Tara & Alexander – The Wedding from David Zimmermann.
As I approach my one-year anniversary, I’m able to look back at the wedding planning process. Spoilers: It’s tough. I’ve planned events of all sizes, but planning your wedding can be really difficult–you’re more emotionally and financially connected, and family and friends are as well. Luckily, the Seattle wedding industry is pretty amazing to work with. Here are some of my tips and tricks for planning a great Seattle wedding:
Attend Wedding Shows
This may be the part of me that loves free things talking, but I really enjoyed wedding shows. It gave me a chance to see a wide variety of different vendors, get inspiration, and take advantage of deals. And yes, you often get free things as well (the cake sampling and champagne alone is worth the price of admission). Here are some yearly shows that I recommend:
- Seattle Wedding Show Held in January, this is the biggest wedding show of the year. You will find tons of vendors you didn’t even know existed.
- Urban Unveiled Held in October, this show brings the best Seattle vendors together to create an amazing night. I couldn’t afford most of the vendors there myself, but loved gathering inspiration.
- Many wedding venues hold shows in their space, to give you a feel of what your wedding could look like. Ask them if they have something coming up that you could attend.
Look Out of the Wedding Industry
There are so many beautiful wedding venues in Seattle, but there are plenty of locations that aren’t specific to weddings as well. We got married at the Space Needle–it’s not as pricey as you’d think! Don’t be afraid to ask a non-traditional venue to work with you.
On that same note, don’t be afraid to look outside of the wedding industry for other aspects of your wedding. My bridesmaid dresses were from Nordstrom. Have a favorite bakery? Get them to make your cake! Prefer flowers from Pike Place? Grab them the day of the wedding!
Add Touches of Seattle
If you have plenty of out-of-town guests coming in, make sure they see some of the best of Seattle. Slip some produce from Pike Place or a gift card to your favorite coffee shop into their hotel goody bag. Many of our guests attended a walking tour of Pike Place Market the morning of our wedding.
Don’t forget yourself! We thought it would be fun to take the monorail to the wedding instead of a limo. We were right. 🙂
Be Prepared for Rain!
Planning on an outside wedding? Make sure you have tents or an indoor location available as a back-up. We chose an indoor location, but wanted to make sure we had umbrellas available just in case. (You can rent great vintage umbrellas from Bella Umbrella or Sustalux.) I was actually a bit bummed that we didn’t need to use them!
See more tips from my wedding posts and let me know in the comments: What is your best Seattle-wedding tip?
