2019 Brides/Grooms

Jezabelle28

We having all in the same venue and we aren't having any entertainment in between! Ceremony at 230 and then dinner around 530/6ish, thought of having music in between but decided not to bother as they can all just chat and catch up

laoch na mona

date is set for august 2019, we've a lot of the big stuff sorted the venue, dj, photographer, car are all booked. We went cake tasting last weekend so thats getting sorted. Shes even got her dress.

We are living in Belgium so we try and get another thing ticked off every time we come home

we have the pre marriage course in june and she's looking at people for hair and make up at the moment

love_love

How far in advance should I be thinking about hair? I've done some cursory research and the prices are astounding. It seems once it's "bridal" it's no less than €100 per head, which is madness to me. I'm not specific about what way I want my bridesmaids hair at all, and to be honest I won't know what I want done with my own until I have my dress. I really can't justify spending a few hundred quid on some up dos - I'm not undervaluing hair stylists, I just don't see why bridal hair is twice the price of a standard up do

Meauldsegosha

Bridal party accommadation - whats's the norm. Do they pay for their own accommadation or do the bride and groom pay for them? I think we should pay for them but the OH thinks not as they would be at the wedding whether they were part of the bridal or not.

mcgiggles

Meauldsegosha wrote: »

Bridal party accommadation - whats's the norm. Do they pay for their own accommadation or do the bride and groom pay for them? I think we should pay for them but the OH thinks not as they would be at the wedding whether they were part of the bridal or not.

It used to very much be the norm to pay for the rooms, but in the last few years its become more common for the bridal party to pay for their own rooms. (So I've seen in the last few years anyways!) I've been bridesmaid once here and had to pay, my OH has been groomsman twice and paid once and was paid for once. We paid for ours, the hotel gave us a deal on them so they were cheaper than the wedding price. Its totally up to you, whether you want to or can afford it

love_love

We'll be due to pay 50% of our fee to the venue in a couple of months - am I right in presuming that we'll pay 50% based on our expected numbers, and then once we have invites sent and RSVPs back, we will adjust our expected numbers accordingly, meaning paying 50% in a couple of months might actually end up being 60%, if the final numbers are reduced?

Only thought of this the other day and I figure that makes most sense, just wanted to ask!

Faith

love_love wrote: »

We'll be due to pay 50% of our fee to the venue in a couple of months - am I right in presuming that we'll pay 50% based on our expected numbers, and then once we have invites sent and RSVPs back, we will adjust our expected numbers accordingly, meaning paying 50% in a couple of months might actually end up being 60%, if the final numbers are reduced?

Only thought of this the other day and I figure that makes most sense, just wanted to ask!

Yeah, I believe that's right. So if you're inviting 100 people at E100 a head, you'll pay E5,000 at this point from an expected total of E10,000. But if only 80 people RSVP yes, you'll only end up paying another E3,000.

GingerLily

Faith wrote: »

Yeah, I believe that's right. So if you're inviting 100 people at E100 a head, you'll pay E5,000 at this point from an expected total of E10,000. But if only 80 people RSVP yes, you'll only end up paying another E3,000.

Unless you have minimum numbers in your contract!

Faith

GingerLily wrote: »

Unless you have minimum numbers in your contract!

Yes, that's very true!

Thought I'd say hi.

So far not a lot has gone to plan. We booked a venue but it fell through, now on the search for another. We think we have found it; but for a small enough group it might not work out for us because it's hard to get it up to the minimum spend. Yes, we're finding it hard to get our wedding to be expensive enough!

CK2019

Hi all! September 2019 bride here. Got engaged at the end of January and think we have most of the main things booked but there seems to be an endless list of things lol. Also everything seems so expensive!!

CK2019

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Thought I'd say hi.

So far not a lot has gone to plan. We booked a venue but it fell through, now on the search for another. We think we have found it; but for a small enough group it might not work out for us because it's hard to get it up to the minimum spend. Yes, we're finding it hard to get our wedding to be expensive enough!

Hope the new venue works out!

