Is your wedding budget ready for the reception resurgence?

Amanda Berg , senior growth marketing manager for the wedding planning and registry website Zola, and fiance Jesse Krieger stress the importance of contacting vendors early. The couple — who plan to wed in Bedminster, New Jersey, next spring — learned how competitive the search was when they began looking into photographers. “Some of them were booked already for May 2022, and we were doing this planning in October, November of 2020,” Krieger says. “Fortunately, we got everyone we wanted, partly because we got such a head start.”

Couples who’ve already signed contracts should ask about fees, restrictions or scheduling conflicts before altering plans. You could lose a deposit when you switch to a larger venue or face charges to rent extra chairs.

“Each vendor contract is going to stipulate different things with regard to changes in dates, changes in plans, changes in guest numbers. So it’s really important that you know what’s in the contract,” Kay says.

PRIORITIZE AND PARE DOWN SPENDING

Couples are feeling optimistic about gathering in person and having a larger guest count that feels more like the wedding they imagined pre-pandemic, according to Kay. But as the guest list increases, so do expenses.

“That’s going to not only affect the costs for catering, but also for the number of chairs, the centerpieces and number of tables,” says Melanie Tindell, owner and event planner of Oak + Honey Event Planning Co . in Cleveland.