Wednesday, April 25, 2012

What Have You Done So Far?

Besides "how did he do it?" I think the title reflects the question brides hear the second most during their engagement.

Every couple has their own timeline...or goes off online planning resources (from theknot.com or brides.com, for example). However, I always like to hear from real brides when they booked / scheduled everything, so I thought I'd share my timeline with you all!

Before I jump into it, want to mention that all these comments / thoughts are my own and based on my experiences as well as those of friends who were / are to be married in the Philadelphia area. It's also worth noting that things may be different for those not booking in a major city or during a peak month.

WARNING: this post is heavy on info...if you just want a quick look at timelines, skip to the bottom!

Engagement: February 18, 2011

Venue: Kimmel Center Rittenhouse Hotel
Booked: 14 months before the wedding (original); booked under 7 months before the wedding (current)
Tasting: Under 1 month from the wedding

This timeline is a little tricky since our first choice venue cancelled on us. We were VERY lucky to get our current venue 7 months ahead of time, as they are normally booked over a year in advance (thank you to the person / people who cancelled the original hold). This may not be common in other places, but in Philadelphia, many venues are unavailable at peak times of year unless you book 12 - 14 months in advance (based on our experience and that of other couples we know).

Church: St. Patrick's
Booked: 13 months before the wedding
Pre-Cana: 5 months in advance
Music selected: 4 months in advance

Personal photo of St. Patrick's on Easter Sunday
Now, we did things a little bit backwards by not checking with the church before booking our venue. However, we thought we were OK booking when we did, but, despite such a long timeframe, the only time available for the wedding was 6:30pm. Ironically, in the end, we found out we are now the only ones getting married in the church on our date. In addition, I have heard from others who panicked about booking their pre-cana session. At 5 months out, we were among the "earlier" couples in our group - some were getting married the next weekend!

Band: Jelly Roll
Booked: 14 months before the wedding

And, believe it or not, we originally weren't able to get them! Thankfully the couple who had the hold on the date decided on a destination wedding, freeing Jelly Roll up for our date. Phew - we would have been VERY disappointed.

Photographer: Philip Gabriel
Booked: 13 months before the wedding
Engagement photos: 7 months before the wedding

So excited to work with Gabe again!
Videographer: Blossom Productions
Booked: 9 months before the wedding


Flowers / Event Design: Evantine
Booked: 9 months before wedding
First meeting: 12 months before wedding
Second meeting: 7 months before the wedding
Final meeting: Under 3 months before the wedding


Makeup: Cheekadee
Booked: 9 months before the wedding
Trial: 7 months before the wedding

Hair: Bella Angel
Booked: 9 months before the wedding
Trial: 2 months before the wedding

Although Bella does both hair and makeup, I chose to separate the 2 functions. I know it's a personal preference, but my thought was to not put all my eggs in one basket (just in case something went wrong). In addition, I had heard from some brides who used the same company for both functions and had trouble with timing because they found themselves with fewer attendants than might be best. Call me paranoid, but I hope dividing up the tasks works out!

I'll see this fancy style again soon!
So, I've covered all the "big" stuff, but what about all the other details, including attire? Ask and you shall receive.

Dress: TBD :)
Purchased: 11 months before the wedding
Arrived: 3 months before the wedding
First fitting: less than 2 months before the wedding
Second fitting: 1 month before the wedding
Pick up: 1 month before the wedding

Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale
Purchased: 11 months before the wedding
Arrived: 8 months before the wedding

Groom / Groomsmen Attire: Jos. A. Bank
Reserved: 4 months before the wedding


The Fashionable 5 rocking their dress styles (in the wrong colors)
As you can see, attire for the women took precedence in terms of timing. However, I would recommend reserving your tuxes / menswear earlier rather than later. We did have some delinquent delayed groomsmen who took almost 2 months to get fitted! Also, for what it's worth, the bridesmaid dresses arrived almost 3 weeks before the original date we were given.

Save the Dates: Two Paperdolls
Sent: 6 months before the wedding


Invitations: Two Paperdolls
Sent: 2+ months before the wedding
Requested return date: 1 month before the wedding

Our save the date & invite on display
The paper products were a very important part of the wedding (to me) and so I started the browsing process early. However, my first meeting with Two Paperdolls wasn't until late summer. Our development process didn't take overly long (2 - 3 rounds of revision on both invites and save the dates), but doing things early did allow us some flexibility (for calligraphy, early mailing of invites, etc).

Finally, the "other" events. These were pretty nicely spread throughout our engagement, which meant we had many occasions to celebrate throughout our 14+ month engagement!

How our fridge looked at one time - we had a LOT of celebrating to do
Celebrated: 12+ months before the wedding


Bridal Shower
First one (PA): 7 months before the wedding
Second one (NY): Under 2 months from the wedding

Bachelorette: Florida
Celebrated: Under 1 month before the wedding (recap coming!)

So, to sum it up, how did everything break down? I used the online planning resource "buckets" and put a * next to some of the details I have not discussed:


12+ months out

Between 6 - 12 months out
Between 3 - 6 months out
Between 1 - 3 months out
Under 1 month out
I realize that this might be WAY too much information for many of you, but as mentioned above, when I was in my early planning phases, a breakdown like this would have been very helpful! You know I love (and need) organization.

In addition, you can see that a lot of our bookings were done 6 - 12 months prior to the wedding (many around 9 months out). Was this too early? Potentially. But I had the benefit of half day Fridays and having these details squared away early really helped from a time management standpoint. I can say, pretty honestly, that with things spread out, wedding planning hasn't been all that bad (venue hiccup aside)!

When did you book / schedule everything?
Posted by RCA at 5:35 PM
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