Wedding Planner & Planning Scrapbook

[*MAR*]

"Really....You did all this in two days?" - haaaaaaaaaaaaaaha ha ha.
That is hilarious! Aw, boys are so cute.

Don't worry, you'll be grand, you'll be great. You've got nearly 9 months. I got engaged February of '07 and got married July of '07. If I can do it in five months, you could do it twice in 9 months - I have no doubt!

Can't wait to see your planning take shape. Be sure to post us lots of pics!
Have you been to Snippet & Ink yet? Ooooooh, inspiration land. I still go to look at the website for colour combo inspiration. I love the inspiration boards.
http://snippetandink.blogspot.com/

[LinzSerena]

I was a little panicked about trying to plan (mostly b/c I work full time and go to grad school full time), but my fiance has jumped in head first and has been working on everything for me; contacting vendors & negotiating deals, researching photographers, etc. His mother is very "martha-stewarty" so she's all about helping with stuff as well. I am thinking that at this pace, we might have most of it planned by the end of my Xmas break from school.
To ask me, he made a fake "Save-The-Date" for our own wedding, which had the church & reception info (which he booked ahead of time!), so the hardest two things are already done.

[*MAR*]

Now THAT'S what I call confidence! He booked the church & reception hall before he proposed? Hmmm, sounds like it was a done deal! How cute too, making a faux save the date to propose. Sounds like you've got a sweet one that is creative too! Good luck with the planning vacation. (Christmas? What Christmas? This is our planning holiday break!) 

[thekster]

OK... this is how stupid I am. We've had a 3 year long engagement and with less than 3 months to go, I'm just now seriously starting to do stuff for the wedding.
So I figured, the first real step should be to get organized. Then Linz pulled this topic back up and reminded me, so I'm finally going to get started on reorganizing my binder.
I went to a bridal show yesterday with my fiance and got lots of business cards, so I tried to find a business card page... I hate Walmart. They never friggin have anything I need.
But yay, for finally getting organized and yay for having helpful craftsters to help!

[*MAR*]

I got my business card holder pages at Target, but they have them at Office Depot and Office Max. If you have either of those down there. hth

[LinzSerena]

I think I got mine @ staples or office max... I've also become addicted to excel spreadsheets and have one set up for each and every type of vendor that I contact/email/visit website. It helps once the phone calls and emails get crazy so you can remember what you liked/disliked about each vendor and try to negotiate. 

I can email a blank worksheet if you'd like.

-Lindsey

[thekster]

hahah my fiance is a financial analyst so he uses Exel every day, and he was dissatisfied with the way I used Word for a spreadsheet-type thing, so he made his own in Excel. On a semi-related note, he's driving me NUTS. But thanks, that's a good idea! I really think that after tomorrow, I can chunk all the business cards we have anyway cuz we've decided where we want (finally! woo!) and they do pretty much everything. *sigh of relief*

[LinzSerena]

So even though when my fiance proposed, he had the chapel & reception area set up - we ended up switching locations too. We're also going with a place that does it all. It's soooo much easier that way and honestly, I just don't have the time/patience for more in depth planning than what I'm doing already.
We both are spreadsheet geeks and had each venue that we contacted in an excel spreadsheet. Each time they offered a "deal" (free ceremony, free chairs, less cost per person, etc), we'd update the number in excel and it would calculate out the total for each place (incl tax/tip). It was nice to negotiate when you can say "well, that only saves us $300.."
p.s. - men can drive us crazy... this week he managed to get my ring lost in the mail after it was sent for resizing... let's just say that didn't go over well... thankfully i got my ring back, but sheesh!!

[thekster]

Well despite the fact that you guys have changed your location(s) it's still an awesome way that he proposed to you. I don't know about you, but I feel a lot better knowing that we went with a place that does it all.
Haha that's cool that you can put that stuff into a spreadsheet. I don't think my finace has thought of that, as a way to negotiate deals. We're not really ones that like to negotiate ANYTHING and pretty much just go with what ppl tell us to pay or don't buy it at all. We're lame.
So where did you end up booking?
Oh man, lost in the mail? I know how that feels! (Well, the losing part, not the mail part...or the getting it back part.) I'm glad you got yours back though. It's a horrible feeling to lose something like that.

[LinzSerena]

Well we have to wait until Monday to confirm location & book (the owner is on vacation.. can you believe it???)
I'm looking forward to going to a place that does it all. I'll let you know once we have it finalized. Their centerpieces aren't ideal, but I don't care.. since I don't have to do them
I just want to be like a groom & show up and have it all done for me

As for negotiation - I TOTALLY recommend it. A lesson that someone taught me years ago was whenever someone tells you a price (no matter what it is).. ALWAYS say "I assume that's negotiable". You'd be amazed. That statement almost always results in a "Yes" or "of course it is!". I rarely pay sticker price on anything.

Hopefully next week I'll have more planned. I'm back in school as of Monday, but I'm hoping to get something done in between classes.

-Lindsey