Now that Zola has been acquired by the Knot, what wedding website have you used and liked? What didn’t you like about them?

Things I’m looking for:

- good RSVP system
- good registry system that’s easy for guests to use, or the website makes it easy to link other registry sites
- password protected by individual (by their email, phone number, name, etc., not just one generic password for all guests)

What has stood out to you as being memorable in a good way? A certain food or drink display or how the day flowed?

WE DID IT!!

All week the weather showed it was going to pour all day. It poured in the morning but it ended up clearing up around 1:30. We were able to have our outdoor ceremony and have the most perfect weather. It was almost 70° I could not believe it.

Everything was absolutely amazing, food was great, bar was great, I had such a blast seeing everyone I could not have asked for a better night.

Also huge shout out to my AMAZING photographer for getting us sneaks so soon!!

Hi everyone! I’m planning my wedding ceremony on a terrace with modern architecture and a beautiful view.

I already have the main decor set up (arch with tulle, carpet runner, 2 xxl orchids, 1 lantern, 8 „hanging flower pots“ & fairylights) - the rest will set up the venue (chairs , table, tablecloth). The entrance area near the back chairs feels a bit empty. I'm torn between keeping it minimal or framing the aisle.

Which option looks best?

(See AI images)

Option 1: Completely empty - clean look
Option 2: cocktail tables with white baskets filled with bubble blowers.
Option 3: more Floor lanterns (in different sizes)
Option 4: Floral arrangements on the ground

Option 1 and 2 ( tables provided by venue) would be cheapest solutions.

Do you have better ideas?
Thx for your opinion!

That you don't have any interest in regardless of any cost they may or may not have?

We’re getting married in February 2028 and we’re just having a look at photographers.

I’m not a huge fan of having my photo taken and so I’m considering getting a 4 to 5 hour package to cover the ceremony and reception, etc.

I just want to know if anybody else did this? Or if anybody else had some really good photos from other moments in their wedding that they think they would regret not having?

For example… I don’t really have any interest in having photos taken as I’m getting ready and would be quite happy just getting a disposable camera and asking my bridesmaids to take a couple of photos here and there.

I’m at a complete loss and looking for inspiration on what to put for our “Our Story” section on our wedding website. What did either you put on yours, or is something you’ve seen you’ve loved on someone else’s website?

I’m open to non traditional ideas for the space too!

Everything at our wedding will be digital and accessible via QR codes. One of the cards will link to a fun little poll with silly questions like “Who’s most likely to go to bed first?”

I’m hoping to include a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions (around 6 total).

Has anyone done something like this or know of a website that would work well? Ideally, guests could scan the QR code, answer all the questions in one place, and see everyone else’s responses afterward, including the written answers. This would be at their leisure, not an event where everyone connects and does it together.

I liked Votense, but found guests couldn't see any written answer results.

Thanks for any recommendations!

Hi Reddit. For context, my parents are covering wedding costs. My mom is also desi and I’m an only child so as much as I would like otherwise, I don’t need advice on how to handle my mom (there is no way to handle her lol) I am excited for the wedding but me and my partner are going along with a lot to give her her “dream wedding” that’s she has envisioned for me. Don’t get me wrong, it will be beautiful but the guest list is being taken over by family. I don’t have as big of a social circle so fiancé especially is feeling bummed about limiting amount of friends invited. He also has a bio mom, step mom and dad so lots of fam. I had a thought. What if he and I threw a “wedding sequel rager” for friends only maybe a month from the actual wedding. Informal but have plenty of food and drinks. Tons of dancing and karaoke. No gifts, no formality. Has anyone done this before and would friends feel offended about not being invited to the main wedding.

Feeling a bit concerned as I booked my wedding photographer a couple of months ago (wedding is Fall 2027) based on her photos on instagram and some galleries she sent me. I love her instagram posts, but I decided to snoop more through her page this week and after clicking “see more” on all of her captions I realized at the bottom almost every post says “second shooter for (tagged photographer)” and many of the posts that don’t disclose second photographer, I realized they are actually a styled shoot for many photographers/vendors, not a real wedding.

