How to Plan a Wedding in 30 Days

My husband proposed to me on September 9th of this year. After the initial excitement, we began to agonize over the date and details of the actual event. As with most couples, we originally chose next spring for our wedding as it would give us the "proper" amount of time to plan and organize. We looked at venue after venue, from guest ranches out of town to grand old hotels, seeking a place that was unusual and would accommodate an outdoor ceremony. The search became exhausting and less than fun very quickly. One day I just looked at my fiancée and asked, "Why don't we just marry after Thanksgiving and get it over with?"

Why, indeed? Perhaps because this would give us only slightly more than a month to organize the wedding? Fortunately, this plan worked out much better than either of us could have imagined and we ended up with a ceremony and reception that we will remember fondly for the rest of our lives. Follow these tips for pulling off a wedding ceremony and reception with the least amount of stress.

1) Do not choose a date until you have your venue picked out. If you decide on a date first, you are left with a minimal choice of locations to host your wedding. It is much better to book your preferred venue first and consider their open dates. When you are booking within a short time frame, many times the venue will give you a great deal to fill a "hole" in their schedule so it is also better economically.

2) Contract with nearby hotels for your out of town friends and family. After booking your location, next step is stopping by the nearest hotels to inquire after guest room rates and availability. This information can be included on your invitations. Out of town guests will need to make their reservations as soon as possible.

3) As soon as your preferred venue is contracted, send out your invitations. Invitations to our wedding went out the first week of November for our date on the 25th. I found a beautiful boxed set of do it yourself invitations at Michael's which matched our color theme for only $30 and printed out the translucent top papers on my printer at home, saving both time and money.

4) Make sure your RSVP date is fourteen days in advance of the wedding. Since my husband and I got the invitations out later than normal, we had to specify a quick turnaround on the RSVPs. We got most of them back in time and called to verify attendance of the few people on our list who had failed to return the card.

5) Your catering manager is your best friend. Anyone who sells space for weddings, whether it is at a hotel or a restaurant or a ranch, has experience and contacts for all aspects of a wedding. Ask your catering manager for referrals, or even to book, your florist, cake baker, band or DJ, etc. Many times your contact at the wedding venue is your "one stop shop" for all things related to your wedding. If they are able to book for you, by all means have them do so and take the stress away from you. Our catering manager was even able to officiate and performed a beautiful ceremony complete with prayer, lighting of unity candle and exchange of our personal vows.

6) Pick reliable friends or relatives for your wedding party. When planning a wedding with a short time turnaround, it is best to keep things simple. My husband and I had our two best friends stand up with us and their help, time and attention to detail were invaluable. They went shopping with us, surfed the web and helped us with details every weekend until the ceremony took place. We let our Matron of honor and best man pick their own outfits to defray costs and allow them to work within their own time constraints. There is nothing to compare to the support and aid of reliable honor attendants.

7) Make sure your purchase your gown and suit or tux as soon as possible. Alterations to your garments typically take longer than anything else, so give yourself enough time to have your outfit properly fitted. My husband wanted a purple Western dress shirt and was unable to find it available for purchase anywhere. He ended up having a tailor make a shirt from material he chose, which turned out beautifully but took a couple weeks to receive.

8) Ask for help from family members. My stepmother and mother-in-law were both extremely valuable in taking their time to contact our family members to spread the word of our date, follow up on RSVPs and petition others for their help during the ceremony and reception. There just isn't enough time in any one person's day to do everything that is required for a wedding within a month's time.

9) Use your computer to stay organized. I put all of our invitees' names and addresses in an Excel spreadsheet with a column for number of persons from the RSVP and one to note the gift we received. As the numbers constantly changed, I was able to tell exactly how many guests to guarantee for the final catering count with one key stroke. I also used a website arizonaweddings.com to input the names and phone numbers of all the vendors I was using, determine the average high and low temperature for our date and find vendors for all my special requests. The Internet was also a great place to find the perfect attendant gifts, band (gigmasters.com), cake topper and photo frame we used as a guest book. It saved much of my time since I didn't have to run around town looking for items and everything was easily delivered straight to my door before the wedding. I used the calendar in Microsoft Outlook for all my appointments and included a link to the website of companies I was unfamiliar with to make finding directions a snap.

10) Use a checklist to determine where you are in the planning process. Arizonaweddings.com has one online that you can check off and save each time you return to the site. It was very helpful to have a list, especially in the last week, to keep track of all the little details.

When all the details and specifics of your wedding are decided on and the tasks are done, make sure to take a breather and relax. This is your big day and yours to enjoy after all your hard work. Soon it will all be over and with a minimum of time and fuss, your special memories will last a lifetime.