Overwhelmed Bride

Congrats first of all!

Your first step of the guest list is done and a guide to know your numbers for starting point of budgeting next.

Budgeting is key when making decisions to get the best deals picking top 3 vendors comparison.

Venue cost will vary on food and alcohol. Course meals packages depending on how many you choose to serve guests will vary on costs and meat choices. Bar packages options will allow you to know hours of venue serving guests and after hours to pay for open (expensive) or cash for guests to pay on their own.

Vendors will need to be booked as well to confirm what services you want to cover and to fit your budget. This will build your team to whom is to service your needs on affordable costs and packages too. You want to consider DJ, photographer, videographer, Hair/Make up artist, Officiant and decorator (optional).

Rental vs. Purchasing will factor your décor choices of colours and concept. The prices are lower for renting rather than retail purchases for what they charge and storage space at home. Rentals are easy to take back when the whole day is done as to reselling after the day is over and to store at home taking up space unnecessarily. This area also applies to flowers for the cost of what you spend on real to not lasting long.

First off, congrats!

Completely understand the feeling, I was at the exact spot a few months ago.

As everyone mentioned, things you both need to determine is:

(1) Approximate guest count: We jotted down the names of our must haves and enumerated a few friends and distant family members onto a B list. The guest count will help you determine the venue. For instance, we were around 130 but a lot of places cap at 100-120.

(2) General budget number: Without going into too much detail, we jotted down general numbers to determine overall budget (i.e. 1000$ for a dress, 1000$ for flowers, x amount per guest for food/booze, etc.). We were therefore able to determine an overall figure we were comfortable with.

(3) General vibe / venue type: Determine what kind of experience you and your fiancé want. We both knew that we wanted something on the fancier side, but not too stuffy, where both the ceremony and the reception could be held. We both hate crazy heat, so settled on September-October, particularly because I ideally want the ceremony outside and reception inside.

It was also obvious to us that we'd be doing something in the Montreal region where we live/grew up and where most of our guests are located, and that we would aim for 2022 (because of Covid and all). With these elements in hand, we were able to start looking for venues. We ultimately visited four before booking ours and the date was ultimately determined by our venue's availabilities.

Congratulations! Going over what you want most and what you can afford now vs what you will have to save for will help you choose a date. I started with a pinterest board to get ideas on what I wanted. Good luck!

First off Congrats on your engagement! And welcome to wedding wire!

I would say the first step is to sit down with your fiance and see how much money you guys are comfortable spending on your wedding and how many guests you're wanting to attend. That will determine what kind of venue you guys would want to have. Then figure out what date you guys want to have for your big day. After that things will start to fall into place. Start looking at a Photographer, DJ, Officiant, Cake, Catering, Flowers, Wedding Planner or Day Of Coordinator (If you wish to have one), Hair and Makeup.

I would say try and choose a date as soon as you can since venues and vendors do fill up very fast

View quoted message Thankyou for the advice!

Congratulations, Celine!

In addition to what Amelia says, I think it's helpful to come up with a preliminary budget. Not a detailed line-by-line breakdown but a general dollar amount you feel comfortable parting with. Whether you have the money already or need to save towards it, it's good to know you're starting your wedding planning process with a proper financial plan instead of just letting costs balloon unexpectedly out of control.

First of all congratulations and welcome to wedding wire!


I found the most helpful place to start and the best advice I was given early on is to sit down and make a wish list and skip list with your fiance. Figure out a season or two that you do or don't want to get married in: wohoo you've just eliminated like 26 potential weekends! Then how many people you want to celebrate with? (both of these will determine what venues you should be looking for.) Figuring out what you don't want can be just as useful: maybe you don't want kids there, or you don't want to spring for an open bar, or you hate cake. It's also great to know what each of you wants on their must list (mine was great photos his was small guest list) so you can focus on those elements right away.