I'm engaged!  Now what?

Take a deep breath. Don’t let people pressure you into making all the decisions all at once. Enjoy being engaged. Start with booking your venue first because that’s your biggest decision as it impacts everything else in having a location and date.  Everything else will follow.

How long does it take to plan a wedding?

Here at the Palm Event Center in the Vineyard, we can plan a wedding in 6 weeks for couples.  However, ideally, you want to begin planning 12 to 18 months in advance so that it is leisurely, without having a ton of stress all at once.  If you are 18 months out from your wedding date, here’s the ideal plan broken into 6-month segments:

18-12 months out – Book your wedding venue first.  Then research other vendors.  Now that you have your location and date, you can start to narrow down who would like to book.  Try to stay with local vendors to your venue as that will be cheaper than having to pay travel costs.  Start with booking vendors who can only be at one wedding per day. These include a photographer, DJ, and makeup artist.  Then move onto vendors who can book multiple events in a day, such as a florist, stationer, and rentals.  Begin to think about your budget and priorities in booking these vendors.

11-6 months out – Think about your wedding style.  Create a Pinterest board and research your look and décor.  What are really your priorities in spending?  Do you have some extra money for lighting, videographer, or photo booth? Purchase your wedding dress as soon as you can as alterations can take a long time.  Send out a Save-the-Date around 6 months out from your wedding date.

6-0 months out – Finalize your details and send out your official invitations 2-3 months out.  Purchase all the smaller items, such as a guest book and favors. 

What should I look out for when hiring vendors?

Definitely do your homework. Reference testimonials and what other review sites say.  Check with your venue to see if they have previous experience with a particular vendor.  Research how long the vendor has been in business and how many events they have done.  Do they have a website or other legitimate avenue to contact them?  People also forget that vendors are some of your most important wedding “guests,” many of them stay with you throughout your wedding day.  Make sure your personalities mesh with theirs.  Does their style match your vision?  Also, see how responsive they are and if their communication style matches yours.  Your first impression of them – how they respond to your questions, how long it takes to respond to your inquiry, their dress, etc. is a good indication of how they will be throughout the planning process.  Price isn’t always the determining factor if they are difficult to work with and not firmly on your wedding team in the planning process with you.

How do I determine my budget?

The largest part of your budget will be taken up by your venue, food, and beverages.  You want to factor that in.  Make sure you read the fine print.  If you are selecting a venue/caterer with a lot of a la carte options, be sure to price all of this out.  Often the starting price will not be the final cost when you add in all the necessities.  Typically, a la carte will seem more flexible but in the end be more expensive than an all-inclusive package.  As for other services/goods, determine what are your priorities for your wedding.  This will help you in making budget decisions and how much of your budget to allocate to each service/good.  Are you a couple that values décor, dance time, an excellent meal, or service?  Use these values to guide you.

How do I keep my wedding planning stress-free?

Hire professionals!  Vendors who have worked together often work better as a team with less need to manage them.  Really think about hiring a coordinator or booking a venue like ours that has a coordinator built into their wedding package.  Having someone to manage the details makes all the difference.  The timeline is a huge piece of the event that many couples forget about as they get lost in all the details.  You need someone in your corner who is very organized running the timeline for you so that you don’t have to do anything except for sitting back and relaxing on your wedding day.

What's one thing you wish couples knew?

It’s only 5.5 hours of your life so don’t sweat it.  Be kind to yourself during the wedding planning process.  It will be the best day of your life no matter what, as you are marrying your person.

Do you have a favorite thing you've seen couples do recently?

There is a new trend with table visits where the DJ plays one song for each table.  It can be just one song over and over again (my most favorite was the Baby Shark song), or a playlist of shorter songs.  This gives an auditory cue to the couple of how long they have for each table.  If the song repeats, it almost becomes a fun game with the guests as they know how long they have to interact with the couple until they move on.  The reason why this is so important is that table visits can become very long and a huge part of your timeline.  It’s a nice thing to do, but you want to keep it limited so that you have time for other events, such as sunset photos, performances, or cake cutting.

What are some cool special events you've seen couples add to their wedding timeline?

There are a lot of cultural events that we see.  Right now, anniversary dances are very popular as well.  This is usually right after the mother/son and father/daughter dances.  Your DJ would invite all couples out to the floor to participate in the first dance.  The DJ plays a song and then asks couples by the amount they have been married to sit down.  Less than 3 hours and the just married couple sit down, less than 5 years and those couples sit down, and so on. The end result should be the couple who has been married the longest (usually the grandparents). It becomes a special way to honor them and the concept of longstanding marriage. Often, they will be given a special gift, such as a bottle of wine, or flowers to celebrate their marriage.

What's one wedding trend that is absolutely NOT a good idea?

Send-offs always sound like a great idea as you want that staged photo and everyone outside biding your goodbye.  In reality, send-offs aren’t practical and do not work.  Most guests are still partying at the time of a send-off.  It is difficult to wrangle them to the exit.  It is also not ideal for the couple to leave before the end of the event and not soak up all the time they have with their guests and say their last goodbyes.  When a send-off does happen, often it is staged, as the couple must come back to the venue to retrieve all their client items and finish up the night with the vendors.  A better idea is to have your photographer take a beautiful photo of you walking down the aisle after marrying with the guests cheering and blowing bubbles, using ribbon wands, or throwing rose petals.  A ceremony recessional will allow you a similar effect with better lighting.

Any other thoughts?

Forget the favors and put that money into a late night treat or upgraded bar for guests!  Often favors are not taken and the couple ends up with tons of leftovers.  Reallocate that money toward a wedding experience, which you guests will enjoy more.

Also, check out us as a place to book your dream wedding! We have tons of other tips and an entire online planning guide for our booked clients.

Happy Wedding Planning!