Top Five Categories to Spend Your Wedding Budget On… and it’s not what you think
Weddings are arguably one of the largest, most important events and investments in a person’s life. Regardless of the scale and scope of the event, as planners and designers, we more than anyone want our clients to spend their dollars where they will create the most impact. Sure, floral installations, bespoke linens, and exquisite chairs take the aesthetics to new heights. And as a hospitality-driven firm, we firmly believe in the power of an incredible food and beverage program. However, we are allocating our clients' funds in certain areas that most definitely take their wedding experience to the next level. Here are five categories and services to spend your wedding budget on that you may have never considered.
Photography: Katie York, Beauty: Margaret Snider & CC
Beauty Concierge
On this most magical day, you should look and feel your best. Layering on the gown (or tux) with every carefully selected accessory will complete the ‘fit. In the weeks and months leading up to the day, we cannot agree with our aesthetician friends more that a good skincare routine and self-care rituals will set you up for success. When wedding day rolls around, the glam team arrives to doll up the wedding party, but what happens when photos begin and the hair and makeup team quietly departs. Enter Beauty Concierge.
Beauty Concierge often includes a team of 1-2 artists that will stay discreetly by the couple’s side throughout the wedding day to assist with beauty touch-ups, spray flyaway hairs, adjust the veil, fluff the gown for photos, reapply lip color, and wipe away any happy tears. This invaluable service goes behind keeping hair and makeup fresh. In our experience, the pros we’ve hired to work alongside our team bring a sense of calm, reassurance, and care that our nervous/excited couples often need.
We enlisted celebrity hair and makeup artist Moani Lee for a Spring wedding, and she was not only extremely talented, making already-gorgeous Casey look oh-so-glowy on her biggest day, but she also was such a vibe. Moani was sweet, funny, and truly professional, keeping Casey calm in the anticipatory moments before and after the aisle. No wonder Moani works with some of the biggest stars in the Country universe, like Miranda Lambert and Kasey Musgraves.
AT MINIMUM: Inquire with your beauty team about adding some additional hours for touch-ups through pre-ceremony photos.
NEXT LEVEL: Hire a small team to keep you and your wedding party looking your best throughout the wedding day and also to help switch up your look for the reception and send-off with a second or third hairstyle, lip color, and outfit.
Hospitality Suite
You may have noticed by now that gifting is one of our love languages. We believe in offering intentionally curated goodies to guests from the moment they arrive on-site to the parting goodbye. Gone are the days of generic welcome bags and useless favors. We want meaning, purpose, and interaction in our gifts. Consider budgeting for a Hospitality Suite.
Very common in the world of corporate retreats and conferences, this phenomenon has moved to the luxury wedding market and we’re seeing our clients and their guests loving every moment. Imagine your guests arriving on property a day or two before the big day, and settling in with pre-wedding festivities and often a little bit of free time and recreation. While we’re obsessed with a styled gift box in each room, we’ve taken to ushering new arrivals into a thoughtful welcome lounge upon check-in. This space may be staffed with members of our team who can provide a warm verbal welcome, a helpful packet of information for the weekend, and, most enjoyably, a selection of personalized gifts for each guest.
Our ideal hospitality suite includes an on-theme present that is both interactive and personalized per guest, making them feel special and welcomed. Picture a hat bar at a desert wedding, where each guest chooses their favorite color of cowboy hat and selects adornments to make it truly theirs. Imagine guests arriving at a Mexican resort where local artisans are hired to personalize a tote bag. A departure from generic gifting brings joy and surprise to your guests and enhances the experience.
AT MINIMUM: Set up an area with a greeter and welcome bag pick up where guests can fill their pack with a selection of personal favorites and also get a face-to-face opportunity to learn more about the festivities ahead.
NEXT LEVEL: Create an incredible hospitality suite that includes staff to preview the festivities for your guests, a concierge to schedule any ancillary activities, ultra-personalized gifts that are as fun to create as they are to own, and some little extras like a signature beverage and local artisans for a proper welcome.
