As some of you may know, I recently got married. Throughout this series of blog entries I will discuss going through the wedding planning process as an event planner/bride.
After planning weddings for so many couples over the past ten years, it was my turn to plan my own wedding. Joe and I got engaged January 2011 and the process began almost immediately as I wanted to aim for a Spring 2012 wedding in Upstate New York. Follow along and hear about the planning process and advice for future, new and current brides and grooms!
Part 1 - Location Location Location
Determining the location for your wedding is probably the most important decision you need to make when planning your wedding (well I guess this is second to who you're going to marry, haha).
Do you want a destination wedding? a local wedding? a "local destination" wedding?
Is having your wedding in your hometown important to you (or your family)? or do you prefer to have your wedding in the city you met? or a favorite vacation spot?
So many questions to be answered and so many options available! My best advice is to discuss the available options with your fiancé and both of your families to determine what type of wedding you would like to have and then begin discussing possible cities, towns, islands, etc. It's important to think about your guests and who can and will travel and it's also important to begin discussing budget as the price point for each location may vary greatly.
After discussing our options, Joe and I decided that we wanted a "local destination wedding", we wanted the feel of a destination wedding without asking our guests to travel too far. My parents had expressed during our discussions that the tradition of having the wedding near the bride's hometown was of importance to them so we began looking at areas in Upstate New York and The Berkshires. Saratoga Springs quickly became the leading location.
Saratoga is a really pretty town known for it's mineral springs, lake activities and horse racing. I had spent summers heading up to the lake, the races and concerts in the park. Since many of our guests live in New York City, we wanted something that felt different from the city and also wanted everything to be within reach for our guests. The nice thing about a small town wedding is that with everyone staying in hotels on Broadway (the main street in Saratoga) our guests were able to walk around and explore the town during the day, no need for cars which pleased a lot of the New Yorkers! Although I was in my suite all day getting ready for my wedding, I heard if you walked around town that day you were guaranteed to run into friends and family attending the wedding!
Broadway, Saratoga Springs, New York
ONCE YOU PICK YOUR WEDDING LOCATION - ON TO WEDDING VENUES.....
The wedding planning process may vary based upon the each wedding. But, some of the process will be same for a common wedding planning. It is very good idea to use a wedding planner iPad app to ease your wedding tension. Thanks for sharing the different post.
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