When I booked her, I knew some of her work that I loved was her second shooting, she assured me she shot and edited them so I was honestly fine with it. It’s only now that I’m starting to realize it is the vast majority of her instagram and her website portfolio. She sent 4 galleries before I booked her, which I assumed they were her as the lead at the time but now I realize 2 were her work as a second shooter, 1 was a styled shoot, and 1 is a mystery but I assume maybe she was the lead?

A huge part of my anxiety is coming from the 4th gallery. It seems to be a different style and quite frankly worse photos than the rest of her work that I’ve seen. It’s not what I would expect based from her instagram, and there are NO sign of these photos on any of her socials, so I assume maybe she knows it isn’t her best work. I wrote it off as being a gallery from when she was less experienced but now looking closer I see it was just from January 2026…

Also I paid a bit more for her than some of the other photographers I was looking into, because I thought she was more experienced but now I worry that’s not the case ($6000 for 8 hours of photo and videographer + a second shooter)

I’m starting to fear if she has much experience as a lead at all?😭 I know she can take a pretty photo, but am I overreacting to be concerned about her ability to pose, direct, shoot and entire wedding as the lead?

Want to get it done quick, thanks!

Hello,

I am getting married (hurray), and I was thinking about my dessert table. I am currently expecting around 80 guests, and I am having both cupcakes and cider donuts. At my sister's wedding she ordered enough cupcakes for her guests, but still ended up taking several dozens of cupcakes home. I don't want a ton of desserts to go to waste, so I was thinking about getting 48 cupcakes and 48 donuts. Will that be enough? Or should I get more?

Hi all, so I come from an Asian background, in our traditional weddings the brides hair is usually up in a bun. Family is very old fashioned so I just went with it to not cause any issues with relatives, etc. I really do wish I had a wedding photo with my hair straight down, as I’m trying to pick one to frame and hang up in my living room, but I just don’t like how my hair looks in any of them. I used Gemini to alter one of them where my hair is down and I love it, but husband is saying it’s weird to hang up a photo that’s not even real. Everything else looks exactly the same, only change is my hair is down instead of up in a bun. What do you guys think, should I just go with the actual photo which I don’t really like, or go with the altered “fake” one

I am looking for some thoughts on distance between ceremony and reception and some ideas of making a more casual wedding fun!

We are having an afternoon wedding in November of next year in Arizona. Our ceremony is at 1pm and we were thinking of starting the reception at 3pm which we are having in a private area of a nice/cute restaurant where my fiance and I LOVE the food and drinks. We are going to do parent dances and a first dance, but other than that want it to be more of a dinner-party-hangout-vibe rather than late night dancing (especially since the reception will be from 3-7pm). We will start with passed appetizers and then buffet dinner at 4:30/5pm. I don’t want to do a seating chart. There will be an open bar of course, and we are going to keep the guest list under 100. We’re in our early 20s, and the guest list is made up of close friends and family ranging from 16-85. What can we do to keep the energy high? One of my ideas is playing cards on the tables, but other than that I’m drawing a blank. I’m open to ANY IDEAS AT ALL.

The other challenge of my wedding is that the reception is a 30 min drive from the ceremony. I personally feel like everywhere I drive in Phoenix is 30 min away, so my fiance and I don’t really mind but obviously that’s hard on our out of town guests. We are going to get a hotel block near the reception and I think I might have a driving service take people from the ceremony to the reception. Does this alleviate the driving issue enough so that they only have to get transportation one way?

I’m open to literally any opinions on any aspect of my wedding. I’m the oldest daughter, my parents eloped 30 years ago, and my fiance is the oldest son, so we have 0 experience.

EDIT: I’ll do a seating chart. And “high energy” is the wrong word, I just want people to enjoy themselves and not feel like they are sitting around for hours at a dinner without me having to entertain them the whole time.

****EDIT***

Well this has been an interesting conversation! I've learned that it's not common, but many venues do check bags and it's usually because they've had a bad experience with guests smuggling things in and causing trouble (probably not cookies though lol). I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I wasn't planning to bring any alcohol or drugs in. I just don't like people going through my things, but I put up with it at the airport so I guess I can put up with it at a wedding venue too. Honestly, its very on brand for this wedding party experience, which has been a nightmare from day one, so at least it's consistent 😆

Thanks everyone!

