I just got engaged on October 21 and haven't really started yet on any wedding plans. I've been thinking about it a lot, have looked at different places for the ceremony, looked at dresses online, talked to my parents about it, but haven't settled on anything yet. I think we have settled on a venue (a winery out here in Virginia) and we are hopefully going to look at it this weekend and make a decision. I plan on going to look at wedding dresses in person some weekend soon, but probably won't seriously look until next spring. I will probably get something simple, but that looks right for a fall wedding (we are set on a weekend next October because I love Virginia falls so much.)

I weigh 147 right now, and would like to be down to 130 for the wedding. I have about 11 months to do it, and I think I can do it. I've lost 40 pounds in 7 months so I think with enough will power I can get down another 17 in 11 months. I would really love to look more toned for the wedding (especially my arms, they need a lot of work) but I am still happy that I will be smaller for my wedding than when I was at 187 in April.

I really have no idea about how to plan a wedding because I've never thought about it and was totally surpised by the engagement, so if any of you have any advice as to where to start with this whole process, I would surely welcome it!

NoVaVTFan, well I am now here myself but welcome!
AND CONGRATS!!!
A few words of advice on planning a wedding: Remember it is about the two of you, don't let your Mom, future mother in law or any other well intentioned person run the show.
Don't settle- you don't have to, it may take time and effort to find exactly what you want but you will.
I was married once before briefly in my early 20's and my mom ran the show. I had the "perfect" wedding in the historic home, beautiful flowers and elaborate linens and cake and gourmet seated dinner...and it was beautiful, but not "me", KWIM?
Now that I am marrying the man I should have waited for we are getting married on the beach in Maui with our immediate family and when we get back to Texas we are having a huge reception at a bbq restaurant in their banquet hall, twinkle lights and all with kegs of beer and all our friends and family.
I could not be happier we are doing it this way!
We have a great DJ, a laid back young photographer, we are getting invitations from a local shop and the girls there are so nice and genuinely helpful, the cakes are nothing "amazing" but really yummy! and the flowers are going to be Texas wildflowers and antique roses.

I think once you have a venue things will begin to fall into place. You can log into the Knot to see if they have vendors listed. I found my florist and photographer on there, I just looked at web sites until I saw what I thought would work for us.

I hope some of this makes sense and/or helps!
Good luck!

Karis

Here's the most important thing to remember while you're getting married...(use it like a mantra)...At The End of This Day, I will be My Beloved's, and My Beloved will be Mine".
I swear, it will not matter if the florist delivers old dead weeds, it will not matter if nobody comes to the ceremony, it will not matter if there's nothing but stale crackers to eat; all of that stuff will not matter. Because at the End of the Day, I will be Married to my Beloved Forever.
And that's when your life together really starts.