u/Famous-Yogurt8973

TLDR: looking for advice on how to vet a planner that can deliver on my high expectations without scaring them off!

Would love for some full service wedding planners to chime in here as well!

I’m in the process of looking for a full service planner. I’m a resident physician and my fiance is a corporate attorney, so someone who can project manage our wedding for us is a must.

I’ve seen a lot of posts on this sub about making sure to interview your planners and vet them thoroughly so you’re getting your money and time’s worth, but I’m worried about being too intense and turning a planner off 😆

I’ve had previous project management experience at a top consulting firm, so I have extremely high expectations for project management. I’ve also planned several large scale events (corporate holiday parties for 500+ attendees, formal events for 1500+ attendees), so I know what I like and what I don’t. If I wasn’t a resident, I wouldn’t be hiring a full service planner.

My question is how do I convey this all to a planner without seeming like bridezilla and a nightmare to work with lol?? I promise I am not LOL but I’m really trying to convey that I have extremely high expectations having done things like this myself but need someone with the bandwidth to execute it at all. This is a significant financial investment for us that I’m already frustrated we have to make given our busy schedules, so I really want to make sure I have a positive experience. I also want to be mindful that a planner is balancing multiple weddings and that my wedding isn’t the center of their world like it is the center of mine.

Just recently went to a wedding at Inn at Perry Cabin where the couple did a total property buyout for the weekend and it was amazing. I’m getting married in 2028 and wondering what something like this would cost? Hoping for a wedding with 150-200 guests, not necessarily a fan of the nautical theme the Inn at Perry offered lol but am curious what other boutique hotels would enable a complete property buyout and roughly what it would cost.

I’m feeling so extremely discouraged right now and am hoping this sub can give me recommendations 😭 my fiance and I want to do a wedding weekend in Georgia for 150 - 200 guests. We were hoping to do a welcome party the night before and a casual brunch the morning after. With Georgia being a relatively cheaper state, I thought we’d be able to get everything we wanted for $150k easily, and that’s just not the case 😭 we aren’t even looking in Atlanta, but doing anything that’s not a farm/barn wedding is looking to run us $300k at the moment. Any brides have experience doing something similar to this in the Southeast? We’re hoping to stay in Georgia but I’m not sure if it’s possible anymore. We live in DC but are both from the Southeast and both were really hoping to have our wedding there.

Any brides given a quote they’d be willing to share for a wedding at Sea Island Resort in Georgia? Or any other thoughts on the venue?

Hi all! I know this post may get a lot of hate but frankly don’t care bc I don’t know you all 😆

I’m an M4 who just got back my step 2 score and I’ve been very fortunate to have scored in the 270+ range. I knew I was interested in ophtho entering medical school so I’ve really been prepping my application as if I’m gonna be going into a competitive specialty. My residency director is confident in my ability to match ophtho and has even let me know that I’d be competitive to match Derm.

I’m not all that interested in Derm, but there are definitely parts of that interest me. However, above all else, I value my lifestyle. I’m about to get married next year and me and my fiance have put off our life together for 10 years because of my medical training. I’m a non-trad student, so we’re a little older too. I not only want to have a good lifestyle post residency but I want to have a good lifestyle in residency as well. I’m tired of putting my life on hold.

I’ve been going back and forth between applying Derm or applying ophtho. I’m genuinely more interested in ophtho but it is incredibly important to me to have a good lifestyle in residency which I know Derm can give me whereas ophtho is a mixed bag. At the end of the day, when you’re tired and worn down, your genuine interest and curiosity in your field won’t mean anything.

I know this is such a first world problem as I am incredibly lucky to be able to make this choice in the first place. However, mentors at my school would definitely not be as open about choosing something for the lifestyle as I’m hoping strangers on the internet will be.

What time of year is the best time weather-wise to have an outdoor wedding in the Southeast? Thinking of an outdoor ceremony, outdoor cocktail hour, indoor reception

I’m leaving the firm (I’ve told my project, my coach, and all mentors etc) to go to law school, and I have been on the bench for three weeks now. Can I just continue riding the bench for as long as I can? What are the repercussions around this? Since I’m not going to be starting a new job I won’t be violating any laws about dual employment, but unsure what the vibes are. Will my coach be continuously flagged about my util? I’m not planning on doing any firm initiatives at all LOL so I feel like my time may be limited but would love anyone’s thoughts

I’ve been filling out my bench surveys with BS so wondering if anyone is even gonna be reading those

Hi BBBs! Any women in here working in medicine and planning a big budget wedding? I just got engaged and started residency this month, and I’m wondering what it’s going to take to balance being a resident with planning the wedding of my dreams. Would love to hear from other women in medicine who were able to balance wedding planning with training and what their overall timelines were?

