Not sure abt timing in your area, but in the NW I use plant stake fertilizers in summer heavily on the rhodies I am going to cut in the fall. If you fertilize the heavily trimmed rhodies in winter the stems will be weak and any winds will break them.
In the fall I cut the height first. You can actually cut to about 2 ft tall if you need to, but I have only had to butcher that far back one time! I wait until the next year to shape and trim the sides. That way I am sure to have many blooms each year. Pruning all in one year reduces blooms quite a bit.
I have mush menopause brain so I do every other rhodie-top on the first in the row, sides on the next, top on the third, etc. That way the next year I can look, see where I was and move on!