The First Wedding Vendors to Book After Getting Engaged

It makes me so happy to see and hear all of the stories from newly engaged brides. Each story is so unique and I love the excitement and personal details! Because of this, I thought this blog post might be helpful for those newly engaged and trying to figure out what to do next. I know it can be hard to know where to start.

Yay, you’re engaged! Now what?

If you’re like me, I was just focusing on getting engaged, you probably haven’t thought too much about the next steps. Maybe you have an idea of the style dress you like (that beautiful Carolina Herrera dress you just saw in a magazine or the stunning Lela Rose in the window), the girls in your bridal party and you think you’ll wear your hair in an elegant updo but not so much has gone into the guest list or venue size. Whether you had been waiting to get engaged or it came as a total surprise, you might soon realize that you basically just took on a second full time job. Good news, I am here to make it easier on you so you can focus on enjoying the moment! These first steps I’m talking about will likely happen at the same time but I’ll put them in the order I typically see. This is what I call the “first wave” of wedding planning. After you check these off, depending on the length of your engagement, you will likely have a little breather in major wedding planning decisions. Phew.

- W e d d i n g P l a n n e r -
My very first stop would be to find a wedding planner. I only photograph weddings with planners and have a lot of fabulous recommendations - feel free to reach out if you need a few. I really can’t stress this enough. Wedding Planners are essential because they will guide you in the right direction from the very start so that you make decisions in line with your vision from the beginning. If you just read that and are worried that “you don’t have a vision” or “what does a vision even entail?” Don’t worry, they help you narrow that down as well. What you don’t want is sometimes as helpful as knowing what you do want. Planners know the venues well and how many guests they can comfortably hold, who has the best food / service and indoor ceremony site plus a million other things. They are a great sounding board so you don’t waste a ton of time touring venues that really won’t work for you. Trust me, there are so many options, vendors, price points and styles out there, it can be easy to get off track. Another huge benefit is that they are able to introduce you to the best vendors that you will get along with and that provide what you are looking for in your price range. I hear this a lot but even if you are type A and love to plan and your best friend just got married and is really organized, you still need to spend your money on this. They are worth every penny and pay for themselves 10x over. This is just the TIP of the iceberg on how they support brides. :)

- V e n u e -
This step is also commonly a first step but if you want help with finding the right venue, a wedding planner is a must during the initial stages. So having said that, second would be the venue because you can’t set a date unless you have a venue booked and if you don’t have a date then you can’t move forward with other vendors! Also, the venue sets the tone for the wedding so every piece will play off of this. More importantly, if you don’t have a venue you won’t be able to answer the first question everyone asks you IMMEDIATELY after you get engaged, “do you have a date set?“ So, the longer this portion drags on, the longer you hear it. ;)

- P h o t o g r a p h e r -
The third vendor to book most quickly is the photographer. When it comes to photographing weddings I book a year and a half to a year out so you want to make sure your date is available so that you can check that off your list. If you think about it, there are only 52 Saturdays in a year and I only photograph 20-25 weddings a year in order to give my clients a personal and luxury experience so dates go especially quick. It’s always good to get on it! Plus, once you do that you can schedule your engagement session based off of if you are using a photo for your save the date or the time of year you would like to take the photos. There are a million more reasons to do an engagement session which I will talk about later but in the meantime, feel free to get some inspiration here or here!

- B a n d -
The band! They will be your entertainment for the night and keep your guests on the dance floor so this is a huge piece! Keep in mind, they also book out for large parties, benefits, etc so they are not only performing for weddings.

- H a i r a n d M a k e u p / F l o r a l -
This section includes a bonus, you get two tips! Hair and makeup / floral would be my next suggestion. While they are two important items and deserve their own section, they typically happen at the same time. Both are exciting to book because you can start brainstorming on your wedding hair style and color palettes for floral.

Each of these is exciting to lock in - once they are set in place the vision I was talking about earlier has a solid foundation and it is all coming together. There are many reasons why planning a wedding is special and I hope this helps to quickly and easily narrow down where to start so you can really soak up this experience!

Let’s Recap!

• Planner

• Venue

• Photographer

• Band

• Hair and makeup

• Floral

Once you have these you should be proud and excited because you are officially are well on your way and even closer to getting married!

I would love to hear from you! If you have questions on availability or need recommendations, you can quickly reach me here.