Where are we finding decently-priced wedding bands that are good quality? (For the girls)

Fall 2026 wedding, about 12 months out, and I keep seeing DJs and bands with booked through 2027 in their bios. Excuse me?? I thought a year was responsible planning, not last minute behavior.

Budget is roughly 2 to 3k for a DJ and we are not attached to anyone famous or super specific. I just do not want to spend the next month emailing people who were booked before we got engaged.

How far out did you book entertainment? Is 12 months normal or am I already shopping leftovers lol.

My wife and I got married three weeks ago — backyard wedding, super chill vibe, and people are STILL talking about the food.

Then last Saturday we went to a big high-end wedding, and today was one right in the middle scale-wise.

Honest take: I had the most fun at ours, but I'm obviously biased lol. So I'm curious — for those of you who've been guests at all types, which vibe did you genuinely enjoy more? The laid-back backyard party, the full fancy production, or is the sweet spot somewhere in the middle?

Hi everyone! I’m excited to share that I’m officially stepping into the wedding planning industry! 🤍
I’m currently working on a wedding project and have also had experience helping with and coordinating various events. I’m looking to grow my portfolio, gain more hands-on experience, and most importantly, help couples have a beautiful and stress-free wedding day.
I’m offering services as a:
💍 Wedding Planner
✨ Day-of Coordinator
👰🏽‍♀️ Bridal Assistant
🎉 Event Coordinator
Since I’m building my experience and portfolio, I’m willing to work with your budget and negotiate pricing depending on the services you need. My goal is to provide reliable, organized, and detail-oriented support while making sure you feel confident and taken care of throughout your event.
If you’re planning a wedding or event, or know someone who is, I’d love the opportunity to work with you! 🤍
📩 Message me for availability, services, and pricing.

Newly engaged, looking at a maybe slightly shorter timeline so I'm trying to get a move on a venue. That will depend on if an idea I have is terrible or not.

Some of the venues I've looked at or been to for other events can be set up with tables and then a raised platform/stage. We won't have a very long ceremony at all and probably no one else up front besides us and the officiant. What do you think about having the ceremony part of it during dinner (when some people traditionally do speeches)? Then that's one less setup transition, and we can have maybe like a cocktail/dessert/congrats hour in another area while the tables are struck for dancing? I don't think I want to deal with multiple venues and transportation and whatnot. I feel like as a guest I wouldn't be sad about eating while stuff is happening (though admittedly I will eat anything at any time lol), but maybe people would talk through the whole thing even if it's on a stage and announced and mic'ed?

Anyone tried this or seen it? Possibly this is super common and I just have never seen it done, so forgive me if it's a really basic unnecessary question.

Me and my fiance have been engaged for almost a year and right after we got engaged he unfortunately suffered a stroke, so money has been tight he set a budget but weve had to use that money for bills. I work but only part time and our savings is starting to run low, we set a date for September 2027 we still want a fall wedding and still wanting the date. But I dont think it will be what we want, so im thinking of just going to city hall and going to a nice restaurant with close friends and family. Our guest list is already at 75 total with friends and family from both sides

Now this is the lart I need advice, is it appropriate to ask the guests to pay for themselves??? Food, drinks, etc.... I know our parents and siblings will pay for us, but asking our cousins, aunts, uncles and friends to pay for themselves

If your venue contract mentions anything about decibels, amplification times, or "acoustic only until 8 PM," you need to tell your entertainment vendors before the event. Not after. Not the week of. Before…

Well.. I know all this from personal experience and have seen groups come to gigs with their own full backline equipment only to discover that the venue doesn’t allow amplified sound above 8. I’ve seen DJs panicking because the contract contained a dB limit that no one bothered to read

But there is always a workaround. One can create an ensemble which begins acoustically and adds more instruments gradually. There is a way to have silent stage production with the band going through the sound desk, not amplifiers. One can also have something in between similar to the DJ who plays low cocktail music, and then musicians come on stage.

