Questions To Ask Your Wedding Venue Before Signing A Contract

You’ve found the place. The place where you can envision yourself dancing the night away with your new spouse, smiling with friends and family, sipping champagne, and celebrating the first of marriage with the person you love most in the world. All you need to do now is sign on the dotted line, right? Before you fork over a hefty deposit, make sure you ask your wedding venue questions—lots of questions. Feel free to use the following questions for your wedding venue as a checklist.

1. When are the payments due?

You want to make sure you pay on time! Every venue has different payment plans and policies, so get the skinny on your dream venue. Understanding your payment due dates is important to avoid any late fees.

2. What is the minimum or maximum number of guests allowed for the space?

In order to comply with local fire codes, venues must cap the amount of people in one room at a given time, so if you’re planning on 200 guests but the venue can only accommodate 150, you might want to look elsewhere.  On the other hand, if your venue is also providing the catering, they want to have a minimum number of guests to serve in order to maximize earnings. If the minimum is 80 and you only have 55, they lose money and would thus prefer to book a wedding with more guests (think price per head).

3. Do you provide any leftover food for us to take home?

You’re paying for the food, so you might want to be able to send some home with your parents, bridal party, or even yourselves to eat the next day! It’s worth asking this question.

4. When should we drop off the wedding decorations or other items we need for the reception?

Depending on the venue, you may be able to deliver them the night before, but some places will ask you to wait a few hours before the ceremony, especially if they’ve hosted another event the previous day. Typically a wedding venue would allow you to drop off wedding decorations one week prior to your wedding day.

5. Must I use your approved vendors, and what is the penalty if we change our mind?

You might think the cost savings for using their preferred caterer is worth it—until you taste the food, or read a Yelp review, or realize you dislike that caterer after a meeting. Find out if there’s an additional charge for using another vendor. Most venues prefer their affiliated vendors but always keep in mind to ask and see if other options are available.

6. What is your refund policy if we cancel our wedding?

It happens more than you’d think, but people cancel their weddings for a variety of reasons: a family member grows ill, an out-of-town job offer will require a move or delay a wedding, or you break off an engagement. Anything is possible, and you don’t know what the future holds, so this is a worthy question to ask your wedding venue. Make sure you have this on a written statement or contract before you sign.

7. Do you offer extended hours?

If your band is really rocking the night and everyone’s having a great time and your reception goes over the time limit you expected, what happens? Are they going to shut you down (not likely)? Are they going to charge you for additional time? Perhaps. Some venues will grant you access to their space for the entire day of while others give you a 4-hour time span. Better be safe than sorry: ask! And don’t forget to make sure they write this down into your contract.

We love to hear more tips from your wedding plans, if you have something great to share from your experience send us a message below.  Happy wedding planning!

The post 7 important questions to ask your venue before booking appeared first on NYC Brooklyn Wedding Photographer.

No matter how much time you spend on planning your wedding to your idea of perfection, something might go wrong: the sound system will have a glitch, the ring bearer will burst into tears in the middle of the ceremony, your heel snags onto your dress as you’re walking into the reception. Things happen, and those mishaps might seem atrocious at the time but often will become funny stories to remember for years ahead. On the other hand, everything may seemingly go off without a hitch, but peering through your wedding album years later might bring feelings of regret. To avoid making decisions you’ll regret later on, keep reading.

1. Including the wrong people in your wedding party

Choose the people who have always been there for you, not just those who walk with you now. Certainly invite those newer, close friends to your wedding, but consider the friends who have always stood by your side over the years to stand by your side on this most important day.

2. Letting your parents plan the whole wedding

If they are footing the bill, you will have to give some leeway into some important (and expensive) decisions, but don’t let them select your wedding gown, photographer, flowers, and your personal items for the day, and make sure you have enough of your own preferred guests on the list. If need be, save up some cash to spring for the items you know you want to choose (if you can’t choose everything).

3. Not including your parents input

Even if you and your fiancé are footing the bill yourselves, listen to your parents’ requests (if they have any). They don’t need to act as wedding planners, but this day is significant for them, too. If you can afford to extend a few extra invites to their friends, or if your mother really wants the band to play a certain song, do what you can to honor those small requests.

