Wedding Planning

[winson604]

Originally Posted by Special K

How big was your QE ceremony? Cost?
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Park wedding ceremony permit | City of Vancouver

Wedding ceremonies in Vancouver parks | City of Vancouver

[SoNaRWaVe]

White Orchid Wedding - Hawaii's wedding planners and consultants for Maui, Oahu, Big Island, Kauai, Lanai.
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[Skittlez160]

Originally Posted by MG1

Some advice for what it's worth......

Whatever you do, go nuts on the food.

After 30+ years of marriage, the one thing people still talk about (my wedding) is the food. Open bar, lots and lots of food........ a fricken feast it was. They will forget what song was playing during the first dance, how hot the bridesmaids were, how handsome the groom was, how utterly stupid the MC was, etc. The thing people will never forget is the food.

This sounds exactly like my wedding. You're absolutely right regarding the food and alcohol. It's been almost 5 years (nothing compared to your 30+ kudos) and people still tell me that my wedding was the best they have ever gone to and yes, they still mention how much food there was and my open bar.

[Skittlez160]

Originally Posted by Special K

Local would be nice. We would have to research a little bit more. A hotel package seems convenient but pricey. I looked at Fairmont Pacific Rim for fun and minimum food and beverage is $20,000.
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Believe it or not, that sounds DECENT for the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Then again I don't know how big of a room you looked into and for how many guests. Unless I missed that part? Hehehe...

[CP.AR]

congrats!!

RS meet on your wedding day?

[tiger_handheld]

If you need to contact a wedding planner PM me. I know a great one and she's on here.. although I do not know her username..

[J-Chow]

First and foremost congrats! I can give you some advice regarding budget,since I just got married last week.
Set a budget. But even if you set a budget , you might go over like we did.
Get a wedding planner. I didn't, and I regret it. We did ours locally, church in Richmond, reception at Kirin with 28 tables.
Reception was $33 k. Remind you that was onu reception. Didn't include photos, videos, church, decorations etc. If we did, total cost ranging from 45-50k.
Reception wise, we didn't make profit, lost maybe 10k. Don't expect to make money, always expect an average minimum of how much each person would give, reasonably. Don't leave things till last minute, they will come up behind you and take a bite outta your ass.
Have a lot of helpers. I had a lot including my groomsmen, who did an excellent job. The last week before the wedding may get chaotic and stressful, dont panic, it's normal, esp for the wife. Pm for any specific details you'd like to inquire about, good luck.
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[Stormspirit]

My 30 yr old cousin lived in HK all his life. Got married recently. He told me including all the
jewelry, red pockets, gifts etc... he actually came out positive financial wise. Fucking jelly
as fuck since I won't be able to do the same... not much friends in HK unless I move back after I grad lol.

[Special K]

Wedding planner would actually be helpful. But would you think it might take away the planning experience? And how much di they cost? Or per hour charge? I sometimes like to do my own research and planning. For example, I spent about 40-50 hours to learn about diamonds and finally picked a diamond to my liking and budget for the engagement ring.

Where did you buy/rent the dress? Why did you choose renting or buying? Where did you get your tux? We are both asian and we are on the short and slim side if that helps.

As much as I want a ballin' ride in a CLS AMG or Lexus LS... I think a SUV limo would be cheaper.

Another thing. For western weddings, would it be course dinner or buffet? I think buffet would get chaotic and the elderlys wouldn't like it.
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[kkttsang]

my fiancee is working on the invitation as i type this. Try to save where you can, like having your fiancee make the invitations. jk i help too. like have it professionally printed but do your own embossing or stamping.

We are also trying to save from making the wedding favors. Every little bit counts and let me tell you even then, its still very expensive weddings.

[Special K]

So, in summary, I guess at this time and in the coming two months. We will need to decide:

Local or destination
Guest list
Dress
Bridesmaid and groomsmen
Ceremony and reception availability
Budget
Photographer

Anything else?
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[Not really racist!]

^

invitations?
flowers, corsages/boutonnieres? "theme"

[Special K]

Originally Posted by Not really racist!

^

invitations?
flowers, corsages/boutonnieres? "theme"

Would that be in the initial stage? We still have about 12-14 months.
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[dinamix]

Originally Posted by Special K

So, in summary, I guess at this time and in the coming two months. We will need to decide:

Local or destination
Guest list
Dress
Bridesmaid and groomsmen
Ceremony and reception availability
Budget
Photographer

Anything else?
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Im getting married in July expecting 300 guests

so far i have spent 25k +

Catholic wedding church-free
Reception venue- $8000 (nikkei heritage centre)
Food and Catering -$6000( one of my close friends is one contestants on top chef canada who is catering)
Wedding decorations (runners ,centerpieces ,tablecloths,lights etc.) $5000
Liqour open bar -private bar ($5000) im just servingwine,beer ,vodka plus a couple premium bottles for the older folks.
Music ,MC and DJ from a good friend ($free)
Photog and videographer with SDE videos($5000)
Suit rental (free for me) rent 6 get 1 free
Wedding cake (decided to do cupcakes with a wedding cake topper) $600
Wedding invitations($200)
bartender,helpers,setup takedowns...let your wedding party takecare of it
hotels for guests and designated drivers etc.

Most important i think from being a guest at a wedding.

Get a good MC! preferably funny
Open bar!
Good food and good desserts! make sure you serve food when people start dancing and drinking at the end of the night.
Make sure you get a good reputable photographer because that shit is forever.

[asian_XL]

Just had mine in Jan, Chinese wedding, 250guests
spent 70K on the banquets, pre wedding stuff and money to mother-in-law
12K on the ring

Got back around 24K from the relatives and friends

[dinosaur]

You can get a wedding planner from $500+ depending on how involved you want them to be.

