Come along with me, as I start to wedding plan! We’re so excited to get married next May!

I feel like we started wedding planning when we got engaged, and realized how much time we had, but now we’re 7 months out and it feels REAL. Here is a rundown of all the vendors we need to hire, details we need to coordinate, and logistical things to keep in mind if you’re a bride planning an out of town / state wedding. I’m sure this list will continue to grow, but this was my initial round up of tasks that I said – oh shit, I better jump on this! 

First off, let’s chat vendors. The first thing we narrowed down…

The venue(s): I say that because our ceremony and reception are at different locations, which adds an element of challenge 

The transportation: hence the two venues, how do you shuttle everyone back and forth from multiple venues, bus schedule, parking, etc. 

The Photographer: this was easy for us. Of course, @paytography would shoot. 

The Videographer: added an element of complexity because there aren’t a ton where we’re doing our wedding, we’re so far west we actually looked at Utah vendors. 

The DJ: again small town, 2 options. We had to jump on this immediately. 

The Baker: TBD, but very few options. The other thing is the venue doesn’t want to coordinate or be liable for the dessert, so we need to lock down an option ASAP! We may opt for a donut wall or something too, because this just feels really complex. 

The Florals: I am still researching this one, I have some top picks, but it will come down to the samples they can pull together, and who falls in budget for us! 

There will be more vendors to coordinate, but this is just my list so far. 

As for little details / DIYs here’s what I’ve come up with so far!

To save us $, we are building the structure for the arch behind where the ceremony is held, and then will have the florist put that together. We also are going to build the structure that will be behind us at the dinner / reception after. We need a ton of signs, so we will be utilizing 2-3 and making those ourselves. The seating chart cards, we’re going to make some sort of structure that everyone can pull their cards off of to find their seats. We want to do a Polaroid camera guest book, so that will be another DIY station we’ll have to set up!