4. Showing too much skin

There’s something to be said for feeling sexy on your wedding day, and it’s another thing entirely for guests to feel embarrassed talking to you. If you want to show a bit of your back or cleavage or shoulders, go ahead, but keep it tasteful.

5. Not wearing what you want to wear

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the emotion and excitement of wedding dress shopping, but don’t get so carried away that you’re plopping down a chunk of change on a dress you’re not 100% sure is the one.

6. Spending money on things that aren’t important

Unless you’re a graphic designer, the finish of your invitation paper and the printing of your programs is probably not at the top of your priority list. Same goes for what to toss into the air for exiting the church or reception (birdseed, flower petals, bubbles) or the ribbons attached to your bridesmaids’ bouquets, or the chargers and place settings. These fine details aren’t what you’ll remember most about special day, so don’t award them a larger portion of your budget.

7. Doing what your friends did

Feeling inspired by a friend’s wedding and wanting to copycat their day are two different notions. If you really loved one aspect of their wedding, find a way to make it reflect you and yours.

8. Hiring a wedding photographer you’re not comfortable around

Your wedding photography is an investment, and you want to cherish the pictures for years to come. If you’re not comfortable with your photographer, that will show up in your pictures—you may even shy away from shots. Don’t regret your choice of a wedding photographer. Hiring a seasoned professional wedding photographer that you can connect with and love their work.

We love to hear some tips that others can avoid so their wedding decisions will not lead into any regrets. Feel free to contact us using the form below or on our Facebook page to post some tips.  Happy wedding planning!

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Maybe you’re intrigued by the idea of having first look wedding pictures taken, but you can’t shake the picture of the traditional grand entrance—or maybe you just don’t want to wake up earlier than you have to or risk the elements (understood). Did you know you could have the best of both worlds? Yes, alternative to first look photos exist!

Do a last look

Last look? Say what? This can be an option if your photographer also happens to be at your rehearsal dinner so he or she can capture the last words, glances, and embraces that the bride-to-be and groom-to-be have with each other on their last day of being unwed.

Do a first look with someone else

You can avoid “bad luck” and the superstition of the groom seeing the bride in her dress or on the wedding day but letting someone else see you first in all of your bridal glory. Some of the most touching moments occur when a parent sees his or her daughter (or son, for that matter) in their wedding attire for the first time. You could also surprise a grandparent or your siblings, too—whoever you feel close to that you’d like a little time with before the ceremony.

Hold hands

You can be together without actually seeing each other, and one popular way to do this is to hold hands through a doorway, around walls, bookcases, shelves, or other corner spaces, or even around a staircase (depending on its design). This is especially nice for more religious or spiritual brides and grooms who want to share a moment of prayer together prior to the ceremony.

Back to back

This is similar to the hand holding we just mentioned, but you’re back to back with each other instead of having some kind of partition between you. This involves some logistical planning ahead of time.

Blindfold

There are a few ways to navigate this first look alternative. One possible scenario is that the groom’s buddies blindfold him and the bridesmaids bring him to the bride; another possible scenario is that the bride and groom are each blindfolded and brought to each other beforehand in their getting-ready clothes (not their ceremony attired). Just do a test run with the blindfold you’re using to make sure you can’t sneak a peek through the fabric—that would totally ruin the anticipation and surprise and fun of the moment, not to mention bring bad luck (if you believe in the superstition, that is).

The post 5 alternative first look ideas to have for your wedding appeared first on NYC Brooklyn Wedding Photographer.

Weddings are supposed to be fun, joyous occasions, yet planning an event of this significance can rattle even the coolest cucumber. Considering the details, the organization, and the emotions, it’s no wonder that wedding planning can cause undue stress on a couple. And guess what—the groom might be even more stressed about the guest list and the budget than you are. Think about it this way: unless you’re a professional event planner, how many times have you hosted an event with a large guest list?

Keep it under wraps

If you’re having the issue of loads of unsolicited advice (too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen syndrome), then either enlist their interest and energy in ways that will best serve you and your schedule (putting stamps on the invitations, running errands for you, etc.) or keep your plans to yourself. The latter is harder, by far, but by vowing to discuss your wedding plans with only your maid of honor (for example), you won’t be tempted to talk about it all the time. Keeping everything a surprise will not only keep your guests excited about the big day, but it will help you to not talk about all of your plans—and the more you talk about it, the more opinions you may invite and thus the more stressed you may become.

