Nine Things You Need to Know to Plan A Wedding in Los Angeles

It’s a free article on my wedding planner training site (What A) Wedding Planner Needs, but it’s also relevant for anyone who is trying to plan a wedding in this city, so I decided to amend it slightly for you guys. Enjoy:

1.The Average Wedding in Los Angeles is $28,000. Half of a wedding’s budget goes towards the ceremony and reception, so the average ceremony and reception is $14,000, including the cost of the wedding and reception sites and catering. Whether the budget of your wedding is higher or lower, these percentages are your starting point.

2.Planning a Wedding From Start To Finish Takes the equivalent of Forty Forty-Hour Weeks. Yes, I’m serious. Think of it this way – the wedding itself is going to take 10-12 hours. Meeting with vendors is going to be at least 2 hours each, including travel. It adds up.

3.First Three Vendors To Look For: Venue, Catering, Photographer. These are the three most expensive wedding items in town, and the most time-sensitive to book.

4.Tax And Service. Tax is now 9.75%, and the standard service charge in Los Angeles for catering and venue rental is 18%, which means close to a 30% up-charge. Confirm this whenever you’re talking to a vendor or venue.

5.There Is Weather In Los Angeles. It rains in the winter, and when the seasons change. Once the sun goes down, the temperature drops, so if it’s an outdoor reception, think heat lamps. If it’s indoor reception, think central heat. Heat is also weather – how are you going to keep everyone comfortable? Also, keep the cake out of direct sunlight. The end result is not pretty.

6.Not Only Do We Have Weather, We Also Have Traffic. “Rush hour” is between 3-7 on the weekdays, 10 am-2 pm on weekend days, and 8 pm-12 am on weekend nights. Give everyone, including yourself, plenty of time to get where they need to be for meetings before the wedding, and for the wedding itself.

7.“Day-Of” Coordination Does Not Start On The Day Of The Wedding. In order to effectively coordinate the day, you will need to talk to all of your vendors, several times, so you can put together an effective time line. Get started at least 2-3 weeks beforehand.

8.Don’t Be A Hero, Get Help. There are a lot of places you’ll need to be on-site at a wedding. Two is better than one. Three is even better than that.

9.Wedding Seasons In Los Angeles. October is the new June, it is not off-season. Off-season in Los Angeles is generally between November and February, stretching to April for many outdoor venues.

Fully-warned is fully armed. BREATHE. If you need help, well…you know who to ask. AND, if you schedule a free consultation with me, you’ll get a $10 gift certificate to weddingish.com and put it towards this gorgeous rhinestone covered cake cutter and server or any of their other fabulous items:

See you at the end of the aisle (or at any point beforehand),

Liz Coopersmith
Silver Charm Events
310-801-3602
liz@silvercharmevents.com
www.silvercharmevents.com