I’m supposed to do what now? A Wedding Primer series

I’m going to make an assumption here.  I’m going to assume, that many of you are getting married for the first time.  (Side note:  I have multiple clients who are getting married for the second or third time, so no judgements there, just trying to go by numbers.)  That you are being dropped into this chaos completely ignorant of pretty much everything, depending on tips from friends and family, bridal magazines and assorted blogs and websites.  Not knowing stuff is FINE, you’re new at this, no one goes into getting married with the intention of making a habit of it.  But ignorance of planning “stuff” can breed shame, especially when everyone is all “Well you HAVE to have X!  It’s a tradition!”  But you know nothing of this tradition, what it represents, if everyone does it, nothing.  You have no idea of what is a good price for photography, and live in fear of being insulting or taken advantage of.

So this is what I’m going to do.  I’m going to break down wedding traditions, where they came from, how they’ve evolved, what they meant when they started, and how people utilize them today.  It is NOT my place to tell you whether or not to do them, but it’s completely unfair to drop someone into a completely foreign land without a tour guide right?  “But you HAVE to go to the Louvre, it’s the LOUVRE!”  *Uneducated Answer* “OK, lets see what this Louvre thing is about.  I hope they have good food.”  *Educated Answer* “Thanks for the suggestion, but we’re really going to be focusing on our love of French cuisine this trip.”

Another thing we’re going to talk about is vendors and budgets.  I’ve seen so many instances where couples have no idea what pricing is appropriate, so have no idea where to start with their budgeting, instead living off of Kn*t checklists and budgets, not being able to tailor it to themselves, because they have no idea where to start.  We’ll be looking at the basics of your wedding start up.  Venue (Place), Rentals (Tables/Chairs/Place Settings), Catering (Food & Drink), and Entertainment (DJ/juggling dogs/burlesque dancers/etc).  “But what about dresses, and invitations, and decor, and other assorted weddingy things?”  Honestly?  Those are just too subjective.  There’s too many options, too many variables, and I just don’t think I’ll be able to give any ground rules.  If you want something particular addressed, just let me know, but when dealing with pricing/vendors, unless someone shows me the glaring error of my ways, I’m gonna stick to those four.

 

Above photos are used by Creative Commons License. Please click on them to be taken to the photographer’s site.