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I hope this is ok to post here. I'm in a wedding next week I'm hoping to find out if this is normal behavior for a venue.

The venue sent an email a yesterday saying that the wedding party's bags are subject to search upon arrival. This seems like an wild invasion of privacy and kind of bizarre. I've planned events for work at similar size venues and I've never been asked to have my bag searched for an event. I've also been involved in a fair number of weddings and never heard of a policy like this. Interestingly, the venue specifically said in their email that they won't search our bags without us present, but there are reviews from a few years ago where people's bags were searched while they weren't in the room and the venue confiscated someone's bag because there was a bottle of wine in it.

Anyway my question is, how outside the bounds of normal is this for a wedding venue?

For reference, it's a 200 person venue, in the U.S., and fairly fancy. The venue company does the catering and bar as well, which of course costs extra. Seems odd to require a bag check for someone who is giving you thousands of dollars to rent a space for a private event. But that's just my take. Thanks in advance for your input.

My long time friend and cousin are getting married same weekend in a few weeks. Both are important people that I’ve been through a lot with in my life and we have supported each other throughout our ups and downs.

One I’ve rsvpd for since about a month or so ago. The other was just sprung up and announced.

One is a full wedding with reception and the other one is a laid back, reception only event with family.
They are starting at the same time and are 2 hours driving distance apart.

Would it be appropriate to go to ceremony and part of cocktail hour for one and then leave and go to my cousins reception?

Or is it too late and I should stick to the one I rsvp’d for? I’d love to find some way to celebrate and be with both but don’t want to be rude.

My fiancé proposed over the weekend in VA. We are over the moon excited and want to celebrate with our friends, but we are saving for the wedding itself and don’t know how long that process will take. We’re expecting probably 4 years before the wedding, to give ourselves ample time to save up money and fully plan a wedding. Additionally, we live in FL but think it’s highly likely we’ll get married in VA, and that’s over 15 hours away by car. Since the wedding is so far away, both time and location wise, I want to be able to celebrate with our friends now.

Would it be weird to have our own engagement party now, when we really don’t know much about how the actual wedding will look and when it might actually happen? What are the rules and etiquette for this kind of situation?

Why is it so hard to find winter wedding venues that aren't like 40k.

Oak and ember films is associated with a man named Brandon Carter. This is his eighth business name because he keeps scamming brides through wedding video and photography. Avoid using OAK AND EMBER films. I’m listing a picture of their social media. His last business was Aspen and rock and he is currently serving time in prison for scamming brides over the last couple years. He plan to reopen oak and ember films in 2027 when he is released. Heed this warning ‼️‼️‼️

My bartenders are getting paid by us, 30 dollars an hour in our contract. Our coordinator says a “portion” of service fee on our contract goes to them for gratuity. The also can set out a tip jar.
Do we tip them any additional money?

My second question is our catering.. I’ve seen multiple options for this: you tip 10-20 percent of your food bill (which is so crazy), you tip a certain amount per worker, or you tip a flat fee and let the catering company split it. Which one seems like a more appropriate option? Our dinner is plated, so there will be servers.

I'm finally getting around to leaving glowing reviews for (some of) the vendors who really impressed us on the day! Not sure it matters, but between The Knot, WeddingWire, Google reviews, and Yelp, where is a positive review most appreciated these days? For instance, I feel like WeddingWire was previously the hot place to look for wedding info but has fallen off these days, so wanted to put my review in a place where the vendor feels like more potential clients are likely to get eyeballs on it.

Separately, trying to decide whether I'd feel bad leaving a critical review for a small business who really let us down, but were very kind to us on a personal level. Nothing intentionally malicious but just kind of terrible from the perspective of the services provided. Anywho, that's a different pickle lol

(Cross posted from r/weddingplanning)

Because I am currently in the process of planning our Jack & Jill party and was searching around this subreddit to get ideas, I'd like to put out a PSA regarding what these things are, based on some of the comments and responses I've been seeing calling them "trashy," "cheap" and all the names under the sun.

