One thing I learned is you do not have to accomodate you inlaws friends. Family is one thing, but I limited the people at our wedding so it was a more intamate and special experiance for us. It is YOUR day, not your future mother in laws, and for her to give you a list like this already is IMO rude :mad: . (esp. if you are following tradition where the brides family pays for the wedding) Make it your day, make sure it makes you smile. I know there are a lot of people who have 300 people at their wedding, but that doesnt make it special, what makes it special are the details that are importian to you. You first song, your vows, and to have family and friends there. My wedding was small, but very memorable, and I can still name every person that attended, becaue I and Jerry choose them to share our day.

stepping off a my soapbox....

Congrats! I'm very excited for you! The first thing I would tell you is to invest in a wedding planning book. I had one from Barnes and Noble and it was like $30 but it was the best. It had all kinds of tips and stuff, and a budget maker (the most important thing I can think of is to set a budget and work from there!!!!) but also had little things for pics and stuff, so it became one big keepsake for the whole planning experience!

Also, buy your dress on sale! You will save a TON of money. I used to work at David's Bridal, and I think they offer one of the best plans for saving you and your wedding party money that I could find. But find the perfect dress....the day is all about you and him and you want to look perfect!

And, probably most importantly, take the time to enjoy the experience. Planning a wedding is a blast, and it should be fun time for you (and him if he chooses). Try your hardest not to stress, and realize that everything is as perfect as YOU want it to be, not everyone else!

Congratulations on your engagement.. It must have been a dream come true.. I have NO idea how to plan a wedding.. I am going to my brothers wedding this weekend (2morrow) and i know Maryanne, my future sister-in-law used weddingchannel.com and kept a journal with everything going on.. It is really cool... Good luck

Congratulations!!! I know how excited you must be and you have already received some great suggestions!! The only thing I can add [from experience] is ... get a pad & pencil, lock yourself alone and make some notes outlining what "you" want!! When you begin to hear your family, etc. telling "you have to do this & that", be polite, flip over several pages in your little pad & graciously make note of the suggestion/demand! Just let everyone know early on that it's "your" day and it will be beautiful!! In the final plan, organize your notes & write out your plan ... be firm & stick with it!! :rolleyes:

The other thing, to avoid absolutely ruining your wonderful memory, appoint one person [armed with a handgun! :) ] to be in charge of the lighting! Our pastor's wife [who couldn't hear it thunder!] turned off the sanctuary lighting that already been adjusted perfectly for a candlelight wedding with just enough to also have a perfect video!!! :eek: Yep, on our video, I look like a freakin' ghost coming down the isle on my son's arm!! :rolleyes: Instruct your "Lighting General" that if anyone comes within arms length of the lighting control, shoot to kill!!! ;) Seriously, as stressful as the day was, I just kept thinking ... I will be able to relax and enjoy all the great video of those things I cannot remember .... yeah, sure!! :p

Thanks again everyone. I'm having a sleepover at my mom's house tonight. She bought me a wedding planner book and we are going to get each other all pumped up. For some reason my mom is the only person that isn't stressing me out (yet!).

Congratulations on your engagement!!! I just wanted to write & quick note & let you know that (heaven forbid) if things go wrong, they will work themselves out. At my first wedding, my daughter (who was 2 at the time) was the flower girl and she played peek-a-boo with my dad the entire time. While I was freaking out about it, it ended up being one of the best things that happened that night. We got some awesome pics of her, and all of the guests thought that she was the cutest thing EVER!!!

AND....when it came time to finally marry the man of my dreams....we had our wedding planned and 2 days before we were to be married, he broke both of his legs in a motorcycle accident!!!!! :eek: So, on our wedding day, we were in the hospital, and 2 weeks later when we got home, we went to a JP and got married.......with him in his wheelchair and wearing matching t-shirts & shorts because that's all that he could put on. Honestly, as crazy as this sounds, it couldn't have been more perfect. I was so happy that he was still alive, I couldn't have valued him more at that time. I knew how lucky I was to have him.....and I still am. He is the most amazing man EVER.....and now we always have an exciting story to tell about our wedding ;)

Just enjoy whatever happens....and cherish every moment! Best wishes!!

COngratualtion!!!!!! That is so awesome :) . Im not one for formal huge weddings so when I got engaged I just wanted to get married!!!! So we just did a simple wedding. I also wanted to keep the cost low for my parents. My mom even made my bridesmaids outfits(she is who I get the sewing from :rolleyes: ). We had tons of people helps us like from my church and we made all the decorations ourselves. It was not a cutesy homemade loolking wedding- it was really nice looking. But anyways My mom did most of the planning(her close friend is a wedding coordinator so she was a huge help!) I just basically picked the colors and dress :D . Plus my my grandpa and my hubby's grandpa are both ministers. SO we had the wedding at my hubby's church. Basically our wedding was easy and we got the "hookup" for just about everything except my dress -that was the most exspensive thing:p .

I dont think I was much help asnwering your question about how to plan a wedding was I?

Congrats on your engagement!

Oh my Gosh! That's amazing! I'm so glad things worked out for you - it seems like a sign that you 2 were meant to be together no matter what!! I hope I am lucky enough to be half as happy as you sound ;)

you can do a search on google for wedding planner , it`s pretty hard to do all by yourself ......

Congratulations!!!

Well when it came time to plan our wedding, we hired a professional wedding coordinator. I knew I'd never be able to do it all on my own. It was the best money we spent for our wedding I think. She made sure everything ran like clockwork. I sat down with her many times during the months before the wedding and went over every single detail. I did not have to lift a finger or worry at all on our big day. She really made our day a dream wedding for us. We looked at many magazines, books, even went to other weddings to get a feel for what I wanted for our day. She even made sure to include my groom in all the decision making. We tasted many different cakes, food, etc. She sat it all up for us and we just had to be there at a certain time to put our approval on everything. She even came with us dress shopping. She made that part so easy. She had been doing weddings for such a long time and she knew what would and would not look good on my body. She pulled many dresses for me with the help of the staff at the boutique we went to. I tried on about 50 gowns I guess. But ended up choosing the very 1st one she picked out. LOL. She just knew what she was doing. It was wonderful.

That and listen to your own heart. This is your and your fiance' big day. It is for you, not anyone else. So do not be pressured into doing anything anyone else wants you to do. Anytime anyone suggests an idea, thank them and say you'll keep it in mind. You have the final decision.

I hope your big day is all that you dreamed! And again, Congratulations! ;)