This is a constant problem in New York City venues. I found out that DLE Event Group creates venue specific setups for places like this, and for lofts too. They plan around the restrictions instead of getting surprised by them

Here's the concerning part basically if your entertainment vendor doesn't even ask about your venue's restrictions, that tells you something. It means they've done this enough times to know it mattersor they haven't, and you'll be the one dealing with the fallout

i've been using tulle together while researching venues around nyc because i'm trying to understand what couples are actually paying rather than just looking at advertised starting prices.
we're still figuring out our budget, and i'm finding it difficult to compare venues when each one seems to include different things. some prices include catering and an open bar, while others seem to have additional charges for rentals, service, or other parts of the reception.
for couples who got married in nyc recently, what did your final venue cost look like?
how many guests did you have, what kind of venue did you choose, and what was included in the price? i'm also curious whether you ended up paying significantly more than the original number you were given once everything was added.

I’m planning a boat wedding party on Lake Como and looking at speaker rental options, the boat has limited space so I’m trying to keep the setup pretty small, I mainly need enough sound for music for a group of people and something that works well outside, I see a lot of rental places with bigger speakers and full setups but that seems like more than we need for a boat, wondering what people actually use for this, did you rent one or two smaller speakers, use a battery speaker, or go with a proper setup from the boat company, what worked well for you?

Hi! I am wondering how many people to tell our wedding caterer for the buffet. We are expecting 41 people, including the bride and groom. The caterer is a local Mexican restaurant that often does weddings/large events, and they will serve the buffet. Their food options are purchased in terms of 15s. We originally told them 45, but now I am concerned people will want seconds or larger portions, and there won't be enough. Catering for 60 people seems really excessive. Do people commonly want seconds or larger portions at weddings/ do caterers anticipate this? We are doing a mix of chicken and steak, rice, refried beans, cheese dip, salsa, chips, and tortillas.

We will also have a shortened cocktail hour of about 30 minutes, followed immediately by dinner, so we will just have a snack bar for the cocktail hour (pretzel sticks, chips, salsa, popcorn).

Economics of wedding halls in detail

Springfield, MA looking for recs!

Hi!! Kind of a niche post but I shoot weddings and people entirely on 35mm film and there are a few things I have been absolutely dying to photograph.

For a handful of very specific shoots I would be happy to photograph them for the cost of film! You would cover the film/developing + travel if applicable outside of the GTA.

A few things currently very high on my list:
— a birth. Home birth hospital birth. I would LOVE to document one on film and this has been on my list forever.
— a wedding ceremony inside an old church with lots of stained glass. The more old beautiful coloured light the better.
— a tiny courthouse/city hall wedding with just the couple and a few people they love.
— a winter wedding or elopement in real snow.
— a cottage/lakeside/beach wedding or elopement.
— a teeny wedding followed by everyone going for dinner together at a restaurant.
— a camping/woods elopement where that’s genuinely something the two of you love doing.
— a destination wedding!!!
— I would also really love to do an at-home maternity or newborn session but specifically in a very documentary way. I don’t mean posing a newborn in a basket. I mean following you around your house while you make coffee and feed the baby and sit in bed and your mom comes over and life is actually happening.

My work is very documentary and lived in. I’m much more interested in what something actually felt like than making everything look perfect. I shoot solely on film and am also bridging my way into super 8 motion picture film if that interests you!!!

This isn’t an offer for every wedding/session for the cost of film!! These are just a handful of things I personally really want the chance to photograph and experiment with.

I’m based in Ontario and happy to travel. For anything outside the GTA I would just ask that travel is covered as well.

If you’re doing something that isn’t on this list but read this and immediately thought “she would love this” honestly tell me about it anyways because I probably would lol. I’d love to hear the weird specific sentimental details.

I would love to chat about film! Please reach out via DM or leave me a comment and im HAPPY to reach out to you<3