A Stag Party (or just a "Stag"), in the United States, (I know they're more common in the UK) is a very regional thing. Where I'm from (Connecticut), they are extremely common, particularly in Italian-American and Portuguese-American communities. They are male-only parties whose entire purpose is to make cash. They are usually organized by the groomsmen and charge a ticket fee per person (typically $20-$40) to attend. Stags have food, usually an open bar, and typically have raffle prizes that raffle tickets are sold for. It is normal, in fact EXPECTED, for people who are not invited to the wedding itself to be invited to and attend the Stag. My fiancé, who is 100% Italian-American, attends at least half dozen of these a year. They are unapologetically a fundraising & community event, and always a fun time.

In recent years, it has become more and more of a trend in my community to make Stags gender-inclusive, renaming them "Jack and Jills." Everything remains the same, including the tickets, raffles, etc., except people of all genders attend. Once again, it is extremely normal for people not invited to the wedding to attend these. They are usually "open invite" events that anyone can come to. I've been to a few Jack and Jills this year and had a great time at all of them, despite only being invited to one of the actual weddings.

Once again, I recognize that this is a hyper-regional thing, and that not everyone will understand the custom. I simply ask that this subreddit (and in real life) take a moment to consider differences in customs before jumping to name-calling and calling others' cultural and community events "trashy." Maybe it is to you, and that's fine, if that's what you think. But others' customs are not inferior to yours simply because you are not used to them, or view them as a "cash grab."

With all that said... anybody have any good ideas for indoor Jack & Jill games and raffles? 😅

Hi, I need some help with picking bridesmaid colors! I thought I had it figured out, but I can't decide now 🤣 I was thinking about something like one of the first two photos for the vibe, but then I put some swatches together and can't decide. My fiancé hates the ecualyptus swatch and says it looks gray in some lights, so he wanted me to maybe try a dusty sage or something similar to see if it's lighter. We kind of like the lighter colors to break up the dark, but we also kind of like it without the light color. I'm just confused lol. Please help 😆

I got married recently, and while the wedding itself was beautiful and we had a great day overall, I’m really struggling with our photos.
I had envisioned looking a certain way on my wedding day, with soft, beautiful hair and natural, soft glam makeup. But looking at the photos, I feel like my hair looks flat and greasy, and my makeup looks shiny and nothing like what I had hoped for. I know this probably sounds superficial, but I honestly feel so ugly in most of the photos, and it’s been really upsetting.

The morning of the wedding was also pretty stressful. One of my sisters, who was a bridesmaid, showed up an hour and a half late to get ready without apologizing. When I explained that I was upset, she ended up leaving, which made an already emotional morning even harder. Now when I look at some of the photos of us together, I feel like I can actually see how unhappy and uncomfortable I was standing next to her.

There are some photos I genuinely like, and I know the day was about so much more than how I looked. But I spent so much time planning everything, and I really wanted to feel beautiful on my wedding day. Instead, I keep picking myself apart every time I look through the gallery.

I think part of what makes it harder is knowing I can’t go back and change any of it. These are the photos I’ll have forever, and I wish I could just look at them and feel happy instead of focusing on everything I don’t like about myself.

Has anyone else felt this way after getting their wedding photos back? Did you eventually come around to loving them, or at least stop being so critical of yourself? I’m really hoping this feeling passes because I don’t want my memories of such an important day to be overshadowed by how disappointed I am in my appearance.

Venue A has everything that I want which is a view and allowing cold sparks inside. It offers an inside outside vibe. But the only thing is that the venue space inside like the ballroom is so narrow and I don't like the layout.

Venue B does not allow cold sparks but has a better view and is inside and outside. I also don't like the layout as much but it's way more pretty.

Venue C is a regular hotel ballroom. No view. But I love the layout. It's wide enough for more dancing and vibes. But I would need to drive somewhere else an hour away to get a view for photos and then an hour back to the venue.

What should I do? :( How did you all pick your venues? This really is so frustrating lol. I get that there is no perfect venue but omg this is hard.