You’re engaged! How many people have already asked you when the wedding is? How many times have you searched, “How to start planning a wedding?” Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s how to create the wedding of your dreams in four steps.

Your wedding day should be one of the best, most unforgettable days of your life. Everything that goes into that day, however, can be stressful. You have budgets to set, colors to choose, vendors to find, and seating charts to create, tweak, throw out, and create again. There are a lot of decisions to be made in your future, and it can get overwhelming. We believe your wedding day should be about YOU, and every day up until the big day shouldn’t be filled with stress, but with love. We talked to our expert wedding planners and learned their best tips to start planning a wedding.

 

Determine Your Wedding Budget

Nobody likes to talk about wedding budgets. The truth is, a lot of venues and vendors offer customized packages now to work within a budget. Your wedding budget sets the stage for every other part of your wedding. When it comes to setting your wedding budget, consider these three things:

Determine Who is Contributing and How Much

If you have loved ones who are offering to help cover the wedding, find out how much they’re willing to spend. This goes for specifics too. If someone has offered to cover food, don’t surprise them with a bill for a four-course seated dinner after the wedding. Don’t find yourself falling in love with something you can’t afford. Get every number up front and work within your means. Consider using a wedding budget tracker to keep on track.

Pick Your Wedding Priorities

When it comes to your mariage, what’s the most important thing to you? Maybe you have a dream venue that you’re willing to splurge on. Or maybe you want to invest in a great photographer, so you’re willing to spend less on food. Also, what doesn’t matter to you? Are you not as concerned about having centerpieces or live band? Knowing what matters most to you — and what you might spend more money on — will help you customize your budget to fit your needs.

To help get you started on how to prioritize your budget, try rating the following list of items in order of importance:

• Entertainment & Activities
• Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties
• Gifts & Favors
• Music
• Food & Drinks
• Cake
• Flowers & Decor
• Photography
• Videography
• Venue
• Tenue vestimentaire
• Planner/Consultant
• Invitations

Cake, food, drinks, and favors are more or less important to different couples. Don’t hesitate to choose what’s right for you – no matter what a wedding checklist, your maid of honor, or your social media feed might say.

Plan and Add Padding for Unseen and Unexpected Wedding Costs

Quel que soit le degré de planification ou de recherche, il y aura toujours des surprises. Nos organisateurs de mariage recommandent de mettre de côté une petite partie de votre budget pour les urgences. Ainsi, vous n'aurez pas à vous démener pour trouver de l'argent en cas d'imprévu.

 

Set Your Wedding Guest List

A common thing our wedding planners hear is how many couples are surprised by everything they have to factor in when making their guest list. If you have been dreaming of a certain mariage venue, you’ll be limited by how many people it can accommodate. If your family is insisting on certain invites, that will increase the guest list. Do your guests have kids? Is it a kid-friendly wedding? Will you allow anyone to have a plus one? Would you rather have quality time with every guest of a big celebration knowing you might only see people for a few minutes?

Répondez à ces questions lorsque vous dressez votre liste d'invités. Nos planificateurs recommandent de commencer par une liste d'invités "indispensables". Si les membres de votre famille ont des personnes qu'ils souhaitent inviter, pensez à leur donner un nombre limité d'invitations. Si vous savez déjà que vous souhaitez un mariage intime, envisagez de limiter le nombre de personnes accompagnées ou d'enfants en dessous d'un certain âge. Nos organisateurs de mariage ont travaillé avec plusieurs couples qui engagent une ou deux baby-sitters à l'hôtel pendant le mariage.

Vous l'avez entendu ici en premier : Ne vous sentez jamais obligé d'avoir un certain nombre d'invités pour sauver les apparences, ou d'inviter quelqu'un parce que vous avez participé à son mariage. Inévitablement, la personne que vous choisirez pour participer à votre mariage influencera le déroulement de la journée, alors assurez-vous que cette personne a vos intérêts à cœur.

 

Decide on a Wedding Planner

Voulez-vous un organisateur de mariage ? Ce n'est pas obligatoire, cela dépend entièrement de vous. Certains couples ne veulent pas s'occuper de tous les détails ou ont de grands rêves pour leur mariage et ne savent pas par où commencer. Un organisateur de mariage vous aidera à préparer l'ensemble de votre événement. Il a souvent des contacts dans le secteur pour vous aider à trouver les fournisseurs qui feront de votre rêve une réalité. Si vous n'avez pas besoin d'un organisateur pour l'ensemble du mariage, vous pouvez également faire appel à un coordinateur de mariage qui veillera au bon déroulement de la journée.

