9 months and counting

We've hit the 9 month mark! This is when it starts to get serious. Typically when you hit this stage you should order your wedding cake, organise flowers, sort your guest list, organise the honeymoon and start looking at wedding rings.....because we're pretty organised all we need to do is book the honeymoon (deposit being paid soon), get the flowers sorted (meeting with the florist next week) and we're picked our rings, just need to order them this week.

Other things you might want to think about are how you might want to organise your table plan, what favours you might want to have, do you need to buy any thank you gifts? These are all little things that might not seem too important, but believe me once you start thinking about the little bits and pieces there's no getting away from it all!!

Make a list of what needs to be done by the end of each month, that way you get the feeling of achievement when you score something off the list and also it's a great way of keeping track of what's been done and indeed what there is still to do. Remember to include any payments to be made on your to do list - in our case we have monthly payments to the videography company so I have that on the list for each month to remind me that a payment needs to be made.

To Do List

Right as a basic starting point this is the sort of to do list that I worked from:

1. Groom (pick one!)
2. Pick a date
3. Pick a ceremony type
4. Pick venue
5. Pick attendants (bridesmaids, best man etc)
5. Draw up a rough guest list so you have an idea of numbers
6. Think about colours/themes/ideas
7. Keep a scrapbook for dress ideas/reception ideas/general ideas
8. Research photographers
9. Research videographers if you want one
10. Think about dresses - use your scrapbook for ideas of that you like in a dress and take that with you for trying on dresses.
11. Make bookings
12. Research wedding cars
13. Look into stationery
14. Start thinking about favours and thank you gifts for important people
15. Pick readings for ceremony (and music if applicable)
16. Wedding cake!!
17. Organise the groom - what's he going to wear?
18. Pick a menu for the wedding banquet
19. Research wedding make up and hair
20. Make sure you have all the relevant paperwork in order!!

That's just a rough guide, there are no doubt things missed off, but as you go along you end up adding extras to the list, merging bits together and then taking things off the list when you change your mind!!

Steps to being a "Super Bride"

As we all know planning a wedding can be a costly business! As soon as you mention the "wedding" word, prices seem to skyrocket and suddenly you're thinking it might be better to elope.
There are so many ways to save money when planning your wedding, for instance you could buy a dress from the High Street from the likes of Littlewoods, Marks & Spencer, Monsoon? They sell some really pretty dresses and at a fraction of the price of bridal shops they are a steal! Failing that when you're dress shopping tell the assistants in the bridal shop your budget and that way they will point out dresses that you can afford and steer you away from the ones that will break the bank.

Other ways to save are to hunt around for bargains, eBay will soon become a favourite for many brides to be. You'd be amazed at the things you will find on there! So far I've managed to get all the favours, favour boxes, thank you gifts, cuff links for the attendants and many other things from shops on eBay and at very good prices. So long as you're not afraid of hard work this route might be for you!

Often a lot of brides to be want to make their own stationery, which for those who are creative and not in any way artistically challenged, it's a great way to save money. Again EBay will have the bits and bobs you need, failing that there are many websites out there with everything you will need. But if like me you want something professional looking then there are a variety of shops, sites etc to buy stationery from or you can have it custom designed for you to suit your theme. Some of the stationery and gifts for our wedding is coming from www.littletigercreations.com which is run by a close friend of mine. She has been great and helped me work out what I wanted from my stationery and made my ramblings turn into an actual creation.

For the cars, do you know anyone with a "posh" car? Does your uncle drive a Rolls Royce? Can you sweet talk him into taking you to the church/hotel? Failing that ask the car companies if they offer any discount for booking more than one car, or if they would give you discount if you are only needing the car for a short time? It's worth asking, you never know you might get £50 off the price and at the end of the day wouldn't you rather the £50 in your pocket?!