Guide: Planning A Charlotte NC Wedding

When my wife and I planned our own wedding in 2016, we had no idea what we were doing. We had a little help, but for the most part we were on our own. Fortunately we were able to find some generic (but helpful) templates from websites like theknot.com and wedding wire. And now, after 6 years of marriage and over 5 years in the wedding industry, it’s fair to say that I know a bit more about planning a wedding now than I did then. So this guide is to help all my fellow lovebirds plan their Charlotte NC (and surrounding) wedding with ease.

First Things First — Choose The Date:

If you’re anything like me and my (then) fiancé, we had such a hard time trying to pick a date. There were so many things to consider, from whether to travel for distance relatives and the list goes on. So the best advice I could think to share on this topic is to focus on the season first. Once you have a season in mind, choosing a date should be easy. Prioritizing the season over an actual date will open more possibilities when it comes to booking your venue and other essential vendors.

On To The Next — Create a Guest List:

It’s important to do this before choosing your venue, and you’ll understand why shortly.

I’ll never forget the way we created our guest list but I’ve definitely forgotten how we came across this idea. But it’s super simple and one of the best ways out there to create a fail-proof wedding guest list.

What you’ll want to do is open up Google Sheets and create four tabs. (Link below to access my guest list template so you don’t have to create your own from scratch.)

The four tabs are for your four lists:

• A List: These are the people you absolutely couldn’t get married without (i.e. immediate family & best friends.) It probably won’t be the longest of all the lists so don’t sweat it if it’s a short list.
  
• B List: The B-List is for the people who aren’t immediate family, but important nonetheless. You couldn’t imagine getting married without having these people there.
  
• C List: Your C-list is for people you’ll invite to your wedding if budget/venue allows. Think of certain distant relatives that you may feel obliged to invite.
  
• D List: Your D-list is for those people who it would be great to invite, but not essential. If it comes down to it, these will be the first people to remove from the invite list, if necessary.

For more help on who to invite checkout this post by One Fab Day.

Pro Tip:
Once you know the guest count for your A & B-list, you can start looking at venues that at least fit that many guests.

Now Let’s Get To The Fun Stuff — Choosing a Venue:

Choosing the right venue is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in planning your wedding.

As a general rule of thumb, aim to keep your reception and ceremony location as close as possible.

Once you’ve identified some potential options based on your guest count, try visiting each one in person. From there, you should have a pretty good idea about which one works best for what you.

Charlotte is still an up-and-coming city with lots of amazing venues but definitely room to grow. Places like Asheville & Raleigh are much more established, especially when it comes to weddings. If you’re planning a wedding in one of those places you can view our Planning a Wedding in North Carolina here.

Here are a few of our favorite venues across the greater Charlotte area. Venues are listed in no particular order.

Grand Bohemian Hotel

Ballantyne Hotel

Chickadee Hill Farms

Laboratory Mill

The Arbors

The Providence Cotton Mill

Finding Your Photographer:

There’s no shortage of talented photographers in Charlotte and across the Carolinas. But there’s something more than talent that you should consider when looking for your photographer:

How do they work with other vendors?
Finding a photographer who can work seamlessly with the rest of your vendor team is essential. I know that it can be so tempting to choose a photographer based on their photos alone, but trust me on this, ALWAYS read reviews before you book.

Additionally, in the words of one of my past brides,

“If you’re going to allow someone up-close access to you for 6-10 hours on the best day of your life, it’s probably a good idea to make sure you’ll actually enjoy having them around.”

So here’s a short list photographers that we’ve worked with in the past who have great portfolios and even better personalities (in no particular order).

Seth Snider Photography

Kristin Byrum Photography

Richard Israel Photography

Anna Wartak Photography

Finding Your Videographer:

While there’s also no shortage of talented Charlotte NC wedding videographers, I find it hard to justify listing them here (for obvious reasons). However, I have gladly referred couples to other videographers when I did not feel like I was the best fit for them. Since I don’t want to make this section too long, let’s get right to the punch which is to share my word of advise about wedding videography.

