Prewedding Jitters: We all get them!

So many brides get engaged and are very happy and calm until they pick a wedding date...this is because everything else starts to fall into their brain: colors, flowers, bridesmaids, groomsmen, church?, beach?, local? destination?, and so many other thoughts. It is hard not to get caught up in it all and just panic...trust me I panicked too! Just know there are a few things you can do earlier on that will "lighten the load" near the wedding BUT you don't have to do everything right away. My main recommendation is create a timeline!! If you hire a wedding planner such as myself we will usually provide you a timeline of what you should be considering when but if you are unable to you can still create it yourself...but know it gets confusing at times. What do I mean by this? Well when do you think you should send out Save the Dates? Some will tell you 4-6 months prior to the wedding, others will say 6-8, and some say a year! How do you know what you should do? Well considered your engagement period. I have worked with people who were engaged one month and married 3 months later...so this couple vetoed the idea of save the dates and sent out invitations as quickly as possible. Myself I was engaged for two years. Everyone was really excited when we were engaged...we sent out engagement announcements. Then after a year we sent out our Save the Dates...now I know many say wow an entire year in advance?! Well another thing to consider is your date. Our wedding date was July 18th. Prime time for family vacations and soaking up the summer fun. So we sent it out a year in advance so any family members that usually plan vacations would not plan over the weekend if they wanted to attend the wedding. ALSO our save the dates were magnets! This is one of the most creative ideas they have done with save the dates in my opinion. It is so helpful because ours was business card size and could just be put on the refrigerator of the person wanting to attend. So every morning you get a glass of milk you see a little picture of the happy couple that says July 18th Save the Date! :) My recommendation is that if you do send a Save the Date this early it should be a magnet or some type of item that isn't just a piece of paper that might be laying around and accidentally trashed. See it gets complicated at times and the truth is I can tell you a "golden rule" but you have to consider your own wedding...the engagement period...where your guests are coming from just to decide the save the dates and invitations. Same is true for decorations and flowers. I know some florists who are really busy or booked quickly that you will want to go and pick your floral arrangement 6-8 months in advance. Others are okay with 3 months. My recommendation? If you have your heart set on a certain venue, florist, entertainer, or even designer wedding gown start early! You can always go into a florist and make the booking so they know...you pay the deposit and then walk away reassured that you are on their list...rather than waiting for the "set" time to go and finding out they don't have time because it is peak wedding season or they are just not there that weekend...you never know but the more you think ahead the better!