Wedding Wednesday - Rentals, DJs, and Cakes oh my!
*Disclaimer* In case you couldn't tell, this is a wedding centric post. If you are not interested, please move along and I will see you next time. <3
I have a lot of different subjects to touch on today.
I guess I will start with we finally have our DJ. That means the only big ticket item we have left is the florist, and in Maine they don't like to book more than the calendar year in advance so I had to wait until January to even try.
But let's back track for a minute. I had to refresh my memory and it looks like my last full blown wedding post was right after our planning trip to Maine.
Even though we met with 3 different rental companies and did our best to compare apples to apples, it still didn't work out how I pictured.
I placed our extensive order - tents, tables, chairs, dishware, EVERYTHING with company A. My order was confirmed. And then 3 weeks later I received a call that they would not be able to provide the tents we requested after all (because they didn't have someone available to set it up a year from now) but we could still PICK UP everything else if we wanted.
Because that's what every couple wants to do. Rent a Uhaul and pick up and set up everything for their wedding (I know some couples do it and kudos to you if you are one of them but take it from a former pro - it's worth it to have someone else do it). So essentially they cancelled our order but not really. I guess they effectively cancelled it.
Back to square one.
Except now it was October. I am now less than a year out from my wedding. My wedding that will be in one of the busiest wedding months. So you know what I couldn't find?
A sailcloth tent.
I ended up back at company B which was who I would have chosen originally but there was one thing company A had that I liked more which is why I went with them in the first place. Except now all the sailcloth tents are spoken for so I had to go with a clear tent - which is great in theory. Our location is gorgeous so why not have a clear tent?
Because they cost twice as much.
It is what it is. It's a big hit to the budget but we will do our best to make up for it where we can.
I did also book our cake vendors since last we spoke. I did book the grooms cake with the original baker - her specialty flavor was just amazing and we had to have it. But I found another baker willing to do petit fours which is the little something extra I wanted.
Cake balls would have been an obvious and delicious choice. But I've always loved petit fours and thought they would be a fun, different thing to do. Which of course means nearly impossible to find. But I finally found a baker willing to do them and is really excited about the plan. She even sent us some samples so we could taste them too! And she will create a small ceremonial cutting cake for us. And the best part is, we will be able to have a lot of different flavors! Everything fits comfortably within my pre-determined cake budget too.
It took a while but we finally found a DJ. That's been oddly challenging. I had to increase our budget on that line item - nearly doubled - but that's just the going rate now. Thanks Covid. Budget aside, I've had a hard time finding one willing to do a mix of dancing and karaoke. It's shocking how many DJs flat out told me no one karaokes at weddings.
Excuse me sirs but I had exclusively karaoke at my last wedding and I think almost every guest got up at one point. And I know even more karaoke lovers now. Don't tell me what my guests will or won't do.
Then there was the DJ that was a dream come true. He understood my vision, fit within our new budget, and even included a photo booth (more on that later). I was ready to book him.
Except he wanted a 50% deposit without a contract.
If a vendor wants a deposit before sending you a contract, run the other way. Because they probably are too good to be true.
We finally found one available, just on the wrong side of the budget, but willing to do everything we wanted. Unfortunately no photo booth.
A few words about the photo booth.
I always said my one regret from my last wedding was we didn't have a photo booth. They were just coming in vogue at the time and I was doing my best to stay within a tight budget. And I just couldn't make it happen. I've seen them at weddings over the years and they are always so popular and fun. I don't know if it is overdone now but it is still something I hope to add if we can figure out the budget somehow.
That's enough for today. Did you learn anything new? Have any questions?
#stilllucky #infinitelybetter #weddingwednesday #marriedafter40 #marriedafter50 #maturebride #maturegroom #weddingdj #weddingcakes #rentals #secondtimearound #thirdtimesthecharm