Part 3: Selecting Your Wedding Team
Once you have a solid idea where you’re going to host your wedding and you’ve curated some menu selections to suit your vision, the last big task to complete in finalizing your venue search is researching one’s professionals. This includes individuals like photographers, officiates, and DJs to name a few. While tracking down all of these services might seem a bit daunting, venues that already have reputable connections with diverse professionals and entertainers help make your planning experience that much more enjoyable. So, as you begin to wrap up your venue tours, consider asking your guide or planner some of the following questions to help ease any research that may otherwise be required of you at home.
1. Does your venue offer floral and décor services, like centerpieces, personal flowers, etc?
Stroudsmoor’s Advantage:
Doesn’t every venue have a floral and décor team on-site? No? Well then, not to worry. At Stroudsmoor, with our very own Floral & Décor Team located right on property—in fact, in the same building as our Event Offices—our team genuinely makes bringing your fairytale wedding to life easy. In addition to personal florals, such as bridal bouquets, boutonnieres, and more, our team helps you personalize your table linens, ceremony and reception décor, sweetheart table design, and really anything you might need to make your wedding completely unique to you.
2. Can you accommodate overnight guests? If so, how many?
Stroudsmoor’s Advantage:
In addition to planning and executing every aspect of the wedding event, Stroudsmoor also boasts diverse lodging accommodations for both you and your partner, as well as your overnight guests. Our lodging options including quaint Inn rooms, private cottages, rustic-chic cabins, and spacious suites, so you’re sure to find comfort with us at the end of your big day.
3. Does your venue offer any assistance with, or have any recommendations for, wedding hair and makeup?
Stroudsmoor’s Advantage:
As a Poconos premiere wedding venue, we strive to make the wedding planning process as easy for our couples as possible—including and especially, on the day of the wedding itself. That’s why, just as with our Floral & Décor Team and our Lodging Accommodations, we also have our very own Bridal Studio & Spa right on property. When you come to the Inn, our planners may arrange for you an “interview” with our Bridal Studio Coordinator, where you may meet with her and share your vision for your wedding hair and makeup. Her team also gladly offers consults and hair and makeup trials upon booking.
4. Do you have a list or contacts for recommended professionals like officiates, entertainers, photographers, etc.?
Stroudsmoor’s Advantage:
Not only is our staff at the Inn well-prepared and experienced in the art of wedding planning and execution, but our enduring reputation has also enabled us to build lasting relationships with a vast number of wedding professionals including local photographers, videographers, DJs, musicians, officiates, live painters, and so much more. Upon signing, every one of our couples is afforded a generous list of and introduced to pre-vetted and trusted wedding professionals, taking the work and research in that regard right off of your shoulders.
5. Does your venue have a Stationer on staff?
Stroudsmoor’s Advantage:
From start to finish, we strive to provide every service our couples need to create their wedding vision including an on-site Stationer. You ask, “what services does a Stationer provide?” The answer is everything from the early Save-the-Dates to post-reception Thank-You Notes!
Print materials set the tone for your wedding. They are your guests’ first introduction to your wedding theme, and the last thing a guest will see when you send them a note of thanks afterwards.
Our Stationer will work with your Event Planner to ensure you have access to necessary customizable print material to support your wedding vision. Curating seating charts, escort cards, ceremony signage, programs, menu cards, wedding newsletters, and anything that needs a penned word can be handled through the Stroudsmoor Stationer and our partnership with Carlson Craft – a premiere printing service.
We can even calligraphy your wedding vows!
As we wrap up our three-part guide, we’re hoping that we’ve aided you in simplifying the venue selection process, and the overall wedding planning itself. While there are certainly a number of other questions you may be wondering about as you continue to plan your wedding, know that any good venue coordinator or wedding planner will guide their couples through process, gently encouraging them to ask all the right questions at the appropriate times.
