Ready to Plan Your Wedding? We’ll Show you Where to Start!

You’ve just gotten engaged and can’t wait to start the wedding planning process, congrats! It can be a little intimidating, however, to know exactly what to do and where to start. But fear not! We asked our amazing events team what advice they would give to couples looking to start planning their wedding, and they have all the tips and tricks to make the most of this process!

 

Getting Started

Start immediately on your guest list. Everything depends on the number of guests—venue, menu, décor—so getting that list hammered out will get the planning off on the right foot.

—Faith Larsen, Event Producer

Reach out to prospective venues as soon as you can! And if a Saturday you had your eye on is already booked, seriously consider the Friday or Sunday around it. Your wedding will still be amazing, and pricing can be more budget-friendly for those days!

—Alyssa, Sales Development Manager

Before you sign a contract for the venue, make sure you fully understand your proposal. Read it over as a couple, and ask questions! We always want our clients to feel comfortable and like they are in control of their day. Tell your planner your expectations from the get-go, and even ask if you can see another wedding set up to see how it will play out!

—Neil Nolan, Sales Manager

 

The Details

Prioritize your budget! If food and beverage is really important to you, make sure you are allotting the right amount of your budget to your menu and bar. Talk through menu ideas, food likes and dislikes and expectations with your caterer up front so that you know how much you need to set aside for your dream menu.

—Faith Larsen, Event Producer

The secret to getting floral you love within budget is telling a florist what they want to spend and the feeling of the type of flowers they like—not the specific types of flowers. By giving these parameters to a florist and letting them come back to you with what they would suggest, you maximize their expertise and artistry. This tends to be a smoother process than saying to a florist, “I love orchids and peonies, what will that cost?” Hint: it’s going to be more than you want them to be.

—Erin Davies, Senior Event Producer

Book vendors that can only be in one place at one time first, like a band or a photographer, especially if you have a particular company in mind!

—Bryanne – Event Producer

So many couples say they want the dance floor as big as possible and I do my best to convince them this is a mistake. A smaller dance floor is much less intimidating for the first few dancers brave enough to get the party started, and feeling slightly more crowded makes the party vibes switch into high gear a lot earlier in the evening. I personally like to mark out a smaller perimeter of a dance floor using high cocktail tables and then as the dancing progresses I slowly start to move the tables out a bit to make more space.

—Erin Davies, Senior Event Producer

Remember that planning your wedding shouldn’t overshadow what it represents. Your wedding is about celebrating your love and your relationship with the people who matter most to you. Take some time away from planning a few days before the wedding to really focus on what matters—we’ll take care of the rest!

—Neil Nolan, Sales Manager

 

Your wedding is going to be epic; we have no doubt. If you want to talk more to any of our sales and production experts about planning your wedding, either at a private estate, or at one of our amazing venues, reach out! Visit www.thecateredaffair.com/contact or call our office!

 

Photos by Jennifer Ballard, Sean Marshall Lin, Rebecca Arthurs, Henry + Mac, and Corinna Raznikov