r/BigBudgetBrides

I ordered a Nicole + Felicia gown from Kleinfeld a couple weeks ago, and I ordered it with a custom length since the pattern of the skirt makes it extremely difficult to hem (extra $800).

I also don’t want it hemmed, because the patterning of the skirt is intricate and varies from top to bottom and any cut would be obvious and visible because the pattern would no longer match up.

I ordered my dress at Kleinfeld, and when they took my measurements, they added an inch to the length measurement which they said was typical. I asked them not to do that, because I’d rather wear shorter heels than risk the skirt being too long. For context, my fiancé is extremely tall and so I’m wearing extremely tall heels (6.5 inches). I literally would not be able to find heels any taller than the ones I’m wearing or else I’d be less worried and just switch to taller shoes.

At this point I’m losing sleep over this. I don’t want to have spent hundreds of dollars on a custom length just to end up still having to hem it, which genuinely would ruin the skirt and cost over $1k because of the work that would need to be done. Do I call the store? Is it normal for dresses to be slightly longer than measured? I figure that they know what they’re doing but the added inch in worrying me

Looking for the following, open to others that are not on this list but would like the best recommendation.

Mountain luxury town
100 guests
$400k wedding weekend budget
Under $40k set fee all in travel etc will not entertain % based model.

Design forward- light/airy, natural, organic luxury, textures, editorial but guests experience & fun in mind.

Who would you recommend and why or NOT? If you’ve worked with any of these planners I would love for you to message me.
-Table 6
- Calluna Events
- Slater Events
- Sofia Goff
- Bash Productions (montana)
- Keely Thorne events
- slater events
- wild heart events

Hi All!

We're currently planning our wedding in Malibu, and we're trying to figure out a rehearsal dinner space that works for us. We were quoted that some venues are >30,000$ which is unfortunately not in our budget. We had seen that Malibu Nobu does offer an event space and previous couples have hosted their rehearsal dinner there, but they're not giving us quotes until closer to when the event would be. Has anyone had any experience with Nobu for a rehearsal dinner?

We're hoping to host 25- 30 people if that's helpful!

Hi! I’m really having trouble with the creative direction of my reception, does anyone have pictures of the table numbers or tablescapes that you had? Would love to see your recent photos for inspo!

Also want to add — please pick a planner whose design aesthetic matches yours. Mine has done weddings that fit my aesthetic but the designers they used on those weddings led all of those meetings, where I chose a more à la carte decor company to save $ and I’m really having trouble

Hi everyone! I’m trying to finalize our wedding timeline and would love opinions on whether this sounds too late from a guest perspective.

We’re having a church ceremony from 1:00–2:00 PM in a town about 45 minutes away from our reception venue, which is downtown in the city. Because of the distance, traffic, and the fact that we’re not doing a first look, the timeline has been a bit tricky to plan.

After the ceremony, we’ll be heading to the reception venue for photos. Our photographer said that 3:30–5:30 PM should work well for couple portraits, wedding party photos, family photos, room detail shots, and room reveal, with a bit of buffer.

Right now, we’re considering this timeline:

1:00–2:00 PM — Church ceremony
2:00–3:30 PM — Travel / buffer / arrive at venue
3:30–5:30 PM — Photos at reception venue
6:00–7:00 PM — Cocktail hour
7:00–7:30 PM — Entrances / guests seated
7:45 PM — Dinner service begins

There will be passed canapés during cocktail hour, so guests won’t be completely without food, but I’m still worried that starting dinner service at 7:45 PM might feel too late.

The alternative would be starting cocktail hour at 5:45 PM or shortening cocktail hour to 45 minutes, but I also don’t want the afternoon to feel rushed, especially with photos and wanting a few minutes to touch up before guests arrive.

Does this timeline sound reasonable, or would you find dinner at 7:45 PM too late as a guest?

Need honest advice from people who’ve done destination weddings.

I’m starting to feel confused about the role of my planner vs designer and whether my situation is normal or not.

Our planner charges around €4k for two days. She brought in probably 60% of the vendors and handles outreach, timelines, coordination, logistics, etc. I brought the other 40% of the vendors myself.

The actual wedding design, decor direction, rentals, tablescapes, styling, visual concept etc is all being handled by the wedding designer. Me and the designer are constantly going back and forth on the actual creative execution and budget decisions.

