They say women first start planning their weddings when they’re little girls. They grab their mom’s dress and shoes to begin the visualization of their Prince Charming. They’ll wait until mom is cooking to apply some makeup and spritz on the perfume. Is there a stand-in for the meantime? Well … whoever is available to stand in for him to get the ball rolling will work just fine. Why hello there, Mr. Teddy Ruxpin! You look handsome today! I don’t remember ever playing dress up wedding as a child though. Now that I’ve found my Sir Daniel, I wonder if I should have started planning then. When is too early to start planning your wedding?
Some people start the planning process when they meet the one they think they’ll spend the rest of their lives with. They start flipping through bridal magazines and ripping out things that they like. They look for any upcoming bridal show to give them ideas of how they want their big day to be. I wasn’t one of those ladies though. Well I was but not right away. In the beginning of my relationship with Daniel I was in a “is this really happening” phase. I was excited. I was counting down the minutes until I’d see him again. I was floating on a cloud. Have you ever tried to think of planning a wedding AND float on a cloud at the same time? I don’t recommend it.
It was maybe three years into us dating that I started envisioning what would transpire on our wedding day. I went to a small bridal show in Norwalk to do research. I was going to write about my findings but I was so overwhelmed with the stack of brochures I collected that I left it in a pile in the corner of my bedroom to sort through ….later. I did stock up on wedding planning books when the Border’s Bookstore in Fairfield closed. I remember the woman who checked me out asked if I was getting married. I shook my head and smiled, no I’m just starting the planning. I figure women get so stressed out with the planning of the wedding that I don’t want that to be my experience. She told me I was smart. I would agree if I had actually started flipping through the books. You already know I’m a procrastinator …so you know how that goes.
Since that day in the bookstore I’ve put aside money each month for the future wedding. I ripped out a page or two of a magazine and put it up on my cork board. I’ve pinned ideas on the wedding rehearsal dinner, bachelorette party ideas, wedding reception ideas, wedding ceremony ideas, ring band ideas, food ideas, appetizers for cocktail hour …I can keep going. Did I mention that I was a procrastinator? Over the last couple of years I’ve pinned over 1000 ideas on 30+ Wedding Themed boards.
What I would like to start planning now is the honeymoon. I’d like to start budgeting for it. I figure that the rest of the stuff needs me to know a lot of the variables in play first. I haven’t gotten the official asking of my hand in marriage yet. I know you were going to ask, right? The honeymoon would require some laziness, sun, Piña Coladas, our bathing suits and plenty of sunscreen. Or it could go in an entirely different direction… If I had my way. LOL
Do YOU think its TOO early to start planning if you haven’t been asked yet?
BONUS Honeymoon question for you today: To my married couples, where did you go? Did you have a blast? To my singles, where do you plan on going? Let me know in the comments below or take the survey!
Planning in the meantime …Until then,
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18 replies on “Confessions of a Single Woman: Is it TOO Early to Plan?”
It’s not too early to plan. Looking back, we should have planned a honeymoon instead of saying we will do it later. It’s definitely ok to start saving. Love your pinterest boards too.
Val that is great news. Sometimes people say that I’m jinxing myself if you start planning before it actually happens. I know honeymoons can be expensive. SO if I start planning and saving up for it then it’ll be a better honeymoon for it. What would be awesome is if I could win a honeymoon! Thanks, Yes I am slightly addicted to Pinterest, it definitely is a great planning tool. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
Girl! I planned about ten weddings! Didn’t necessarily have a groom, but it was so fun..lol. Addicted to wedding shows and love looking at boards on Pinterest. Plan on! Give you a lot of ideas for not only a wedding, but any type of party.
Yes I used to watch a ton of wedding shows, now I just watch the wedding dress shows. I just found a new one on TLC about a discounted bridal shop. I think its in Boston. You’re right I have been getting tons of potential ideas for not just a wedding but parties and events in general. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
And weddings are not cheap either! I had money saved, but then used it on my little girl instead!
Girl tell me about it. I nearly had a heart attack when someone told me how much it cost. I am not trying to do anything fancy. I know its “the day” but I’m sorry I can’t see myself spending so much money on a couple of hours. We’ll see how this goes! I’m sure that was money well spent to, your daughter is precious!
I really liked your concept of setting aside some money each month toward your future wedding. After my divorce from a horrible first marriage, if I had done the same what a difference that would have made. There might have even been left over to go toward a down payment for a house, vacation money, etc. Now that we have Pininterest it makes visual planning so much fun.
Hi Rivka 🙂 Yes I am a planner. My budget is important to me and right now I have a lot of things I am still paying off from my college years. If I waited until I was asked then it would be much later that I’d be able to get married. I hope any money we do end up having left over goes to a future house. You’re right Pinterest does make planning a fun process! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us!
I like th idea of setting aside money for the wedding and honey moon in advance so that you are financially prepared when the day comes. I got married so many years ago during a whole different time in the world. Your ideas for advance planning seem to be good. It is important because so may people have a wonderful wedding that costs so much they are not able to have a nice marriage. Your preparation will help keep that from happening.
You are so right Janeane. Weddings can be so very expensive. I would prefer to not have to charge my wedding to a credit card. I would like us to pay cash so that we may start our marriage without the burden of paying it down. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
It’s never too early to start planning, especially if you are in a committed relationship. I will say that from experience, you have to be willing to be flexible, when the actual proposal comes along. Don’t get so stuck on the ideas that you’ve had for years to the point that you aren’t willing to be in the moment and make decisions based on who the two of you are today, right now.
That is great advice Brandi! I have done only preliminary planning and saving of the money. I think I’d be getting away a bit if I started purchasing items now. I do want the day to be a reflection of the two of us, for that I will have to wait to plan. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us!
I remember playing dress-up with my Mom’s clothes and make-up, but I don’t remember playing “wedding” either. I don’t think it’s too early to plan, especially since you’re in a committed relationship. :D. I’ll give you my best wedding advice – it’s about you and him. People will tell you can’t have a nice wedding for less than this amount, which makes you think you can never afford to get married. While others will say you are wrong to spend more than this, which is less than your favorite pair of shoes. You know what you can comfortably spend so build your dream wedding based on what matters most to you and him.
Yeah you’re so right Shannon. Some of the numbers I’ve heard for the amount of money spent on weddings made my jaw drop. All this time I’ve been thinking I definitely have to pay off ALL my debt in order to save up for this wedding that sounds more like a down payment on a house. I’m sure once the time comes we’ll come up with a number to spend that is comfortable to both our budgets. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your tip, its a good one!
I, never the super girly girly one, wasn’t one to play wedding as a child. However, I think it’s never to early to plan your dream wedding, even if you haven’t met the one. Planning and dreaming never hurt anyone right?
But when you have met the one, it’s definitely a good idea to start saving. Weddings can be costly!
I agree … I’ve been pinning for the last two years and started saving … every penny and pin will help!
Thanks so much for stopping by Corinne!
[…] you’ve discussed getting married. Or else the friendly inquisition may have the opposite effect that people are […]
[…] We set our rough budget back in August. We knew how much we definitely DID NOT want to spend. I tried to push then for a barbecue but Daniel kept giving me the side eye. I just knew before we started writing down numbers that the amount we’d spend would be close to a down payment on a house. Since I am still paying off my debt from college I knew I wouldn’t be able to save up for a $30,000 wedding in a year. I don’t think we’ll spend close to that but it feels like it. Fortunate for my sanity I started saving four years ago so I had a bit of a wedding fund started. The amount I have to save up to pay off the rest of my portion of our wedding to-buy list is doable. Did you start saving early? […]