Photography: Katie York, Paper: Lairsey Paper Co., Styling: Taylor Dawn
Photography: Katie York, Resort: Unico 2087
Mixology
Putting the beverage in F&B, mixologists, also known as the “chefs of the drink world,” level up welcome drinks, cocktail hour, and late-night sips in the most interesting ways. Investing in mixology through an outsourced bartending team or working closely with this arm of your catering staff can elevate the experience for everyone. We’ve enlisted sommeliers to professionally pair wine with dinner. Our clients have enjoyed mobile bars at their events, the best highlighting local and seasonal ingredients in cocktails, blowing standard signature drinks out of the water. Savvy clients value the staff behind the bar just as much as those in the kitchen, and the food and beverage program as a whole shines because of it.
Delight your guests with a curated menu of drinks, both boozy and non-alcoholic. Yes, the mocktail program is just as important these days, with more and more guests opting for a spirit-free drink to quench their thirst. The pros will guide you on what’s fresh and exciting, and we guarantee your guests will be ordering another.
AT MINIMUM: Talk to your catering manager or venue about how to pair the beverages with the menu so that you achieve a restaurant-level food and beverage program.
NEXT LEVEL: Bring in specialized staff who will work with your team before and during the events to craft a memorable beverage program, including notable recipes, chic glassware, and a show to go with it.
Rolling Entertainment
We hear it often - they want a party so the band is so important. And while the reception band is the main event, second to the vows, of course, we think about entertainment for the entirety of the day. From harpists to string quartets, bluegrass to acoustic guitarists, DJs to headliners, we’ve seen an incredible array of talent grace the stage at our clients’ events. The key here is to keep the entertainment rolling through the experience. Be thoughtful not only about ceremony music, cocktail hour tunes, and the sound for dinner and dancing but also about how they work together and the moments in between. The transitions are opportunities to create flow in an otherwise boring portion of the festivities.
We feel the acts and artists hired should fit your event’s style, your taste, and even your culture or heritage. Bagpipers, mariachi bands, New Orleanian second line musicians, steel drummers - we’ve seen it all. Remember that entertainment also goes beyond music, so imagine other performers like greeters, aerialists, stilt walkers, live painters, and champagne servers. Dream about fireworks and drone shows. The possibilities are endless.
AT MINIMUM: Consider the music and sound for every moment of your wedding day, including the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, along with the transitions in between, and hire a memorable act, big or small, to add to the ambiance of your festivities.
NEXT LEVEL: Hire a headliner. Curate the entertainment to the various moods of the day. Add additional visual performers to create magic. End the night with a bang!
Photography: Katie York, Resort: Unico 2087
Photography: Katie York, Resort: Unico 2087
Transportation
If there ever was a historically boring category, sadly transportation has been it. Shuttle manifests and stuffy getaway car options are certainly important but can be quite a bore. We’re here to say: don’t sleep on transportation. Investing in the right options to transport you and your guests is key. Transportation has a purpose in getting people from one location to the next in a safe and timely manner, without the fear of scrambled GPS and tardy guests holding up the ceremony. Cargo vans, coach buses, trollies, golf carts, black cars, limos, caravans galore. These are all standard hires that get the job done.
Have you ever considered something outside the norm? A fleet of boats for guests to arrive at a dockside affair. A group of Jeeps to take guests on a scenic ride to your ceremony spot. A gondola lift ride floating up the mountain to your vows at the very peak. Think outside the box and hire transport that is functional and exciting.
AT MINIMUM: Provide transportation options, with a clear itinerary and pick up locations to that guests feel the convenience of moving from one celebration to the next.
NEXT LEVEL: Hire a fleet of individual cars to pick up each couple and personally drive them to their desired destination, offering a more private experience.
Enlisting beauty concierge team, creating a hospitality suite, hiring talented mixologists, booking an entire day of entertainment, and personalizing transportation options are all ways to take your wedding to the next level and should not be forgotten when creating budget categories for your big day.
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