5 Tips to Kick Off the Planning for Your Boston Wedding
Wanna get the ball rolling for planning your Boston wedding? Start with these 5 things.
Planning a wedding (and budgeting for one!) can be tricky, especially in a city like Boston where price tags run high.
How much does this cost Marie?
No fear though- there are ways to keep your budget AND your head in a good place.
#1: DO start with your total bottom line budget and designate amounts for every line item in your wedding before you book any vendors. The last thing you want to do is to sign off 75% of your total budget on the venue only to find out that what you have left won’t even begin to cover other priorities like band or photography.
#2: DON’T choose your venue before making your guest list. I’ve seen this mistake more times than I can count. Couples book a venue only to later learn that their guest count won’t fit in the ceremony or reception space and then be forced to make cuts. Make your guest list, assume 15% won’t be able to make it, and then use that number for capacity and budgeting purposes.
#3: DO book the vendors that can only do one wedding per day FIRST! Once you have your venue and date (and guest count and budget of course) it’s time to move on your first set of key vendors: Band and Photographer. These vendors book up the most quickly and the sooner you book the more options there will be to find the perfect fit in your budgeted range. Save thinking about florist, stationer or lighting company until venue, music & photos are all set.
Time gives you options! And trust me, when it comes to your wedding singer, you want choices….do this first!
#4: DON’T book vendors that don’t solve problems! I’ve seen a lot of money spent on fleeting trends. Remember the wedding llama from a few years’ back? Prime example.
Google “wedding llama” if you don’t believe me that this was a thing.
#5: DO only book vendors that you’d want to hang out with in real life. Does the vendor make you feel taken care of? Like they care about you? Like they’ll be someone you WANT to be around on the most important day of your life? It matters- trust your gut on this one….not Instagram!
I get it – everyone wants to feel like they are doing it right and to be sure they are getting the best value. It can be hard to figure out where to start and to know what to spend where. Wedding planners can help and even if you aren’t ready to designate 10%++ of your entire budget to planning services, there are options (like Erin Davies: The Wedding Kickstarter) that can still offer you world-class expertise to get the ball rolling, offer you all of the guidance you need and hold your hand through the process.
