So you are engaged!! This is such an exciting time, as you will begin saving your favorite wedding pictures on Pinterest and Instagram, wanting to dive deep into all the small details of wedding planning. Before you do that, it is so important that you, your fiancé (and sometimes family), discuss the wedding budget. Talking about money can be quite stressful for people, but it does not have to be! Here are some tips to get you started in determining your overall wedding budget.
Hiring a wedding planner takes so much pressure off of you and your fiancè, allowing you to truly enjoy the moments of being engaged during the process. No matter what service you are looking for in a wedding planner, whether that’s Full Planning, Partial Planning, or Month-Of Planning; wedding planners are so extremely valuable and every bride deserves to have one!
Such a beautiful evening we had at Alexa + Sam’s wedding! The energy and the excitement of everyone filled the area and we were able to have a unforgettable night. We are so excited to share these memories with you as well as the wonderful people that helped made this day possible!
Check out all the vendors below!
Vendors:
Planner: Cherish Events
Venue: Stonebridge Country Club
Transportation: Mark of Elegance
Photographer: Off BEET Productions
Cinematography: Vengo Films
Floral: Julia Rosa
Entertainment: DWP Live Factory
We met up with our sweet bride, Annabelle in Brooklyn to tour 501 Union. Check out some shots of this beautiful venue!
Check out these gorgeous sneak peeks from Josh and Rachel Best Photography! We absolutely LOVE working with Josh and Rachel. Not only are they amazing photographers, they are even more amazing people :)
Go check them out over on their website: http://joshandrachelbest.com
Vendor Team:
Venue: The Ritz Carlton
Planner: Cherish Events
Photographer: Josh + Rachel Best Photography
Band: Bay Kings Band
Draping: Dazian Creative Fabric Environments
Florals: Flowers By Lesley
So excited for Annabelle & Alex and their big day at 501 Union in Brooklyn! Check out their sweet engagement story below!
Planning our engagement was a long time coming. I knew I wanted to make sure three things happened: 1) that it was in New York, 2) our friends and family were there and 3) I wanted to surprise her (Belles isn’t a fan of big surprises, nor am I).
After picking a date (March 16th) and getting our friends and family a heads up, I realized so many people knew it was happening and it was the huge secret to have to keep from her. Every time we went out with friends I prayed that no one would let anything slip. Though I will applaud her friends for creating an elaborate St. Patrick’s Day game plan the weekend before just to throw her off. It worked.
I was wrecked with nerves the week of. So much so I was thrilled to spend two days away for work just so I could guarantee I wouldn’t let any plans slip out. All of our friends and family made it in town sneakily with only one close call—one of our friends got an AirBNB in our building, ensuing panic from me the night before…
We had plans on Friday the 16th to go have dinner with James (her brother) and his now-fiancee Katherine in Dumbo. I suggested that we should go down a little early so that I could get a photo of the iconic shot of the Manhattan Bridge down Washington St—still somehow keeping her in the dark of what’s really happening.
Once we got the photo, we took a walk along the East River towards the restaurant. The boardwalk was fairly empty and the sun was starting to set. Then I got down on one knee and asked her if she’d marry me—or I think I did, I kind of blacked out so I’m not 100% sure what I said, but she said yes!
Afterwards we walked to Hotel 1 by the Brooklyn Bridge for dinner. I told her it was just us going to dinner, but that were going to meet up with people afterwards for drinks. To my surprise, when I asked if she wanted to know who we were meeting, she said she wanted it to stay a surprise. I was not expecting that! She said at the time she thought it was only going to be a small group of family.
After dinner, I ordered an uber—still not telling her where we were going or who we were meeting. We pulled up to an old date spot of ours called Loosie Rouge. We walked through the crowded bar, through the kitchen in the back and out to the patio. When we walked out, about 40 of our friends and family were all waiting to welcome us! I remember being surprised at how many people were there, so I can’t image what she was thinking at the time.
We spent the rest of the night (and weekend) celebrating with friends and family in the most amazing way. It was, by far, the happiest day of my life.
Check out the Podcast at My Wedding Podcast!
