If you’re planning a typical wedding with flowers, a dress, bar, dinner,DJ or band, photographer you’re going to be spending tens of thousands of dollars. My biggest and first advice to figure out what you can really afford. Your Budjet, be honest with yourself and with us.  Our mission is to try and create the wedding of your dreams with-in your budjet. 
Our wedding packages are focused on couples who invest in hiring professionals, not DIY weddings

A typical Ocean City wedding costs upwards of $13,000 and yes upwards and this is often a starting price.  Custom Weddings costs upwards $25,000. Whatever budget you begin with, there’s a good chance you’ll spend 30%-50% over that because you learn about more options as you get deeper into the planning process, and decide to invest in making your day the way you want it. If you stick with-in our packages you will not exceed teh proposal and budjet we have agreed to. 

A majority of your budget will go to the venue, food, and drinks, and the more people you invite, the more your wedding will cost. You’d be surprised how much you can save by crossing five people (and their +1) off your guest list!
Planning a wedding is very much like buying a house. There are lots of extra costs you didn’t think about (i.e. service fees, tips, delivery charges), and you’ll end up upgrading here and there or finding that one detail that you can’t live without and incorporate it into your big day.

2. DON’T HIRE SOLEY ON PRICE
Everyone has a budget. One person’s budget could be $20,000 another’s could be $150,000, but everyone has an ideal number to spend.
When you start getting quotes for different services, you’ll find that wedding photographer, planner, DJ etc. prices have a large range. With our packages we keep this at a minimum of what you really need for the wedding day.  Albums and prints can be added later once the wedding is over and you will have extra money to send.  With our large custom weddings, photographer packages will vary. 

You may ask yourself, how can justify paying double the price for a photographer, but what you’re often paying for is experience and expertise. Most of the vendors you hire on your wedding day are providing a service, and weddings have a hundred moving parts. You get one take when it comes to your wedding day, so if you hire a bad Wedding Planner, Photographer or DJ there is no do-over.
Do not make a hiring decision only on price. Look at what you’re getting for your investment.

Think about it…would you go to a beauty college to get your haircut by a student? No, you pay four times that to go to a salon for the atmosphere, professionalism, and knowledge of your hairstylist. Apply that reasoning when it comes to hiring your wedding vendors.
Anyone can start a wedding business. There’s no “license” for a wedding planner, photographer, DJ, florist, even a cake baker. Many people work in the wedding industry as a side job or start a business “for fun.” If your budget allows, you want to invest in professional full-time wedding vendors who have years of experience, which means they’re also more expensive.

3. HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER
I’ve worked with hundreds of couples. Their number one piece of advice. Hire a good planner. Ask anyone in the industry or a past couple who loved their planner; they are worth their weight in gold. It doesn’t matter how “organized” you are. Planners do so much more than that and can often save you money with industry discounts available only to them. Plus, planners can call in favors that you may not be able to get on your own.

Wedding vendors rely on referrals from planners, so if you hire a respected one, your other vendors will want to stay on that planner’s good side and may provide an upgrade or discount as a favor to that planner.
Planners can also guide you on which wedding vendors to hire and which ones to stay away from and your vendor team will make or break your wedding day.

We can not handle all the wedding in the area, but know a few great planners that we can also recommend to you, if we are not avaiable.

4. THE TRUTH ABOUT REVIEWS
Let's talke about reviews Have you ever booked a hotel or restaurant based on a review site and gotten there only to be underwhelmed?

The same can happen when choosing your wedding vendors based on reviews.
Reviews are a great starting point, but they’re not always accurate for a few reasons. The person giving the review may not have the same expectations that you do. They may not be that experienced when it comes to photography whereas you have the best Instagram boyfriend out there. The two of you will have differing opinions on what a “good photographer” is. The couple who reviewed a venue could be laid back and go with the flow, while you’re a meticulous person who is on top of every detail and expects a higher level of service.

Also, couples typically leave reviews after their wedding day while they’re on that wedding “high.” So they’re just happy in general. I notice that couples who are unhappy or disappointed with a vendor’s level service will not leave a review at all, because they don’t want to bring down their 5-star rating or hurt their feelings.

Some vendor pay for reviews or have family and friends leave reviews.  Think about the way you leave a review? Most of teh time it is short and to the point.  Long over doings it reviews have for the most part been paid for or fause reviews (friends sent them in)
Some of the BEST vendor have very few reviews.  Why the couple is happy!! Everyone is not perect so expect to see a few bad ones at times, you can see through them by all the other reviews that are great. As I mentioned earlier, we will also refer wedding planner.  We do have a few great ones in the area and others that I would not recommend for one of the best days of of your life.  Weddings and social events are not the same.  Make sur your wedding planner specilizes in WEDDINGS.

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5. BE REALISTIC
What if I said I wanted to get a house in Ocean City MD that’s three bedrooms, fully remodeled and has a pool for $250,000? You’d tell me I’m crazy because houses like that cost three times that price. It’s the same thing when it comes to weddings. You can’t always get what you want within your budget. You can pay more and get it or lower your expectations and pay your original budget, but you have to understand what’s feasible (a wedding planner can help guide you on this).

I know your wedding day is your “dream day,” but when it comes to planning one, you have to live in reality. We have questions such as, “I’m inviting 200 people, but don’t want to spend more than $5,000 for my venue and food.”  If you do the math that is $25 per person. You can barely go to a casual restaurant and pay that amount for and entree only, let alone having a private event with your own catering staff and venue rental 

This goes back to  Weddings can be expensive. You’re hosting a private event for hundreds of people. It’s going to cost money. Custome weddings on average, expect to spend at least $150/per person, which is why I keep saying cut your guest list. $150 x 10 people (guests and their +1) = $1,500 in savings! Not to mention that an entire table of decor you can cut, so one less centerpiece, one less linen rental, a smaller cake etc. It all adds up!

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6. WE’RE HERE TO HELP! 
So this wasn’t your typical “warm and fuzzy” wedding planning advise, but it’s real, honest advice that will hopefully help you set realistic expectations for planning a wedding. That great news is you’re not alone! We’re here to help.