What is your one non negotiable must have item?

Caterer. Absolutely, positively have to have lots of great food, and it HAS to be a plated meal. A top shelf open bar was also a must.

I really wanted good food. i was getting quotes in general just for pricing purposes but it was for food that wasn't going to be that good but fit my budget. eventually i raised my budget so i could get the food i truly wanted and i do not regret that choice

Photographer! I wanted great photos on the day of and I don’t regret splurging a bit on this. I love my photographer and the photos so it was definitely worth it.

The only 'vendor' as such that I was certain on - the very first one I was set on! was my shoes.

I met my fiance in Louboutins and so for sentimental reasons, the wedding seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to buy a second, nude pair which I can wear again after the day on special occasions. I don't think I would have felt I could justify the cost of them otherwise!

Even having postponed so long, I often sneak into our spare room and put them on, haha, so I'd say they were worth every penny!

Raw bar during cocktail hour. It's locally- sourced and a big people-pleaser at my sister's wedding 18 years ago. My husband & I found a venue that had New England lobster at additional cost. I have great pics of my dad with his shellfish fork.

A violinist for our ceremony and cocktail hour was an absolute must!

Venue and dress... I really didnt care about price for those 2 things...

Venue (including food)—when my mom and I pulled up to look at it we gasped and said “this is it!” Luckily it was in my parents’ budget and we made it work!

Food and photographer for us!

Photographer. In 50 years all you'll have left of the day are your memories and pictures. And poor pictures can muddle your memory.


As a guest however: food. I've been to good weddings and... odd weddings and the takeaway I remember was food. Great mashed potatoes, bland chicken, good sides, amazing gravy, I remember them all.

Photographer - I wanted pictures that I could look back on forever and love

Good food this was a must

Ours was actually a coffee cart. A traveling coffee cart since we are not having alcohol at all. It was really important to have a coffee cart.

Photographer! No budget for that one. Pictures are all you have left at the end of the day.

The band. My FH always wanted to get married at a dance hall and I was all about it. So of course, you have to have a live band at a real country dance hall. We chose a Texas country band who plays locally and has even played our dance hall which is farther away than the city they live. The fact that they also do weddings was a plus.

A venue with onsite accommodations!

I am a sucker for photography- I've been bullying my fiance into pictures for Christmas cards ever since our first year. I love having the pictures of us on our walls, and showing friends and family, having photo albums- it's so sentimental to me. I did not want to budge on having a good photographer.

I also wanted a venue that was "all inclusive," or included the catering on site and a day-of coordinator. I am a stress machine, and I didn't want to spend my entire wedding chasing down vendors or being the one to make sure everything was in line. My fiance was also adamant about a good venue with solid food. Luckily, the venue he picked had my needs for a venue and his needs for a menu and bar.

The venue and the photographer. Its important to us to have a fun venue and with my fiancé having grown up in skating rinks it fits with us. We are adding board games and they have an arcade so it will be like one big game night which is our idea of a good time. Also with neither of us being dancing people really we can skate instead although he still skates circles around me. When we found the right skating rink I just had to have it and would do anything to have my wedding there. The photos are very important to me for the obvious being able to look back on the wedding reasons. I was also a wedding photographer for 6 years so Its important that I find a good photographer within our budget which I am currently working on. Everyone wants to shoot a skating rink wedding but I'm very picky. Haha.

My wedding cake. Thus forth I spent waaaayyyy too much but I just had this idea of a huge princess sized cake and regardless of the fact it feeds like twice the amount of people I'm actually having I had to have it, lol.

View Quoted Comment Oooooo do you have a picture of it?! I was just saying yesterday that one of the trends I really miss from the 70s is those huge, elaborate, over the top cakes!