Below are a few tips to make your wedding planning process (and life) easier.<\/p>\n
After the hard part of falling in love the logistics of putting together a wedding can take over your life. There are two options most people take 1) hire a planner to some degree or 2) DIY everything.\u00a0 Whichever path you lean towards here is some advice we have gained over the years.\u00a0 First of all, be honest with yourself about your career and your expectations for your wedding. If you are already making jokes with your partner about whether or not free time actually exists you probably don\u2019t want to take on the second job of completely planning your own wedding. However, if you\u2019ve been secretly planning your wedding for the past few years in the back of your mind and aren\u2019t daunted by the task at hand then roll up your sleeves and get ready to jump in. It\u2019s a fun creative process and we are here to give you some pointers.<\/p>\n
The best advice we can give is to start by selecting a venue then drafting a rough timeline and floor plan around it (contact us and we will get you our timeline planner). The venue always comes first because the plans have to fit the space.\u00a0 The timeline and floor plan help you see how the day will actually unfold and will help insure that your wedding will be talked about for years to come. It\u2019s much harder to plan all of the details when you aren\u2019t looking at the end result. Your timeline lets you see how it all comes together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After selecting the venue it’s a good idea to book the next round of vendors as far in advance as possible (ideally 1 year out): caterer, planner, entertainment, hair & make up and photography. These are the services that often depend on the skill of a particular individual attending your event and therefore are more limited in supply than say a dressmaker or gold smith.\u00a0 Even caterers have a limit as to how many events they can serve in a single day.<\/p>\n
There is no one right way to host a wedding but there are some good general rules of thumb that we swear by.\u00a0 The cocktail hour is not just a nicety it\u2019s an essential. After the high emotions of a ceremony it gives people a time to relax and mingle over intensely delicious bites and alcohol. Open bars are the way to go. During cocktails and throughout the night a signature cocktail or two are a great way to save on the cost of a fully stocked bar. If you have the budget and the space, multiple bars are extremely popular with guests. With a full hour of cocktails guests will be satiated and not anxiously awaiting dinner.\u00a0 You are also setting the pace for the evening to come.\u00a0 Cocktail hour\u2019s other function is to allow the caterer time to transform spaces that might need to serve as a ceremony location, then a family photo backdrop and finally be transformed into a space for dinner and dancing.<\/p>\n
Dinner is the anchor of the entire day. Food is hot when it\u2019s hot and takes a certain amount of time to serve and eat. Therefore we recommend toasts, slide shows, and other portions of the celebration that don\u2019t have a fixed duration happen after food has been served.\u00a0 Another tip is to budget half an hour longer for dinner than you think it will take. This last bit of advice is especially true if you are at (or over) your venue’s maximum capacity (it happens all the time!). It\u2019s easy to add extra time onto dancing if dinner stays on track but impossible to get it back if there are any delays.<\/p>\n
Another tip is to have a basic MC. Not a chaty personality MC that tells jokes but someone to make brief announcements to let guests know what\u2019s happening. Unlike yourself your guests haven\u2019t been pouring over the details of the wedding for the last few months and only have a rough idea of what\u2019s happening. A well timed introduction as to how dinner will flow or that guests are invited to a buffet in a particular order keeps everything flowing smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We highly recommend using Google Docs for planning and coordinating with all vendors. A shared timeline & floorplan ensures everyone can stay on the same page, literally. A shared document also cuts down on unnecessary emails and ensures that everyone can have the most up to date timeline whenever they need it. It also lets all of your vendors look for potential conflicts like toasts and sun set photos happening at the time or seating arrangements that conflict with the audio setup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It might sound redundant to say but we recommend breaking events into simple logical blocks such as: cocktails, followed by dinner, followed by toasts, followed by dancing.\u00a0 The more complicated the event the less likely it will work as planned no matter how great your planner is. Keep in mind that each time you start or stop a large group of people from doing anything it can add 5 to 15 chaotic minutes to the timeline and zaps momentum.\u00a0 This is most important when it comes to dancing. We recommend avoiding “dance sets” with a DJ. These only make sense with live bands that need to take breaks.\u00a0 Let the DJ build up the energy and take people on a seamless musical journey, that’s what they do.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dancing is obviously our favorite part of the celebration. There are a few things to keep in mind when planning for dancing. The location of the dancefloor and DJ are vital in ensuring a great party. The DJ needs to be set up at the edge of the dancefloor to ensure that the loudest part of the room is in fact the dancefloor and not the seating area. An all too common mistake is to have a centrally located dance floor surrounded by seating on all sides. While this looks pretty on a floorplan it means that the area between the speakers and the dancefloor (the seats) will be louder than the dancefloor. The volume of sound drops by 50% with every doubling of distance. This means that if the DJ is across the room your dance floor will sound too quiet while the area between the DJ and the dance floor will be obnoxiously twice as loud. The other reason to keep the DJ at the edge of the dancefloor is so they can read the crowd. The DJs ability to sense the energy on the dancefloor and respond accordingly is what distinguishes them from static playlists. Lastly, once you have a floorplan, seat guests who are unlikely to dance as far away from the speakers & dancefloor as is practical. They will thank you for it.<\/p>\n
Finally once you have a plan for the day, stick with it. Events are highly choreographed behind the scenes.\u00a0 There are lots of people working together to make them flawless. The best time for changing details is in the months, weeks and days ahead of time not in the seconds beforehand.<\/p>\n
The following is a checklist we recommend going over. We have encountered each of these issues time and time again. \u00a0<\/p>\n
