Ready to Start Planning Your Event?

Start Planning Your Carawood Lake Event!

  • FIND OTHER VENDORS

    While none are required, we have a list of fabulous local vendors, including caterers, photographers, DJs, florists, and more, who can help make your day extra special.

    All of our vendors have a variety of packages (with publicly posted pricing!), like we do, designed to fit a variety of budgets.

    This list is a great place to start if you aren’t sure where to go next.

  • EXPLORE LAYOUTS

    Check out all the different ways you can arrange our space!

    (We have a layout tool in development that will help you play around with your layouts using drag & drop tables.)

  • Chose your Decor

    CONSIDER DECOR

    Schedule a planning visit to checkout all the decor items we have in our Something Borrowed Closet. If you purchased a Classic Wedding package or Decorated Table add-ons, you can use any of our items in your decorations!

How to Plan a Wedding

(Or other major event)

Without going crazy or
breaking your bank

1. Make a budget you can live with

Everything starts with your budget, so be sure you know how much you can spend before you get too deep into planning. Start by identifying your overall budget, then break it down by category, based on what’s important to you (and what you think you have the ability and physical/mental capacity to DIY).

Experts recommend considering the following categories when planning your wedding:

  • Venue (15-25% of budget)

    • Ceremony

    • Reception

    • Chairs & tables (included at Carawood Lake)

  • Food & Beverages: (15-25% of budget)

    • Appetizers

    • Main course

    • Dessert

    • Drinks

  • Memories: (10-15% of budget)

    • Photography

    • Videography

    • Content creators

  • Entertainment: (5-10% of budget)

    • DJ

    • Band

    • Games or activities

  • Decorations: (5-15% of budget)

    • Flowers

    • Tablescapes

    • Signage

  • Your look:

    • Attire & accessories

    • Hair & make-up

  • Others:

    • Officiant & marriage license

    • Day-of-Coordinator

    • Invitations

    • Transportation

    • Favors and gifts

    • Tips and fees

    • Miscellaneous

2. Estimate your guest count

This determines the size of venue you need, what layouts will work in your venue, and is the key driver for the cost of your food, beverages, and decorations.

3. Book your venue

Typically your venue should be about 15-25% of your total budget. At Carawood Lake, we have a variety of different packages intentionally designed to fit into any budget from $5K to $30K+. Plus, all of our reservations come with indoor chairs and tables.

4. Put together the rest of your vendor team

Look at your budget and determine where you want to spend your money.

At Carawood Lake, you are allowed to DIY everything! This can be great on a budget, but it also requires a LOT of advanced preparation, and can get REALLY stressful as the wedding approaches.

For this reason, we’ve assembled a list of great local professional vendors, with reasonable packages that can help make your day feel extra special, take some of that pressure off you, and help the energy of your day flow more smoothly.

5. Pick your “event captains”

Have specific people assigned to help you out on your big day. If you have a Day-Of-Event Coordinator, this role falls to them. If you don’t, you’ll need someone other than you to be in charge of the following things:

  • Receiving your other vendors (food, flowers, etc.) when they arrive at the venue

  • Setting up your decorations

  • In charge of food: Putting out buffet-style food and appetizers, replacing empty pans, and cleaning up the buffet food at the end. (This is a key reason to consider getting a “staffed” catering package if it’s in your budget… so none of your guests have to do this part because it can be a big stressful job for a non-professional!)

  • Cleaning up after your event