Where do i begin?

Once I picked my venue, I asked for recommendations from them on other vendors. I started with photographer, videographer and went from there. They’ll all have recommendations too. So, book venue and go with who they recommend

Start with budget first. That will determine the venue type and amount of people you can host. When are you getting married? If it's in 2028, it's too soon to start booking things yet.

Congrats!

Before you decide on a date and venue you need to start with budget and guest list. Those will dictate the venue because a. the venue has to be accommodate the number of guests you plan on inviting and b. you also need to know how much you can afford. You'd hate to book a venue that's out of budget. After made your budget and created a guest list then look at venues. After booking a venue, you'll want to book vendors. The most important vendors are going to be a caterer if your venue doesn't catering, a photographer, videographer (if you want one), and DJ. There are of course other vendors but those are the ones I would recommend booking first.

Start with a budget and guest list. The first thing venues ask when you are shopping around is if you have a date in mind and about how many people are you planning on having. Book the venue first. We booked our photographer right after booking the venue because I love her work and she can only do one wedding a day, so I didn’t want to wait and have someone else book her.

Sit down with your fiancé and agree on what your vision is of what you want the wedding to look like, along with your budget. Figure out what you can realistically and comfortably spend without asking anyone else for assistance. Then you settle on your guest list, not just the guest count. You cannot look for a venue or any other vendor without that information set in stone from the beginning.


When looking at venues, weigh out the pros and cons of all inclusive vs blank slate. With all inclusive, you almost never pay the quoted rate because that doesn’t cover the required 5-6 figure minimum for food and beverages that you cannot taste test until after the contract is signed, and you are not allowed to switch out one vendor for another. A blank slate venue is more budget friendly and offers more variety for vendor options, as well as a later end time.