Planning a Wedding in Three Months

Planning a wedding can feel just as stressful and time consuming as a high profile job at a top four accounting firm. There are a seemingly endless string of decisions to be made, ranging in size and priority from miniscule to massive. On top of creating a unique aesthetic that reflects your personality and tastes, there’s the daunting responsibility of coordinating vendors, venues, visitors from out of town. The list can feel insurmountable. And all of these choices must be made within the confines of a specific budget that you and your partner agreed upon. It’s no surprise, then, that many couples take a full year to plan their weddings. Some even recruit professional help for planning the big day. But what about the rest of us? Those of us who don’t have the luxury of extensive time and resources? Before you ditch this whole ceremony idea and decide to elope on a remote island instead, take heart. With the right strategy and resources, you can plan your wedding in three short months. To pull it all off without a hitch, read on. Wedding Dress In a perfect world, you’d have at least six months to choose your dress and have the fabrics, embellishments and fittings altered to suit your unique shape and specifications. Custom tailoring can take a substantial amount of time. But by going to a bridal emporium, you can find a dress that’s ready to wear. Stores like this have so many options that it’s easy to find the style and cut that you’re looking for, or at least something that’s very close. Rather than starting from scratch, you can choose a dress that already has most of the features you’re looking for, and if needed, make a few small adjustments. It’s also far less expensive than a high end bridal boutique. This goes for your bridesmaids’ dresses too. Bridal emporiums generally carry a wide array of sizes, styles and shades. This makes it easier and faster to pull together simple coordinating looks for your lovely ladies in waiting. Wedding Location Planning a wedding under time constraints calls for some flexibility on your end. Many of the more mainstream, classically romantic spots require booking in substantial advance of the date. But that opens up a wide range of “off the beaten path” options, some of which may give you a discount for booking last minute. Some nontraditional places you may want to consider are national parks, public gardens or even restaurants. You can also save time, money and stress by holding your reception at the same place as your ceremony. When you’re communicating with the venue of choice, it’s also important to be very flexible about dates and times. This is one area of compromise that’s absolutely crucial for last minute wedding planners. Wedding Cake and Food Your location has a major influence on the food you serve. If you select a venue like a restaurant or hotel, you won’t have to be concerned with finding ways to keep food warm. A restaurant can open up lots of food options. Think outside the box from the expected French or Italian spot. How fun would it be to get married at Moroccan restaurant with belly dancers? Or a sushi place with copious amounts of sake? If your chosen venue cannot provide a cake, your local bakery should be able to whip something up in about one week. Save some time and money by purchasing the small display cake with fancy icing and scrolling, and serve the majority of your guests a generous slice of sheet cake that’s been divided up in the kitchen ahead of time. Wedding Invitations Typically, it takes about six weeks to mail out all your invitations. And you’ll need to allow for additional time for printing, addressing and stamping, too. When you shop around at various local printers, turn around time will obviously be your biggest deciding factor. Don’t rule out the option of DIY invitations. With easy to use software like Printing Press, you can design and print invitations at home. This is an excellent way to save money, and have more control over the look and feel of your invitations. And for creatively inclined couples, it could even be, dare we say, fun. If you do opt for the DIY route, there’s one word of caution you’re urged to heed. Give yourself more time than you think will be needed. Murphy’s law preys disproportionately on procrastinators. If you wait until the last minute, you can pretty much bank on your hard drive bidding farewell to the cruel world, or on your printer inexplicably churning out crooked type on oddly gnarled stock paper. Don’t let this happen to you. Three months may seem like a flash in the pan. But with the right time saving approach, you can accomplish some pretty major feats in a hurry. Good luck, and godspeed.