Meauldsegosha

CK2019 wrote: »

Hi all! September 2019 bride here. Got engaged at the end of January and think we have most of the main things booked but there seems to be an endless list of things lol. Also everything seems so expensive!!

I'm September 2019 also. We have a lot of stuff booked. Ordered our invites and save the date cards last night. We're going to send the save the date cards to older relatives and those overseas at Christmas time. I know it might seem I'm way ahead but I like to be organised and not rushing things at the last minute.

Jood10

June 19 here!! Most of the big things sorted, ordered my dress yesterday. Budgese I hope things work out with the new venue. Meauldsegosha same here I like to be organised, invites next on the list!

love_love

You're all making me feel very unprepared! I'm March 2019 and haven't found my dress yet. I don't feel under too much time pressure because I know I can't afford a made-to-order one, and it will be off the rack. It's this type of stuff that is so difficult when you don't drive - all the decently affordable places are not easy to get to on a bus!

Jood10, are you delighted with your dress?

Jood10

I am and I'm not if that makes sense! It's not at all what I had imagined but it is gorgeous. I'm also between sizes so it will have to be altered but that's not the end of the world. I had a hard time finding one so I'm glad that its all done and dusted now.

There are some gorgeous dresses on sale in most of the bridal boutiques I went to, I would have gone for one of those but none of them fit right and because they were on sale I couldn't order the right size. You will have no problem getting a dress you like off the rack.

CK2019

love_love wrote: »

You're all making me feel very unprepared! I'm March 2019 and haven't found my dress yet. I don't feel under too much time pressure because I know I can't afford a made-to-order one, and it will be off the rack. It's this type of stuff that is so difficult when you don't drive - all the decently affordable places are not easy to get to on a bus!

Jood10, are you delighted with your dress?

Don’t panic, you’ve loads of time yet! You’ll always get suppliers etc. Personally I wanted to book things in advance to help me with budgeting - as soon as you get engaged people/wedding guides are all like oh, set your budget! But it’s impossible to do when you don’t have a notion how much all these things cost and you don’t know how much to set aside for them!

Good luck with the dress hunt :-)

Huzzah!

love_love wrote: »

You're all making me feel very unprepared! I'm March 2019 and haven't found my dress yet. I don't feel under too much time pressure because I know I can't afford a made-to-order one, and it will be off the rack. It's this type of stuff that is so difficult when you don't drive - all the decently affordable places are not easy to get to on a bus!

Jood10, are you delighted with your dress?

I think most of the "made-to-measure" dresses are actually ordered in the size closest to you and then altered, anyway.

Keep an eye out for sample sales. You might pick up a wee bargain, but factor in the cost of alteration and a potential dry clean before the big day.

Jood10

Wedding dress sizing is bananas though, couldn't get my leg into the ones which were my size on the label, actually ended up ordering 2 sizes larger than the street size I wear. Just as well I'm not self conscious!!

dinnyhw

Jood10 wrote: »

Wedding dress sizing is bananas though, couldn't get my leg into the ones which were my size on the label, actually ended up ordering 2 sizes larger than the street size I wear. Just as well I'm not self conscious!!

I think this is the norm for wedding dress sizes, you have to go up two sizes from your normal size. It's bonkers and you certainly wouldn't want to over think it!

Huzzah!

Now that the 'bigger' stuff (venues, dress, music) is booked/bought, I'm having trouble finding suppliers for the smaller stuff. I've contacted a few places for flowers and makeup and hair and no one seems too quick to come back to me, if at all. We're not having a bridal party and I'm wondering if this is part of the reason. I suppose it means our spend is a bit smaller on these items.

SheepGoHere

I'd say people are slow to get back to you because it is the middle of wedding season, and they're up the walls. Keep emailing, they will all reply in time.

Keco

December 2019 bride here, we have the venue confirmed and a photographer, trying to look at bands. Finding the cost of things very hard to manage. And don't know if it is too early to contact certain people, like florists but I have no idea of how much all that costs. If I had my way i would have everything booked by the end of this year for next year.

How is everyone else finding it?

