newbie - hi!

rebeccamuba

hello all!

new to the boards and completely overwhelmed, no clue where to start or where to look.

our first priority is to find a unique reception site with amazing food. very important to both of us as we are foodies! we'll probably have a small 150 person wedding, and i've been getting some awesome ideas from you ladies on this board.

i dont have a budget a yet... any advice? sites? books? magazines on how to get started on thsi crazy wedding process?

part of me is ready to hire a planner!

hjewell29

Hi and Welcome!  

Do you have a date in mind?  Are you are your FI looking to do something traditional or a little different?  Sometimes the best place to start is deciding on what you DO NOT want.  I didn't know where to start either so I just googled popular place to get married in Detroit.  I found that deciding on budget, date and venue were most important first.  Read the vendor/reception reviews too because those help.  This site is full of info and ideas and great people

Sue-n-Kevin

Welcome Rebecca! I agree with the above post, check the post at the top of the board with the push pin regarding vendors. Everyone has posted their reviews.

Best place to start is to think about the season you want to get married, and your budget. Budget determines the venue and number of people you are going to invite. I think most brides determine the season first (3 months each way), and when doing so think about how much they are spending, and how long it will take to save up for that. It's best not to tie yourself into places that have "minimums", ie minimum number of people that your contract says you have to pay for, unless you know you have a budget that will include that cost, plus all the other things.

Most weddings, the reception is about 60- 75% of the budget. The remaining amount is distributed over photographer, attire, decor, floral, DJ or band, transportation, paper goods (invitations, STD's, programs, or whatever you want). You can splurge or cut back on the things that are, or are not, important to you.

Looking forward to hearing about all of your plans over the coming months.

Congrats !

rebeccamuba

Next Fall, preferabbly off season as I have Tiffany's taste on a Target budget!

I'm assuming we'll be paying for the majority of the wedding ourselves.

I, we definitely want something different. I'm not a fan of a hall. I've found some great suggestions for downtown Detroit, we are also looking at Churches down there as they tend to be older with beautiful architecture which means I wont have to spend much on decor. A church wedding isnt a must for me but it's important to the FI and his family.

I'm wondering about the costs of a venue that has the majority of stuff incl or using a place and then having to rent tables, chairs etc. Does it roughly come out to being the same price? Any experience?

mlynn1223

Welcome!  I agree you need a season, a budget, and an area to look around.  This will help you narrow your choices.  When I was pricing things out it seemed it was more expensive to rent a place and then try to stock it with everything then it was to go with a full service place.  We were flexible with our date so this allowed us to have more options available.  If you are thinking next fall you have time, so don't stress over it.  You will need to get moving but don't need to freak out.  I unfortunately am not much help with ideas as far as places since I do not live there and only went to college down there.  I found the local magazines that newspapers put out super helpful, in addition to The Knot's reviews and local word of mouth.  It took me a while to find this board so I never looked up reviews here .   

sparkles776

If you are thinking next fall, I would start with getting the ceremony and reception venues nailed down. Yes, you have plenty of time. I booked my venue 1 year and 10 months out and I got the last June Saturday in 2013.

emarston1

Congratulations and welcome to the board

entropicbeauty

If you're considering a wedding planner, I'm using Tammara Kane of Grand Jour Events for my day of coordination, and I know a lot of other ladies on this board highly recommend her (that's why I ended up hiring her!)

Goodluck on the planning, the other ladies seem to have covered everything.

getintheboxx

I sent you a PM on Cafe Cortina.