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What's next? Photographer, Officiant...

katytaglekatytagle member
First Comment Name Dropper
in Connecticut
We finally decided we are doing a backyard wedding and last weekend we booked Abbey's tent & party services.  (our first vendor!) We got the tent, the dance floor, linens, china etc. :)
My question is what's next? What's most important? Should I start looking for the officiant, the photographer, flowers? which vendors were you booked first? Also, share your vendors, their site & pricing (if you don't mind. ) so I can just click on their site.

Thank you so much
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Re: What's next? Photographer, Officiant...

  • CTYankeeBrideCTYankeeBride member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    It's hard to say what's most important, that's an individual choice.  For instance, we aren't using a florist and flowers in general are at the very bottom of my to-do list because of that.  For someone else, that may not be the case.  I found that when I just started looking, it all fell into place just fine.

    We booked in this order:

    1. Venue- Inn at Middletown

    2. Officiant- Drew Cucuzza, Justice of the Peace.  He's a family friend and he's great so we knew right away that was the only officiant for us so we asked him right away to be sure he was available. Drew is out of New Haven but goes all over, and his rates are very reasonable.  I can give you his e-mail if you're interested. 

    3. We booked our DJ and photographer almost back to back after the venue and officiant.

    DJ- Hollywood Enterprises  BEST pricing we were quoted and very well-reviewed.  The most expensive wedding package is 850.00 if you book through Gigmasters.  The package we have is the next one down, for $700.  They will add things and make custom packages with no problem as well.  Angelo has been amazing to work with- very friendly, super helpful, and always quick to respond to e-mails. The website is http://www.hollywoodenterprises-dj.com/home.html

    Photographer- TAB Photographic, Tim Brown.  I love, love, love Tim's work.  He has been incredibly easy to work with, and helped us customize a package within our budget.  www.tabphotographic.com

    4. Our cake is included with our reception package so we really didn't have to go looking for a vendor.  The bakery is Sweet Harmony in Middletown and we haven't met with them yet but I have had their cakes and they were tasty.  They have also been very sweet to work with thus far.  I'm not sure what kind of pricing they have.  

    You may have additional vendors to book that vary from what I needed, but these are the only vendors I actually had to book since we are DIY-ing invites and flowers, I ordered my dress online and the BM's/ GM's are choosing their own attire.

    Some vendors are time-specific and that might have to steer you.  The bakery for instance, needs 4 month's notice so we had to be sure to have that together in that time frame.


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  • FutureMrsMeratiFutureMrsMerati member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    Congrats on making your decision! Our #1 decision was our venue, but it seems like you already have that :) You might want to jump on a tent reservation first though since that is super important for outdoor receptions.

    1) We considered the photographer to be the most important, because that is how you will physically be able to remember your wedding after the fact. We went with Melani Lust out of Westport, she is a wonderful person and her photos speak for themselves. Her packages start at $5,700, and we paid $400 extra for an engagement session. http://melanilustphotography.com

    2) The dress - Depending on how long you have to plan, I think you should consider tackling this pretty early on. Dresses can take as much as 6-8 months to come in, depending on how custom your dress is. Remember to tack on additional time required for alterations (at least 1 month).

    3) The caterer - Obviously super important for any wedding reception... we are using catering services out of one of our favorite restaurants, Pelliccis in Stamford. 

    3) The church - we are paying $1k for use of the church for our rehearsal and ceremony.

    4) The flowers - we are paying over $3k for our flowers, including 13 centerpieces, church arrangements, 3 fireplace arrangements, bistro table arrangements, bridal party flowers and bride and groom chair decoration. We are using a wonderful woman who runs her own business, and she has honestly been the best person we've worked with throughout the entire wedding planning process. We also like to shop local and/or small when possible, so that's a plus. It's Eileen's Exclusive Floral, http://www.exclusivefloral.com/

    5) The cake - again, we are using someone small and local who runs her own business. She is very affordable. I can provide the contact information if you'd like, let me know.

    6) We also had to book staff - bartenders and servers - for our wedding since we have just rented the physical space, nothing else. We are using Bartenders Express and I believe the cost is $35/staff member per hour. What is helpful too is that since they are just considered staff, they are able to set up and clean up the wedding, so something you might want to consider since it's in your backyard. We sourced our own alcohol but they are also able to assist with that, and have a wonderful package with all mixers and bar equipment, glassware, etc. for your wedding for $2/pp which we think is great.

    Other odds & ends... rentals (for charger plates, linens, tables/chairs, etc.), favors, hotel room block for out of town guests... Hope this helps :) 
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  • demkoj1demkoj1 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Photographer- Mike from Image in That Studios (http://www.imageinthatstudios.com/) He did an awesome job on our wedding, was extremely professional, and well priced. We even got our images back within a week of our wedding!

    Florist: Rosa's Florist in Bridgeport. We were extremely happy with her prices and our arrangements. She let us use her vases for our centerpieces that didn't have flowers in them. We provided her with all the materials and her staff put the centerpieces together for our reception

    Cake- Luigi's in Trumbull... it was delicious!

    DJ- DJae Melee... he's a board favorite and well priced. We were very pleased with him. 

    Wedding Gown- Marie Antoinette Bridal in Derby

    Bridesmaids/Mothers- Brides by Eva in Stratford (Alterations are included!!!)

    Tuxes: Alexander's Tuxedo's in Bridgeport. We didn't want to go to a men's warehouse were I've known people to have nightmares the day of their weddings with the tuxes not fitting. This is small family owned shop. Everything was perfect! 

    Hope this helps :)
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  • FutureMrsMeratiFutureMrsMerati member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    I forgot to mention, there is a wonderful photographer in Fairfield County who I found after we had booked Melani. While we do not regret our decision whatsoever, this photographer's work speaks for itself and she is very well priced in my opinion (packages start at $4,000). Definitely worth a look! 

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  • katytaglekatytagle member
    First Comment Name Dropper
    thanks. i am making calls today
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  • lac1252lac1252 member
    5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary First Comment
    Sorry, a little late to this post but I would agree with others that photographer was the next big thing to book. I got married 3 weeks ago and we used Tim Wong of Timecut Photography. I couldn't have been any happier with our decision to choose Tim. He is incredibly reasonable for his amazing work (I think packages start at $2,800). http://www.timecut.com/Blog/2014/06/13/inn-at-longshore-wedding-lori-and-greg/ This is the link to the blog post from our day but you can navigate the rest of his site from here. Also at the beginning and end of this post it includes a list of nearly all of our vendors, most of whom are in Fairfield County. Let me know if you want any specifics.
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  • CandyRIBrid2BCandyRIBrid2B member
    First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment
    The photographer definitely comes next.  We are going with andrea jay photography (www.andreajay.com) she starts at $2000.  We kind of did the hair/make up next (http://www.bellabeautybridal.com/), our friend is officiating, our cake (http://montilios.com/) all at the same time.... 
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  • katytaglekatytagle member
    First Comment Name Dropper
    Thanks again.  I emailed some of them and others.  Im excited to make appointments.... how crazy is that? I am the only one who gets happy about this. 
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