What’s making me frustrated is:

• We are WAY over budget now
• A lot of costs appeared later in the process
• Initial expectations felt very different from reality
• For vendors I personally sourced, I’m still the one mainly communicating/coordinating with them instead of the planner
• I also can’t help but wonder how commissions work behind the scenes between planners/designers/vendors

I completely understand planners deserve to make money and that weddings are expensive. But I’m struggling to understand where the planner’s role starts and ends when I’m heavily involved in sourcing vendors, communicating with some of them directly, and handling a lot of the creative discussions myself.

Is it normal for planners to take vendor commissions while also charging a planning fee? And if budgets spiral way past what was initially discussed, how do people usually navigate that conversation midway through planning?

Is tipping on your hair trial required?

My hairstylist is independent, not at salon. Her price for a trial is $200, but it's billed hourly...

My wedding hairstyle is the same price ($200) regardless of time.

Do I need to tip for this too?
Thanks!

Help picking wedding day shoes!!!

I would love to wear flats. I do not wear heels ever, and I do not want to be uncomfortable.

I tried them on yesterday and like them a lot!

I do not have my dress yet so I cannot try on with my dress. It is a ballgown.

Will I regret not having a “pointy” shoe underneath my dress? Do you even really see your shoes?

Hi! Looking to see if any past brides (or brides-to-be) have created a list for themselves of little items that need to be purchased and/or brought for the wedding day.

It’s easy to remember big ticket items, but I’m thinking about things that could easily be forgotten, such as:
- Ring Box for flat lays
- Vintage stamps for flat lays
- Vow books
- Guest book
- His & hers perfume/cologne

Or any other items that have made the day of more fun that weren’t essential! I went to a wedding recently that had a Polaroid camera next to the guest book and all guests took a Polaroid photo and used cute washi tape to stick it to a page in the guest book and then wrote their note!

Let me know if anyone has a list they made, or feel free to share items in the comments that were important to you!

Curious if anyone here has gifted their MIL on the wedding day? I have a special gift for my mom (I custom made her jewelry) but is it rude not to give anything to my MIL/ step-MIL?

I was thinking I could gift them getting ready PJs along with my bridesmaids since everyone will be getting hmu done in the same room throughout the morning?

Unaware of etiquette/ protocol here!

Needing help finding wedding venues!! Looking to stay within ~2 hours of NYC

Budget: ~300k
Size: 200-250 people

Open to a 1-day only event or a weekend buyout (as long as it’s in budget!)

Looking for a warm, friendly, elegant venue.

Places I like:
* Blue Hill at Stone Barns: love the greenery, elevated-barn feel, top tier food.
* Brooklyn Botanic Garden: glass Palm House is beautiful, reception area by the shallow pools, outdoor ceremony in nature. Unfortunately not many available dates
* Glynwood: I love the welcome dinner space here!! But also no dates in 2027 :(((
* Brooklyn Grange: I think this is a super cool space if I cut my guest list in half

Places I like but out of budget :( Troutbeck, Inness, Wildflower Farms

Avoiding:
* Not a huge fan of a lot of the mansions/estates nearby, which rules out Park Chateau, Oheka Castle, Lyndhurst Mansion, etc. In the same vein, ballrooms don’t really pique my interest
* Also not super keen on doing a restaurant rent-out, ruling out Balthazar, etc.
* Up til now, I’ve been ruling out Manhattan venues. I love the idea of escaping the concrete jungle a bit for my wedding and (ideally) walking the aisle outdoors. Buttt I’m slowly opening myself back up to the idea given I love a venue here

I feel like there must be so many more out there that I would love — I’m having such a hard time finding.

Please help and suggest!!!

Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice here because I’m panicking!!! My Danielle Frankel dress arrived, and it does not zip up. Not even close!!! When I was measured I was told that they would order it a couple sizes up to avoid this exact problem, but that clearly didn’t happen — I’m the exact same size as I was when I ordered the dress (if anything, a bit smaller). I think they either wrote down my measurements wrong or accidentally made the wrong size dress.

My wedding is in the three months and I have no idea if I can lose enough weight to make it work, and frankly I don’t want to have to. I feel like since this is their mistake they should have to fix it, but will they be willing to make me a new dress??? I have an alterations appointment tomorrow so I’ll see what they say but I was wondering if anyone else had this experience, especially with DF, and/or has any advice or idea of what DF might say before I reach out to them. HELPPPPP