Spend quality time with your fiancé doing non-wedding things

Sure, hitting up Pottery Barn and West Elm and filling out your wedding registry can be a blast, but don’t rename every wedding errand a date. Do fun things together just like you use to before the engagement, like going to the movies, having after works drinks at the bar, or having a Netflix night.

Take care of yourself

Escape from the stress of planning your wedding by delving into your favorite hobby—reading, cooking, quilting, whatever it is you do to escape for a little while. Pray, meditate, take naps, or get a massage (or all of the above). Whether you prefer yoga, Zumba, weight training, or running, pursue your favorite kind of stress-relieving exercise—it’ll be good for your mind and your body.

Prioritize

It’s so easy to get swept away with the thousands of DIY projects you see on Pinterest and choosing the perfect cake topper and determining what kind of invitation paper best reflects your personality as a couple—wait. Wait right there. Do you really think you’ll be having a woe-is-me, full-of-regret moment over your invitation paper and wedding topper twenty years from now? No way! It will be much more important to remember who was there celebrating with you—that’s why you’ll want to pore over your wedding album time and time again (well, that and to marvel over how young you both were). Choose a DIY project you can handle and will actually enjoy putting together (or not if you’re not a DIY-er). Pick a cake topper that you find adorable, and ask your printer about the right weight paper for the ink you’re using and call it a day. Don’t sweat the small stuff, even when Pinterest and every wedding magazine out there is telling you ‘it’s all in the details.’

If all else fails, you have a few choices:

• Ask for help, either from your partner or another trusted friend or family member
• Consider alternatives to the issues that are stressing you the most (whether that’s the guest list or the venue)
• Hire a wedding planner, whether it’s for the day of or for the remainder of the engagement to take some of the stress off your plate.

We love to hear your wedding planning stories, send us your favorite tip on staying calm during the planning stages.  Happy wedding planning

The post How to stay calm during your wedding planning appeared first on NYC Brooklyn Wedding Photographer.

In this digital age, it seems like more of us are forgoing printed photographs in favor of photo-sharing sites like Instagram, Shutterfly, or even Facebook. Well, it’s not that we’re preferring the latter—it’s not that comfortable to gather everyone around the computer or phone to show them pictures of your latest trip, and you yourself would rather flip through a tangible photo album. Everyone would enjoy a break from looking at a screen, yet we keep going back to one. It’s certainly easier than having to remember to choose and print off pictures, right?

In the long run, you want to have your memories available without having to plug in, charge up, and wait for a connection.

When it comes to your wedding album, you definitely want to have an album. After all, you’ve spent the money to invest in professional photography, and for what reason? So you can have a permanent record of the most important day of your life—at least that’s a common reason people offer as to why they’ve hired a professional wedding photographer (your reasons may vary, naturally). So why leave those digital files unprinted? Can you really find any appeal in dusting off an old iPad to bring out for reminiscing? Neither can we.

Printed tangible goods are always better than digital files.

We have no idea what the future holds as far as technology is concerned, so the very website—or the CD or the memory stick–that holds your precious memories today may become obsolete tomorrow, and then your kids, grandkids, the local historical preservation society—they’re all up the proverbial creek.

This isn’t a project you want to DIY.

While there are fine and acceptable photo printing sites available to you, unless you yourself are a professional printer or photographer, you won’t have access to the top-of-the-line companies that work directly with your vendor. Today’s wedding albums are durable and of a very high quality, printed on paper that will last a long time.  You also want the trained professionals to edit your images and design an album that corresponds a story to recap your wedding day. The craft in designing high-quality layouts and hand binding an album is something you would want your wedding photographer or a professional to handle this for you.

A wedding album is your heirloom.

Photography is an art meant to be experienced, and tangible albums allow for your wedding photography to be experienced again and again by you, your spouse, and the family you’ll create together. Once printed and bound, these pictures aren’t just images on a screen—they’re physically available for your to physically experience them and remember the day.  Cherish these moments and display your photos on a beautifully crafted wedding album books that will create smiles on your face each time you view through it.

We love to hear from you!  Feel free to contact us for any questions about wedding album option that our studio offers.

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