CK2019

Keco wrote: »

December 2019 bride here, we have the venue confirmed and a photographer, trying to look at bands. Finding the cost of things very hard to manage. And don't know if it is too early to contact certain people, like florists but I have no idea of how much all that costs. If I had my way i would have everything booked by the end of this year for next year.

How is everyone else finding it?

Hi Keco! I’m the same want to have as much booked by the end of this year. Next on my list is florist and church decor, can’t imagine it will be a problem to book them.... the only supplier that said I had plenty of time waiting until early next year was for invitations!
We are also having our notification to marry appointment this year and the marriage course, don’t see the point in stressing myself out next year if I can get stuff done this year!!!

GingerLily

I'm a 2017 bride, my florist was amazing and based in West Cork, I'm happy to PM anyone a recommendation - guests even took home the center pieces they were so pretty

Keco

CK2019 wrote: »

Hi Keco! I’m the same want to have as much booked by the end of this year. Next on my list is florist and church decor, can’t imagine it will be a problem to book them.... the only supplier that said I had plenty of time waiting until early next year was for invitations!
We are also having our notification to marry appointment this year and the marriage course, don’t see the point in stressing myself out next year if I can get stuff done this year!!!

Oh really I didn't think you could have the notification to marry and course done this early. Thought it was 6 months in advance. I'd love to get that done sooner rather than later too!

Got a quote for make up today. Sent 4 emails to florists so will see what then come back with.

Meauldsegosha

Keco wrote: »

Oh really I didn't think you could have the notification to marry and course done this early. Thought it was 6 months in advance. I'd love to get that done sooner rather than later too!

Got a quote for make up today. Sent 4 emails to florists so will see what then come back with.

I think you can do the notification to marry a year in advance.

CK2019

Keco wrote: »

Oh really I didn't think you could have the notification to marry and course done this early. Thought it was 6 months in advance. I'd love to get that done sooner rather than later too!

Got a quote for make up today. Sent 4 emails to florists so will see what then come back with.

Yea I think you can’t do it in any more than 12 months in advance.
booked my appointment end of May or early June I think, for this October for my Sept 2019 wedding so 11 months out!
I believe the 6 month thing is that when you notify them of your date to marry, if you have to postpone it or something you have 6 months from that date to get married, otherwise you need another notifications appointment!

Dreading the quotes from the florists myself, have been warned it can be pretty pricy:-/

Huzzah!

CK2019 wrote: »

Dreading the quotes from the florists myself, have been warned it can be pretty pricy:-/

Make sure and shop around. I'm florist shopping myself at the moment. Also, be careful that the quotes you get are for the same things. All of the quotes I got bar one included delivery to the venue and collection of items the day after the wedding. It was only by accident I discovered that delivery wasn't included in the quote in question and was going to cost an additional €300.

CK2019

Huzzah! wrote: »

Make sure and shop around. I'm florist shopping myself at the moment. Also, be careful that the quotes you get are for the same things. All of the quotes I got bar one included delivery to the venue and collection of items the day after the wedding. It was only by accident I discovered that delivery wasn't included in the quote in question and was going to cost an additional €300.

Thank you for that, definitely something to keep in mind! And I think a €300 delivery charge may be the steepest I’ve heard!!

Our new venue should be booked by Friday! Still trying to get our deposit back from the first venue. I can't go into it! Just makes me scream. Or gives me a headache.

We want a really unusual custom made cake; we already have an idea. How far in advance would you think we should start recruiting our cake maker and hassling them with designs?

love_love

How far in advance are yous looking at florists? To be honest, I don't think we're going to be able to afford flowers so I'll have to look into doing them myself, but just in case money falls out of the sky somewhere, when would they generally be booked up by?

I've downloaded an app called WeddingHappy for keeping track of budget and due dates and the like, it has suggested dates for when to look into flowers, hair, band, etc which is super helpful, but it's not country-specific, and planning a wedding in Ireland is v different than US, UK.

Huzzah!

love_love wrote: »

How far in advance are yous looking at florists? To be honest, I don't think we're going to be able to afford flowers so I'll have to look into doing them myself, but just in case money falls out of the sky somewhere, when would they generally be booked up by?

