Hi Weddit! 
First time posting here after getting [engaged a few weeks ago] ( because I love reading posts and seeing how encouraging everyone is! 
But, I am feeling more overwhelmed and kind of bummed rather than excited on even starting wedding planning. We got a lot of mixed receptions regarding our engagement I wasn't expecting, and I started getting super concerned when I realized how much a wedding can cost.
So, as we've figured budgeting should be the number one thing on the to do list (thanks to this sub!) here are some decisions that FH and I have made:
1. Long engagement and setting the wedding date in October 2018 to save up.
2. Our list of what is the most important to us about a wedding day and the consensus is: having our two very large families present (160ish on my side, 130ish on his), and good food. (I realize, neither is cheap!) 
3. Me possibly picking up a second job. I'm in graduate school and currently work 20 hours a week, but I can pick up something on the weekends.
4. Cutting spending down as much as possible, including couponing, selling a few things at consignment shops, stop eating out so frequently, etc.
5. No family contributions from either of our sides, which is fine, but nothing to factor in there.

I guess the
user
of this post is: How do you start planning a wedding? Are there any tips or links that you feel are helpful? Thanks for reading!
assistant
Hi Weddit! 
First time posting here after getting [engaged a few weeks ago] ( because I love reading posts and seeing how encouraging everyone is! 
But, I am feeling more overwhelmed and kind of bummed rather than excited on even starting wedding planning. We got a lot of mixed receptions regarding our engagement I wasn't expecting, and I started getting super concerned when I realized how much a wedding can cost.
So, as we've figured budgeting should be the number one thing on the to do list (thanks to this sub!) here are some decisions that FH and I have made:
1. Long engagement and setting the wedding date in October 2018 to save up.
2. Our list of what is the most important to us about a wedding day and the consensus is: having our two very large families present (160ish on my side, 130ish on his), and good food. (I realize, neither is cheap!) 
3. Me possibly picking up a second job. I'm in graduate school and currently work 20 hours a week, but I can pick up something on the weekends.
4. Cutting spending down as much as possible, including couponing, selling a few things at consignment shops, stop eating out so frequently, etc.
5. No family contributions from either of our sides, which is fine, but nothing to factor in there.

I guess the
user
is is that we need to be careful about how much we spend, and we need to figure out if we want to make it a kind of "luxury" wedding. Because it's
assistant