Some people have them help with everything....but you can also just hire them for the wedding day (set-up, clean-up, coordination, liaison (for photographer, videographer, food, etc.), etc.).

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by Special K

So, in summary, I guess at this time and in the coming two months. We will need to decide:

Local or destination
Guest list
Dress
Bridesmaid and groomsmen
Ceremony and reception availability
Budget
Photographer

Anything else?
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Before you do anything, pick a theme (country, modern, simple, classic, ethnic, beach, shabby-chic, colours, etc.)

Once you pick a theme, you can narrow down location. This will also help you with decorations, flowers, cake, dresses, etc.

Example: if you are doing a country-theme wedding, having a wedding in a restaurant makes no sense. Same with beach theme. This also goes for modern....you would be more inclined to have the reception in a gallery or contemporary space rather a hotel ballroom.

Tell your lady to go on pintest...make a board and start getting ideas. Once you know what theme you like, you'll be able to eliminate a shit-load of things.

[StylinRed]

Ive a friend in the middle of planning his destination wedding

I'd suggest looking at the Caribbean a lot of resorts seem to offer all inclusive packages for you and your guests and the resort takes care of everything flowers, decorations, photographer, food etc so you don't have to worry about it except confirming the guests

as i understand it there are even plans where you get your friends and family to book rooms at the resort and if you get enough guests paying for their stay at the resort the resort discounts the fee for the wedding

im not certain though i tune out when my friends fiance starts rambling about the wedding plans i'll ask for you though for more concrete details

[Skittlez160]

Originally Posted by Special K

Wedding planner would actually be helpful. But would you think it might take away the planning experience? And how much di they cost? Or per hour charge? I sometimes like to do my own research and planning. For example, I spent about 40-50 hours to learn about diamonds and finally picked a diamond to my liking and budget for the engagement ring.

Where did you buy/rent the dress? Why did you choose renting or buying? Where did you get your tux? We are both asian and we are on the short and slim side if that helps.

As much as I want a ballin' ride in a CLS AMG or Lexus LS... I think a SUV limo would be cheaper.

Another thing. For western weddings, would it be course dinner or buffet? I think buffet would get chaotic and the elderlys wouldn't like it.
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A wedding planner in the end helps a lot. We didn't have a wedding planner for the entire preperation but we hired her to be the "go-to" person the day of. I'm glad we did because the day of, you will have so much going on that you will want a person to be able to do things for you behind the scenes. Also keep in mind that most wedding planners get discounts with certain companies for the little things that you don't expect. Some of these things include flowers, decorations and even the smallest detail of chair covers.

Some people feel that a buffet wedding makes you look "cheap". Simply because you're at a "formal" event and you have to get up to get food yourself. I for one felt it was better because it gave it more free reign with people and it was more of a "party" rather than something super fancy. This would probably depend on what you want out of the event. Glitz and glamour or more of a fun celebration type of event. Also as someone mentioned, it would depend on your theme. As for the elderly guest, they didn't mind having a buffet type dinner at all.

[Tapioca]

What about an afternoon wedding at a venue such as the Cecil Green or the University Womens Club? Happy wife, happy life - I get that, but what it costs to throw a traditional wedding is ridiculous considering that these days, you'll only get a fraction of the costs back in gift money. Spend money on the engagment ring because your fiance becomes the centre of attraction for months, but the wedding is just one day. I've been involved in many weddings and by the end of it, the couple is usually dead tired. Sure, weddings in Asian families are more about the family and making your parents look good, but I think modern couples have to put their foot down and do what they want to do if they're expected to pay for it out of their own pocket.

If you are going to go the traditional route, I can attest to the fact that having a good MC helps. I'm a bit biased though: I've MC'ed 6 weddings.
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[Special K]

Bump.

Thinking about photos and videography. I see that each of them are about $3000-$4000 each. I haven't reached out to contact these people yet.

Before actually contacting them, I'd like to ask:

- should we have one photographer do engagement photos, pre-wedding photos, and wedding day photos? How are the costs allocated?
- we are likely going to have ceremony at 5pm followed by dinner right after at 630-7pm. Ceremony and reception are at the same location. Does it even make sense to have Same Day Edits? We will likely do the usual Tea Ceremony and games in the morning I think.
- it seems like wedding photos + video + dj + photobooth will exceed $10k. Is that a good estimate? Sounds expensive...
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[Ch28]

Contact Mananetwork for all your wedding photographer needs.

He has tons of contacts in the wedding photography/videography industry.

[Alby]

the photographers i had did all my photos, no videos. it was bundled in one package. they started at my wife's house, early in the morning like 4 or 5, till the end of dinner around 10pm. however, they were not same day edits. it took about 2 weeks before i got the final product. the cost was about 2500 to 3000.

[SoNaRWaVe]

$10k does sound expensive, but its not exactly out of the ball park. my photos (no videos) were slightly less than $5k. the way my photographer worked is for X amount of hours. but they time managed with us accordingly so that they were there when we wanted them and didn't waste their and our time/money. i am guessing videography can be somewhere between half that or even at par.

photobooth can be had for relatively cheap if you are not picky.

if you want some more details, you can PM me, as i'm not sure if i can just link their websites publicly (don't want to be seem as soliciting)

[Manic!]

Hire a good DJ. I'm not saying this because I am one but because a poor DJ can kill a reception. You don't want your guests plugging there ear right in the middle of your speech because of microphone feedback. When looking for a DJ ask for what type of equipment they are using. If any equipment likes like it's home audio equipment or Ipod/phone/pad run. A good DJ should spend time with you before the weeding going over everything including the time line and the type of music you want. I personally think it is better to have a friend or a family member MC the reception because they will know most people there.

If you want a video/photo booth PM me.