I've downloaded an app called WeddingHappy for keeping track of budget and due dates and the like, it has suggested dates for when to look into flowers, hair, band, etc which is super helpful, but it's not country-specific, and planning a wedding in Ireland is v different than US, UK.

Not sure on timing. One place I contacted doesn't take 2019 bookings until 2019 but the rest have seemed happy to discuss and be booked. We're getting married in April.

I've seen some artificial flowers being recommended on FB as being more budget friendly. The ones I've seen have looked really nice.

Don't forget you can build a package to suit your budget. Don't be feeling under pressure or anything.

love_love

Huzzah, our dates are pretty similar (I'm March) so I'll be looking to you to make sure I'm doing everything on time!!

My OH feels very strongly about no artificial flowers - he loves flowers and plants and tbh it'd be something I'd love to have the money to spend on for decoration, but we'll only be able to muster up enough for bouquets and button holes. We're not fussy though, so I'm hoping we'll be able to find something to fit our budget. One of the main things that puts me off doing it myself is that even when I'm trimming flowers for the house, I manage to stab myself with thorns etc and I don't want my hands to be in tatters on the day!

Jood10

We're getting married next June and I booked our florist a couple of weeks ago. I'd have been happy to leave it off awhile but the local florist where we are getting married only takes on one wedding a day and I was worried I wouldn't get her. She happily took the booking. Bridesmaid dresses next on the list but going to wait until September for those.

Huzzah!

love_love wrote: »

Huzzah, our dates are pretty similar (I'm March) so I'll be looking to you to make sure I'm doing everything on time!!

My OH feels very strongly about no artificial flowers - he loves flowers and plants and tbh it'd be something I'd love to have the money to spend on for decoration, but we'll only be able to muster up enough for bouquets and button holes. We're not fussy though, so I'm hoping we'll be able to find something to fit our budget. One of the main things that puts me off doing it myself is that even when I'm trimming flowers for the house, I manage to stab myself with thorns etc and I don't want my hands to be in tatters on the day!

I'm keeping it minimal, myself. The wedding coordinator at our venue told us not to bother with flowers/centerpieces for the tables.

The best quotes I've gotten have been from people with no websites, so it might be worth just popping into a few flower shops to discuss your needs. They should be able to find something to suit your budget.

elle.en

Hi everyone!

Just got engaged this weekend, still on a high but coming back to reality very quickly!! We are hoping to book for September 2019 but I’m wondering now from reading some posts is that unrealistic if we are only starting now? Even if we find a venue we want will it be hard to find a good band, make up artist, photographer etc?

Would love some opinions!

Jood10

Hi elle.en and congrats!!

We only got engaged in May just gone and are getting married in June 19. To be honest it was all very easy for us, I was expecting it to be a lot harder. Venue, band and photographer I wanted all seemed to be available on our date, I didnt even need to look at alternatives! I wouldn't delay though, I'd start making inquiries, bang off a few emails and see what availability people have.

dinnyhw

elle.en wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Just got engaged this weekend, still on a high but coming back to reality very quickly!! We are hoping to book for September 2019 but I’m wondering now from reading some posts is that unrealistic if we are only starting now? Even if we find a venue we want will it be hard to find a good band, make up artist, photographer etc?

Would love some opinions!

Congratulations!!!

I think it's entirely doable. We got engaged in February and are getting married in early January and have had no issues. I know someone who got engaged in November and go married the following July and also had no issues. Obviously the more time you have the greater choice you will have, but in my opinion you could definitely manage it in that time frame. Enjoy

aquinn

elle.en wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Just got engaged this weekend, still on a high but coming back to reality very quickly!! We are hoping to book for September 2019 but I’m wondering now from reading some posts is that unrealistic if we are only starting now? Even if we find a venue we want will it be hard to find a good band, make up artist, photographer etc?

Would love some opinions!

Congratulations.

Planning is a PITA, just so you know

We got engaged Dec 2017 and getting married this October so it is completely doable.

