Reflections from my Wedding!
Hi everyone! I just got married a few weeks ago in Southern California. We had a 1.5 year engagement and I will be honest, some of the worst moments of my life were in the wedding planning process. It took an immense strain on our relationship but in the end, it was still the best weekend of our life! Some takeaways, and I hope this helps someone!
Wedding Planner: I would NOT skimp on this. If I were to do this again, I would recommend getting a full service wedding planner and budgeting for this early on. Nothing is worth your sanity, seriously. We ended up firing our original wedding planner and then got another high end wedding planner but it was more "partial planning" services. Wedding planners will give you what you pay them - and in many cases they pay for themselves. Don't be shy to spend 25-30k on a wedding planner. Truly it is worth it.
Venues: I am sure this has been mentioned before but if you are doing your venue search without a planner make sure you look at EVERY. DETAIL. Look at the flooring/carpet, the bathrooms (including the number of bathrooms), parking, doors, walls, ceilings, lighting etc. Also don't be afraid of plain sticker costs - it really does make a difference what is included. A 5k venue that includes nothing is very different from a 5k venue that includes tables, chairs, etc.
Decor - Sky is the limit when it comes to decor, keep that in mind. In my opinion its really what makes the difference between a 200k wedding and a $1 million dollar wedding. There is really only so much you can spend on food, alcohol, etc. But decor is unlimited budget. Decide how much you want to index on decor early on and then go from there. Trust me, nobody will care if there are no charger plates.
Good luck planning - and for any of the brides going through a difficult times, know that you are not alone. I wish I had more people to talk to about this in the wedding planning process. There were a lot of dark times but it ended up being that much more beautiful in the end.