Wedding Blog
The summer is flying by and our wedding is quickly approaching. I feel as though I’ve barely gotten anything nailed down due to both financial issues, and being so “on the go”. I recently finished one internship and will be moving on to my next come Monday (after some good old fashioned 4th of July fun!). In between, I came back home for 3 weeks to pick up some shifts at work and replenish my bank account since, well, internships are basically slavery (see video below).
So what does this all have to do with our wedding?
Well, my second internship is in our wedding host city: Savannah! I will be working with a news station there for the rest of the summer. And while I’m there, I plan to get down to business. Wedding business, that is!
It has been incredibly hard planning a wedding 4 hours away from the city it is in. I don’t know how people plan true destination weddings across the country or even in a different country all together. I’ve only been to Savannah twice since becoming engaged and I didn’t get much done in those short visits. I booked our reception venue site unseen and my FSIL (who thankfully lives in Savannah and is letting me stay with her for free) had to book our ceremony site for us (at least I got to use her local discount, woot!).
I want to maximize my time spent in my wedding city, so I’ve made a list of to-dos MUST-Dos while I’m there. The plan is that by the time I start my last semester of classes (finally!), I will have very few things left to do with the wedding, so I can focus more on school, Mr. Lab, and pre-wedding festivities (bachelorette party!!!). And of course, while I still have a bit of summer “free time”, I will begin/finish work on my DIY projects like the centerpieces, doggie table numbers, photo slideshow, and bouquets.
Whew, that’s a lot to do in 6 weeks! Hopefully I’m not missing anything crucial to take care of while I’m in Savannah.
If your wedding is somewhat (or totally) a destination wedding, what are your favorite tips to ease the planning process?
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I have no advice because I live in the same city as my wedding and I can’t even get it together some days!! November will be here before we know it!!
I can relate, Miss Labrador! My wedding is in a city about an hour away but the only time I will be there is for a semester this fall to finish up school. In the spring I’ll be back to where I am now. Not close. It’s also hard for me because my fiance is spending the summer accross the country! Regardless, I’m trying to focus on things that can be done in advance to ease the stress down the road, like you are. (Save the dates, invitiations, hotel accomodations, and researching all paid positions) so I won’t have as much to do later. I too am doing an internship and sometimes it seems like I need to start making some serious money, so I feel you there! I hope you can get those things done in Savanah and ease the stress for later on! GOOD LUCK!
First I would definitely hire a planner. They can do all the legwork and set up appointments so that your limited visits are as effective as possible. The planner can even drive you around so you have a better sense of the city (and so you don’t throw your schedule off by getting lost). Even a DOC can give you vendor recommendations which would save you quite a bit of time and research.
That said, if you don’t want to hire a planner contact the Visitors’ bureau for the city. They have vendors they can refer and may be able to send you information on the city. They do this frequently for large corporate groups so they can provide similar information for the wedding.
Plan ahead and get as much information about the vendors before you go. This should really just be a confirmation visit, not a fact finding mission.
If you know people in your wedding city, rely on their knowledge of the areas. You don’t want to end up with an OTG hotel in the not-so-nice area of town.
Ask vendors to send you pictures or try to get on Skype so that you can be sure that everyone is on the same page as to what you would like.
Finally, the weeks before the wedding, send an email to your vendors (or visit if you are in town) confirming everything that you discussed and confirming your event timeline.
GOOD LUCK! 
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Our wedding was in another country, so after just one visit to our venue, I had to trust my wedding planner and venue to help me work out all the details and make judgment calls about what would work. It was so hard giving up control of every little thing, but with a lot of communication and trust, it turned out perfect!
@Amanda: Thank you! And yes, internships are killing me right now. Bring on the REAL money (not that the reporter salary is going to have me rolling in riches!). lol
@canegirl08: Thanks for all the great advice. Unfortunately, there’s no money in the budget for a full time planner, but I will definitely be hiring a DOC. That’s one of the things on my must-do list! I’m hoping the 4-6 weeks there will give me plenty of time to get much needed items checked off that list!
@Mrs. Kitten: I don’t know if I could let go like that! I’m so glad everything worked out for you!
Miss Lab- that video is too funny! (I worked an unpaid internship in NYC at a marketing PR co… so classic)
I think if you give yourself a serious task each day (some might need to be done over a few days) you could break them down more and go to bed every night really feeling like you accomplished something (well, cause you did!) GL!
Mis Lab, can’t remember if I posted this yet, but O love your wedding. My FH and I decided for the first time we wanted a wedding when we were in Savannah because we love the city so much. And I started googleing Savannah wedding and your posts on wedding bee popped up! We also want the ceremony in a square, but have no clue where to do the reception. The place you chose is beautiful! Do you have a list of reception venues you visited? Savannah is such a beautiful city, your wedding will be gorgeous!
@kjpugs: Yikes! Unpaid internship in NYC? NO way I could do it! I hope your bank account isn’t suffering beyond repair! haha
@Kalibali: Yay! I’m so glad that you found me! I really didn’t consider many other places in Savannah for the reception because of our limited budget. I think we thought about the Hyatt on River Street but realized very quickly that it would take at least $10K to host just the reception, which is nearly all our money. Um, I think we also looked at doing the River Boat for the reception, but decided on using it only for the rehearsal dinner. If you find places you’re interested in, PM me and I’ll ask my FSIL about the venue. She lives here and would be able to give you honest feedback!
[...] that I’m living in Savannah, I decided to start working on some of those “must-do” items from my wedding checklist. My FMIL is in town for a 6 day visit, so she, my FSIL, and [...]
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Mrs. Labrador Retriever, Athens/Savannah
Age and Occupation: 24, Student/Sports Reporter
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Physical Therapy Assistant Student/Future Dr. of PT
Engagement Date: December 31, 2008
Wedding Date: November 2009
Venue: Whitfield Square/Savannah Station
About Me: I'm working on my second degree from UGA (Go Dawgs!). I'm a self-proclaimed attention-w****. If it involves a camera, I'm in front of it! You'll never meet a girlier tomboy than me. I can go toe to toe with any guy on the subject of college football, and lift more than any girl in my gym, all without chipping a nail. I hope to someday be the only person you want delivering your sports news. My FI and I are the loving parents of three Labrador Retrievers (one of each color) and are planning a "Southern Romantic Charm" wedding in the beautiful, historic city of Savannah. I'm not extreme in anything except moderation... and wedding planning.
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