Our date was determined by our celebrant and so from that we found venues.

We then had no trouble finding suppliers. If one is booked they will recommend another.

The high Wedding season is August anyway, not sure about Sept so maybe July and August.

Start doing a Wedding list and get an idea of numbers. From there contact venues or like us start with a celebrant and work from there. Everyone starts differently.



If you have a specific venue in mind that will determine what dates are available. Like Ballymagarvey was highly recommended to us but was fully booked for 2018, we were offered a Monday or Tuesday so declined.

elle.en

Thanks everyone for your help. So good to hear that it’s doable, the whole thing is so daunting right now! I want to enjoy it as much as I can and not get too stressed out by it, not sure if that’s feasible in my time frame!!

Looking forward to getting stuck in now and making some decisions. Thanks again everyone

Sir_Name

elle.en wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your help. So good to hear that it’s doable, the whole thing is so daunting right now! I want to enjoy it as much as I can and not get too stressed out by it, not sure if that’s feasible in my time frame!!

Looking forward to getting stuck in now and making some decisions. Thanks again everyone

Its absolutely doable but do try enjoy the engagement aswell. We got engaged two months ago and we are looking at July wedding in France next year and its overwhelming all the things to think about!

love_love

Anyone who is getting married in the first few months next year (Feb/March/April time), when are you planning to send out your invites? We're end of March, and I know the norm is 8-12 weeks (right?), but I feel like Christmas and New Years will throw a bit of a spanner in the works. Any thoughts/advice?

Meauldsegosha

I'm getting married the beginning of Sept next year and was thinkg of sending my invites out the beginning of June because June/July/August are prime holiday months. I'd say send them out earlier then normal.

Jezabelle28

love_love wrote: »

Anyone who is getting married in the first few months next year (Feb/March/April time), when are you planning to send out your invites? We're end of March, and I know the norm is 8-12 weeks (right?), but I feel like Christmas and New Years will throw a bit of a spanner in the works. Any thoughts/advice?

I was told to send them out 6 weeks before the wedding but my thoughts are if you know what date you are getting married and have the invites sitting there then send them out! We getting married 22nd Feb, intentions are to send them out last week in Nov/early December to hopefully kinda avoid the Christmas rush!

Awesomeness

We are doing things a little differently. We have a large amount of people travelling from far away. As we want to give them lots of time we are sending out our save the dates soon(wedding is 11 months away). We are including a link to the wedding website which has an option to RSVP from now so they are essentially our invites 11 months in advance.

We will send invites a few months before but we should know by then who is coming and who is not

Sir_Name

We're doing something similar as ours is abroad (next July) so we shall be sending invites and links to the website by the end of Oct.

k_smash

elle.en wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Just got engaged this weekend, still on a high but coming back to reality very quickly!! We are hoping to book for September 2019 but I’m wondering now from reading some posts is that unrealistic if we are only starting now? Even if we find a venue we want will it be hard to find a good band, make up artist, photographer etc?

Would love some opinions!

I hear you! Got engaged the same weekend as you and hoping for July 2019. Glad to read the reassurance on here.

k_smash

elle.en wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Just got engaged this weekend, still on a high but coming back to reality very quickly!! We are hoping to book for September 2019 but I’m wondering now from reading some posts is that unrealistic if we are only starting now? Even if we find a venue we want will it be hard to find a good band, make up artist, photographer etc?

Would love some opinions!

I hear you! Got engaged the same weekend as you and hoping for July 2019. Glad to read the reassurance on here.

Awesomeness

Awesomeness wrote: »

We are doing things a little differently. We have a large amount of people travelling from far away. As we want to give them lots of time we are sending out our save the dates soon(wedding is 11 months away). We are including a link to the wedding website which has an option to RSVP from now so they are essentially our invites 11 months in advance.

We will send invites a few months before but we should know by then who is coming and who is not

We did this on Monday and it has been great so far - doing it in batches. Send our save the dates via email and it enables us to see that they are being picked up.

Some of our friends that will have far to travel have already rsvp'd via the website and its great to receive messages from then when they do