While there is no upper limit you should expect to pay between $35,000 and $75,000 for a 150 person wedding in the DC area. To think of it another way between $233 and $500 per person. Most of that will go towards food and drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Below we breakdown the typical range of wedding expenses:<\/strong><\/p>\n Angelica & Co<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Another Wild Hare<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Bella Notte<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Capitol Romance<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The Coordinated Collective<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Engaging Affairs<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Grace and Virtue Events<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n L. Harvard Events<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Mimi Ebichi Events<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The Plannery<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n SRS Events<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Abbouds<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Alexandra Friendly Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Alicia Wiley Photography <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Anthony Poff Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n AVS Photo & Video<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Barbara O Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n By Asa Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Duhon Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Emily Chastain Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Jessica Roberts Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Joffoto<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Ken Pak Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Kobilis Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Mason Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Procopio Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Roey Yohai Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Samia\u2019s Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sloane Dakota Photo<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Stephen Gosling<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Timmester Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Victoria Selman<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Wolfcrest Photography<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Monachetti Weddings<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Quixotic Worx Films<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sage And Silhouettes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Shutter And Sound Wedding Cinematography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Wolfcrest Photography<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Atelier Ashley Flowers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The Floral Guru<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Holland Flowers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael B. Anthony<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sweet Root Village<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Carla Pressley<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Atmosphere<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Bond Events<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Elegance & Simplicity, INC.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Encore Decor Inc<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Event Revolution<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Nomad Events<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Syzygy Events<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Party Rentals LTD<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Something Vintage Rentals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Accelerator Space, Baltimore, MD<\/a><\/strong> Airlie –\u00a0Warrenton, VA<\/a>\u00a0 Aix La Chapelle Farm – Poolsville, MD<\/a> American Visionary Art Museum – Baltimore, MD<\/a> Arts Club of Washington – Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> The Assembly Room – Baltimore, MD<\/a><\/strong> Atrium at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA<\/a> Baltimore Museum of Art – Baltimore, MD<\/a> Brenwood Lake Weddings – Luray VA <\/a><\/strong>200 capacity – $4,500<\/p>\n Carnegie Institution for Science – Washington DC<\/a> Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Stevensville, MD<\/a> <\/strong>350 capacity – $3,000<\/p>\n Comet Ping Pong – Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> Decatur House on Lafayette Square – Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> District Winery, Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> Dock 5 at Union Market – Washington DC<\/a><\/strong> Dumbarton House – Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> Eastern Market’s North Hall – Washington, DC<\/a>\u00a0 Evergreen Museum & Library \u00a0– Baltimore, MD<\/a><\/strong> Ghibellina – Washington, DC<\/a> Glen Echo Park –\u00a0Glen Echo, MD<\/a><\/strong> Great Room at Savage Mill – Savage, MD <\/a> Hook Hall – Washington DC<\/a><\/strong> Hotel Monaco, Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> The Inn at Mount Vernon Farm – Sperryville, VA<\/a><\/strong> Josephine Butler Parks Center – Washington, DC<\/a><\/strong> Khimaira Farm – Luray, VA<\/a><\/strong> Long View Gallery – Washington, DC<\/a> \n
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Best Wedding Vendors in DC<\/h2>\n
Planners Who Get It<\/h2>\n
Photographers You Want to Work With<\/h2>\n
Videographers to Capture it All<\/h2>\n
Florists Who Will Amaze You<\/h2>\n
Hair & Makeup Artists<\/h2>\n
Production Companies for Events<\/h2>\n
Event Furniture & Necessities<\/h2>\n
Wedding Venues We Love<\/h2>\n
275 seated, 375 cocktail style – $4,500<\/p>\n
<\/strong>180 capacity – $254 per person<\/p>\n
<\/strong>200 capacity – $10,200<\/p>\n
<\/strong>400 dinner & dancing -$7,280<\/p>\n
180 seated – $4,000<\/p>\n
200 seated – $5,500<\/p>\n
<\/strong>230 seated, 300 standing – $8,550<\/p>\n
<\/strong>200 capacity – $8,000<\/p>\n
<\/strong>150 capacity -$8,500<\/p>\n
150 or 200 in multiple rooms – $ unlisted<\/p>\n
400 capacity – $12,000<\/p>\n
200 capacity – $7,000<\/p>\n
400 to 2000 capacity – $12,000<\/p>\n
200 capacity – $700 per hour<\/p>\n
<\/strong>190 with a dance floor -$5,400<\/p>\n
220 Tented Patio & Carriage Room with dance floor – $7,100<\/p>\n
<\/strong>86 seated, 106 standing in private dining room $3,200<\/p>\n
Spanish Ballroom 800 dancing, 450 dinner & dancing, $7,500 \/ Bumper Car Pavilion 350 theater seating, 200 dinner & dancing $3,650<\/p>\n
<\/strong>266 capacity – $2,650<\/p>\n
270 seated – $4,000<\/p>\n
200 capacity -$140 to $170 per person<\/p>\n
200 capacity – $10,000<\/p>\n
300 standing, 150 dinner & dancing<\/p>\n
250 capacity – $5,900<\/p>\n
<\/strong>200 dinner & dancing -$10,000<\/p>\n