Is talking to a pastor the first thing I do when planning a wedding?

Question

I never planned a wedding or been in a wedding, but I've attended some. I am kind of confused on how this whole thing works. I don't know what to do first and my wedding is set for July 2009. Am I suppose to talk to a pastor first or prepare guest list first I don't know what to do. I s their any body that can help me?

Answer 1

www.theknot.com has some great check-lists to keep you on task.

I would talk to your pastor asap so you can make sure he is available and also to go ahead and setup premarital counseling.

Get a big binder and put tabs in it for all the major things you need for the wedding: your dress, flowers, cakes, etc.  You've got a whole year to plan so just start looking around deciding what things you like.  Talk with your fiance about how big a wedding you want--invite all 300 people you know, small friends/family only affair.  You've got plenty of time, but go ahead and get your pastor and your locations locked in because those are the most important things to get done early.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

Usually it's first, so a date can be set. Then you figure out your budget - then go on with booking venue, caterer, band, etc.

Answer 3

Talk with your fiance first to decide what kind of wedding you each would like.  Then make an appointment to visit with your minister and he /she can help guide you through some of the planning. Talk with friends and family to get assistance.

Answer 4

Get one of those wedding planner books -- they're a lifesaver! and they tell you (roughly) what you need to do when.  You can get them at barnes and noble or books-a-million in the wedding section.

Yes, I called my pastor first thing to start up premarital counseling.  Then I made sure he and the church were available.

Congratulations by-the-way!  How exciting!

Answer 5

You need your budget first.  You can't invite 200 people or reserve any venue if you can only afford 100 guests.

One that is in place, you can start looking for venues within your budget.  Reserving a minister/officiant depends on whether you have a particular one in mind.  If not, now's not too early to start looking for one.  I've already been booking 2009.

To look for an officiant......

Type into your search engine this--your

city state wedding officiant

There will be ones in your area to come up. If you go to the bridal sites, visit the officiant's web site. Those bridal sites (wedplan, knot,) make vendors & officiants pay for your contact info & some just can't/won't do it.

I am a nondenominational minister therefore I am free to perform non-religious ceremonies as I'm not bound by any particular creed or dogma

Answer 6

I am actually getting married in September and this is the general rule of thumb.

Pick your date first. Most of your planning will revolve around this. Generally pick the exact date you want you will need your venues reserved (and make sure they are available). Once you nail down a reception and ceremony location, you can go anywhere from there. Flowers, cake, photography, etc.

A great tool in my wedding planning has been www.theknot.com. They offer a lot of helpful information and even on-line tools for invitations and budgeting that are VERY helpful. They even give you an outline for when things should be done throughout the wedding process and they are pretty spot on!

Congrats on the wedding and good luck with the planning. Just remember to smile!

Answer 7

Talk to a pastor at the church you want to get married at to reserve the date and his services. Then find a reception venue and reserve that.

You need to make sure you have those 2 places reserved before you start making more plans... Maybe the church you want is booked for that day or something!

Then start worrying about a guest list and everything. Good luck!

Answer 8

well I would first reserve a venue for the ceremony and reception. Making sure a pastor is available is one of the next things to do because if you have one in mind you would like to marry you you want to make sure they are available. Next start on the guest list to get an idea of how many people you are inviting/expecting to attend. This is helpful with the reservation of the reception site as well.

I would recommend getting a wedding planning book or going to www.theknot.com to print off their checklist of things to do and when to do it. I have found the list very helpful with knowing what things need to be done how far in advance, etc. I am getting married in 2 1/2 weeks and still living off that checklist!

Answer 9

I would only say you would talk to the pastor first if you want a certain pastor to officiate your ceremony (your childhood pastor, a family member). In this case it would be very important to make sure they can be there on the date you want.

Otherwise, I would suggest first finding a location that you like and booking it asap. After that, I would find a photographer. The good ones fill up fast!

Answer 10

sign up at

www.theknot.com

they have an amazing check list... that will give you great direction!

Answer 11

You can do both, no set order. Your questlist may change several times, depending on budget and location. Dates for halls usually need to be booked up to a year in advance.

Good Luck, make it your day, dont try to please everyone just you and your fiance.

Answer 12

Hi and congratulations!

Yes, you are correct!  Well, there are a number of things to do in order to coordinate everything.

Definitely one of the first things you should do is speak with your pastor and find out if the date you want is available.  THEN, you also need to determine where you want your reception.  You will need to see if the date you have in mind with the church will also coordinate with the reception venue.  Of course, you can do this in reverse also.  Check out the reception venue first and then coordinate with your church.

You are very smart to think about the church first.  I work as a church secretary and can tell you that many times the brides (and grooms!) get everything planned.....right down to the centerpieces and then call the church at the last minute to see if their date works out.  Too bad, because many times it doesn't....another wedding that day....the pastor on vacation, etc.

So....yes, coordinate your date with the church and the reception venue....then go from there in planning everything else.

Good luck and have fun planning!

Answer 13

The first thing you do is call your parents and best friends to squeal about how excited you are!

But when that's over, you have to get down to business.

Have a good idea of how many people are going to be invited to your wedding so that you know if you'll be able to have it in the church or if you'll be going to an off-site location. Then sit down with your minister ASAP so that he can block off the dates on his calendar.

Once you've had the preliminary meeting with him, he'll know what else you have to do with him--he has (hopefully) done this before.

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS!

Answer 14

The first thing we did for actual planning was to contact my pastor. We didn't meet with him for several months, but it's a long engagement so he hadn't been booked for any weddings yet on our day. My church only does three weddings a day, so if it matters which church it is, make sure that the availability of the church/pastor is taken into consideration along with that of the reception hall.

I heartily second (third? Fourth?) the suggestion of getting a wedding planner or going to the website for pretty much any bridal magazine. But remember that most of the stuff, for any given wedding, is irrelevant. You only have to do what your family and you want and expect, not what society tells you to do.

Best wishes.