My advise is simple: Don’t get married without a wedding videographer.

Trust me! It’s the #1 regret that couples have after their wedding.

The two biggest regret-threats that linger over every wedding-planning-couple are:

1) You planned the wedding based on other peoples desires, rather than your own.

2) You should have hired a wedding videographer or spent more to hire someone that will create a film worth watching, again, and again, and again (for the rest of your lives).

A big picture perspective

There’s the obvious benefit of having something that you can share with all of your friends and family who weren’t there. You can post on your socials and get all the likes and whatever makes you happy. But once you get past all that is when the wedding film will really began to shine (or diminish).

One day you’ll look back and it will all be a blur. The photos were beautiful and did exactly what they are designed to do, capture moments. But they don’t tell a story. And one day your children will ask, “mommy, what was your wedding like?” And while photos have and always will be a staple in every home, in this day and age, nothing gets to the heart and emotions like a well-done video.

With all that being said, just please make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did. Hire a wedding videographer. Whether it’s me or someone else isn’t important to me. What is important is that you designate someone to record the best day of your life in a format that will empower you to relive it forever.

You’re Absolutely Going To Want A Great — Wedding Planner:

First off, let’s talk about why hiring a wedding planner for your Charlotte NC wedding is so important.

Having a wedding planner will ease the stress of figuring everything out on your own. Look for a planner with experience who knows how to put together a wedding in or around Charlotte,NC. An additional perk is that planners typically have a list of recommended vendors. This is nice because it saves you time from having to find each vendor yourself.

The cost for a wedding planner really will vary on your needs. It could range anywhere between $1,500-$10,000.

But a solid wedding planning is worth their weight in gold. They understand the workflow of your vendors (photographer, videographer, DJ) which is essential.

In addition to keeping everything timely and orderly, a good planner will absolutely enhance every element of your wedding. Here are a few Charlotte NC wedding planners we highly recommend:

Kelly & Co. Events

“Kelly & Co. Events is a Charlotte-based, full-service wedding and event planning company. Originally ‘Head Over Heels,’ we were established in North Carolina in 2006 and have since designed and planned over 150 weddings and social events throughout the Carolinas. With such growth comes change, and we are proud to announce the launch of Kelly & Co. Events to better reflect our expansion beyond the wedding industry. We are the same team of planners who you know and trust, with a new and improved brand to serve all of your event needs.”

Honey Belle Events

“We are a one-stop shop for all of your event and design needs. You could say I got my passion of event and design from my mother. Creativity must run in the family! Being raised on southern hospitality, we open our arms to you as an extension of our family, our dream team will be there every step of the way.” 

Kim Shartzer

“Being a Master Certified Wedding Planner through the Certified Wedding Planner Society, my priority is to work alongside you organizing every detail as it pertains to your bridal vision and then to see that vision become a reality!”

Other Helpful Tips:

1. Focus on the ceremony. Give careful thought as to how you want your ceremony to go. Will you do handwritten vows or will you repeat after the officiant? Will the ceremony be in the afternoon or the evening? While it can be easy to get overwhelmed, take time to slow down.
   
2. Trust your gut: When in doubt, trust your intuition about what to include/exclude from your special day. For example, I wanted to wash the feet of my groomsmen during the ceremony. I was talked out of that idea because it would have taken too long. Instead, I washed the feet of my bride (which I would have done regardless, in addition to my groomsmen.) But to this day, I really wish I would have washed their feet. Moral of the story: trust your gut.
   
3. Enjoy the process.  Planning a wedding can be stressful, I know. But just keep the main thing, the main thing; you’re marrying the love of your life! How exciting! So don’t get stressed over the little details, it will all work out in the end. Just make a game plan, and keep moving forward little by little. If you need additional resources, check out the links below or visit our content for couples.