Two newly-wed women, Nicole Van Duzer and Amy Proctor, encourage recently-engaged couples to plan ahead and get organized.

Nicole was married to Michael Van Duzer last May 2009 at Streator. She spent a year planning for the wedding ceremony and making sure that everything was organized.

She told the Times that in order to prepare for the wedding, she bought a lot of bridal magazines and planners. She also had a large binder filled with tabs for flowers, reception, and bridesmaids, making sure that she doesn’t leave behind all the important stuff.

According to her Van Duzer, for her, the hardest part was coordinating with everyone involved in the bridal party in order to ensure that the rehearsals, measurements, and showers were on schedule. She was also out of state at that time, making the task more challenging. Nevertheless, Van Duzer got a lot aid from her mother, and did all the leg work when she got home for Christmas. She said that she is really satisfied with how the wedding turned out and attributes the success to her advance planning. Her message to engaged couples: start planning right away and weigh you options by talking to a lot wedding vendors.

Amy and Tom Proctor, on the other hand, had their wedding in Ottawa on September 2009. They started planning on January 2009 right after they got engaged. Like Van Duzer, Amy said that she got everything she wanted by preparing early: caterer, photographer, the hall etc.

For Amy, securing wedding vendors was not a difficult task since she grew up in the area. She already had an idea on who she wanted, but she did compare prices. She also booked a live band which she was very happy about.

When asked about her advice to the recently engaged, she agreed with Nicole Van Duzer’s point of view. She said that an early start is important so that the couple can get what they want.