My fiancé and I are looking to book the Jekyll Island Club for our Fall 2028 wedding, but it’s an hour away from the closest major airport. 80 - 90% of our guests will likely be flying in (we have lived all over, have been to college all over, and no matter where we have our wedding, this will be the case). Jekyll Island is already hard to get to on its own, but I’m unsure how we can provide shuttle/transportation services when we can’t really sync on flight times. Any ideas on how to get 100-150 guests out to an out-of-the-way venue?

Hello BBBs!

Just got engaged and am planning for a Fall 2028 wedding. Don't even know where to start with venue searching, and I was hoping you lovely ladies could give me a starting point on where to look with venues.

Little background to help guide your brainstorm for me:

• We are aiming to stay under $150,000 for our entire budget. Meaning F&B, venue, attire, and decor (aiming for heavy florals, but am willing to compromise if a venue is perfect)
• 100 - 150 guests. We'd like for everyone to stay on property or close by, so likely looking for hotels. Around 80 - 90% of our guests will likely be out of towners no matter where we do it.
• Friday rehearsal dinner + welcome party, Saturday ceremony, reception, and after party, Sunday farewell brunch (very casual, just some food for our guests to grab)
• We are pretty open to anything on the eastern US. States we are looking for now:
  • Georgia
  • DC
  • Maryland
  • Virginia
  • North Carolina
  • South Carolina
  • West Virginia
  • Texas (for the absolute dream venue since this is a little out of the way for our guests, but I am from here)
  • Alabama, if it's easily accessible for out-of-town guests
  • Anywhere in New England (but know that our budget might be tight for somewhere further north)
• Tented outdoor reception would be ideal, but again, pretty open!
• All-inclusive is a plus

Hello BBBs!

In the early stages of planning a fall 2028 wedding, but wanted to ask if it’s realistic to do the following within a $150K budget:

- Friday rehearsal dinner with only family and wedding party + welcome party with all guests afterwards
- Saturday ceremony and reception
- Sunday farewell brunch (nothing formal, just have food out for our guests to grab and go on their way out, can literally be a continental breakfast)
- Venue in the Eastern US that has on-site accommodations for 100 - 150 guests
- Including attire, decor (my vision is heavy florals, but know that I’ll probably have to compromise here), and all the extras that come with wedding planning (maybe a full service planner, but I know that might be a stretch)

I don’t want to start searching for venues and then be disappointed that everything is out of budget, so I wanted a gut check from this sub. From scrolling on this sub already, it feels like I might be being too ambitious :(

Hello! Do any of you know of a venue that has a glass conservatory and beautiful estate like Blackberry Ridge on the east coast? Looking for venues that are NOT Blackberry Ridge because have read and heard bad reviews of the venue’s customer service and don’t want to deal with Trenton, GA alcohol rules with it being a dry county. Thank you!

Any brides here have experience planning a multicultural wedding? My fiancé is white and I am South Asian, and we want to find a creative way to have a traditional white wedding and a South Asian wedding within the same weekend. We’d like for each ceremony to have its own day, but we don’t want to basically get married twice in the same weekend because we feel like it will wear out our guests. Perhaps a traditional welcome party but a larger South Asian ceremony and reception? Looking for any creative inspo!

Hello everyone! I just got engaged and I’m hoping to have a fall 2028 wedding close to the DMV area. I have literally not put any thought into the venue I’d like because I thought I’d be getting engaged next year (teehee), so I was hoping for some thoughts from this sub!

Criteria:
- My fiancé and I live in DC, and we are hoping for a venue that’s within a 3 hour drive, so doesn’t have to necessarily be in DC, Maryland, or Virginia
-No barn venues or anything with problematic histories
-Looking for a large estate vibe, something “European”
-All-inclusive venue is a plus
-I like the Inn at Perry, but that’s bordering a little bit too “naval” for my liking, so hoping for something that’s a little less boat-y
-Around 150 - 200 guests

I’m not someone who has been planning my wedding my entire life, but I want it to be beautiful and memorable!! My family, myself, and my fiance will be pitching in funds, so I want to make the most of our larger budget. Also open to any and all opinions about what to look for in a a venue. All words of wisdom welcome!!