31 Jan Checklist: Everything You Need to Know Before Planning a Long Island Wedding
You are getting married!
Now what?
Time to start planning. But where to start is the key question when planning a wedding, especially a Long Island Wedding. There are so many pieces to the wedding planning puzzle. As a wedding destination, Long Island is the key to your wedding dreams.
Let’s get started by looking at what is most important.
First, close your eyes and imagine your wedding day. What do you see? Are you outside in a garden or inside a beautiful ballroom? Are you at the beach or in a rustic vineyard setting? Is everyone you know there? Or is it a small intimate gathering of just those closest to you? The key to start planning your wedding is right here. And the best part is Long Island offers the opportunity to make the wedding of your dreams come true.
Now that you have the picture of your wedding in your mind, we can start planning.
Picture Perfect on Long Island
Long Island wedding venues are diverse and breathtaking. A rustic vineyard on the North Fork dressed with garden lights and soft white linen tablecloths creates a magical setting. A sunny surfside celebration might be what has your guests dipping their toes in the sand and dancing around a late night bonfire. Perhaps a perfect ballroom is the effortless elegance that your Long Island wedding deserves. An ivy-covered gazebo might be the crowning picture for you to share your vows in front of your family and friends.
By taking what you envisioned at the first step, you will be able to pull all the pieces together to create the picture perfect vision of your special day. As a wonderful destination wedding location, Long Island gives brides and grooms more options to explore what their new life together can look like. This first step is the most important, as once you can describe what you see, you will know where your Long Island wedding should be held.
Size Matters
The picture is coming together. Now you need to take a look at how big this celebration will be. You will be working with a budget, also. These are two items, size and budget work hand in hand, however you need to think this part through. If you have a large extended family and everyone will be invited, then you need to make sure you have room for family and perhaps some friends, too. Or you just want to make the celebration small for a few of those closest to you.
This is where the best planning comes into play. Go back to your vision and look to see who is around you during your celebration. Your best friend from elementary school and college roommate or a room full of people toasting their best wishes. Once you have an idea of the size, you can review the venue options to make sure that your group will fit. You would not want to squeeze a large celebration into a petite rose garden. On the other hand, you would not want a small intimate wedding to be lost in a wide open ballroom.
Hearts and Hands
With the location in mind, you need to think about your guests. Long Island weddings give your guests, family and friends the opportunity to focus on the celebration, and not the travel. If most of your guests are traveling from west of the Nassau-Suffolk county border, you might want to look at venue that is easy for them to get to.
You want your guests to gather in a location that is comfortable and that may require setting up a hotel room block to make the festivities easier. Look at locations that give you multiple opportunities for your celebrations. If everyone is coming the night before you may want to host a small cocktail party at the hotel. You want to have your guests who are staying at the hotel to have an easy way to get to the wedding celebrations.
Budget Keeper
The last part of the checklist for an wedding is the budget. Again, the size of the wedding reception and the price per person is intrinsically connected. But if your venue is selected perhaps for 150 people, which includes family, friends and coworkers, then you can look at the per person price for the menu and see what may work. Perhaps a seated dinner will work within your budgeted price or a stylish food station wedding can help manage the budget and allow more friends and family to attend.
Once your budget has been set and your venue has been determined you can focus what really matters. Your adventure begins here, together.
Your Long Island wedding will be cherished memories for years to come.
Our wedding experts want to help you design the perfect Long Island wedding that is just your style and fits all the pieces together to make your special day smooth and effortless. Learn about our weddings or contact Hotel Indigo Long Island East End at 631.548.1209 to speak with one of our wedding professionals.