Tip: Some wedding venues, like City Cruises, include a wedding planner in the package cost.

 

 

Find Your Wedding Venue

A lot of couples make the mistake of starting with their wedding venue before they have any other information, but it will be a lot easier if you know key items like your budget and guest list first.

You may already know where exactly you want to say “I Do.” Maybe you decided when you were a kid, and maybe you haven’t thought about it at all. If you haven’t yet, here are a few questions to get you started:

Local wedding or destination wedding?
Indoors or outdoors?
Are you flexible with weather conditions?
Is there a backup plan?
Where?
Private estate, church, an event center, winery, hotel, on a yacht, beach or in a national park?
What time of the year?
Do you like crisp autumn weather or summer breezes?

 

Once you have a general idea of location, wedding sites like The Knot, Wedding Wire, The Venue Reportet Here Comes the Guide are perfect resources for information, reviews, and additional pictures of wedding venues.

Une fois que vous avez choisi vos lieux de mariage, assurez-vous de vous renseigner sur tous les aspects du lieu afin de ne pas avoir de surprises dans votre contrat ou le jour de votre mariage ! Voici quelques questions pertinentes que notre équipe d'organisateurs de mariage vous recommande de toujours poser :

Timing:

Is our specific date available?
Does the price differ by day or on special holidays?
What’s the best time of year for this venue?

Budgeting:

What is included in the cost of the venue?
Are chairs and tables included? Linens? Dinnerware? If these items are included, what kind of table/chair/linen?
Are there other fees on top of the cost of the venue (i.e. tax, service charge, landing fee)?
What is the deposit/cancellation policy? When is the balance due?
Does the venue require liability insurance? Or insurance from vendors?
Is there a package minimum/revenue minimum?
How flexible are your packages?
What is the payment structure?

Dining, Drinking & Entertainment:

Does the venue have a liquor license?
Are shots allowed?
Does the venue allow hard liquor?
Are there restrictions on decor?
Are there AV capabilities or will entertainers need to be self-sufficient?
Can the venue accommodate live music?
Is there a curfew that dictates when the event must end?
Are there restrictions on noise ordinances?

Vendor Management:

Does the venue have a preferred vendor list?
Can I bring outside vendors? If so, is there an additional fee?
Are there any additional fees associated with the vendor load-in/out?
What time can vendors arrive to set-up?
How much time do I have on site prior to the event?

Planning & Day of Assistance:

Does the site have a venue coordinator who can assist with vendor management or set-up?
Can the venue accommodate a ceremony and a reception? Is there an additional fee for holding both?
Does the venue provide staff? If so, is there an additional fee? If so, how many?
Who handles clean-up at the end of night?
Set-up for the event?
Is there time for a rehearsal blocked off?
Who will I be working with during the planning process?
Day of coordinator?

Logistics & Accessibility:

Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
Is there a handicap restroom on site?
Is there parking on site or nearby?
What is the venue capacity?
How many restrooms are on site?
Is there a bridal suite?
Does the venue have a bad-weather back-up plan? (Crucial for outdoor weddings)
Is there any furniture included the rental?
Is there a fee for moving/removing furniture?

 

 

Get Inspired – It’s Your Wedding!

Once you’ve identified the most important features of your day, log on to Pinterest and create inspiration boards for each of these categories. We’ve created a number of Pinterest boards to help you get started, inspired by weddings held on our yachts from California to New York.

Organiser un mariage, c'est un peu comme avoir un deuxième emploi - un emploi où l'on apprend au fur et à mesure. Des centaines de petites pièces doivent être assemblées en quelques mois, avec un délai et un budget stricts. À la fin de la journée, respirez et rappelez-vous le pourquoi de tout cela. Il s'agit de vous et de la personne que vous aimez. Tout le reste n'est que la cerise sur le gâteau.

We suggest working with a wedding coordinator to help you manage everything – you can choose to hire one, or if you decide to have a City Cruises yacht wedding you’ll be matched with one for free!

A City Cruises wedding is truly a departure from the ordinary. We would love to chat with you about your unique wedding, browse our wedding packages at any of our ports: San Francisco, Berkeley, San Diego, Marina del Rey, Long Beach, Newport Beach, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington DC, Norfolk, Boston, Philadelphia, or Toronto. Alternatively, fill out this form and a City Cruises wedding coordinator will help you get started.

 

Original publish date: March 4, 2019