What wedding vendors should you book first? Should you book your venue, photographer, DJ, videographer, or wedding planner first? And how far in advance should you start booking your wedding vendors?

If you're newly engaged and wondering where to begin, this episode of We Love That For You is for you!

In Episode 21, Chris and Jackie Marino of Limelight Entertainment walk you through an 18-month wedding planning checklist and explain which wedding vendors you should book first, which ones can wait, and how to create a booking timeline that makes sense for YOUR wedding.

Because the last thing you want is to find a wedding professional you absolutely love, only to discover they're already booked for your date.

1. What Wedding Vendors Should You Book First?
Why your wedding venue and ceremony location should be your first priorities, especially if you're planning a popular wedding date.

2. When Should You Book Your DJ, Photographer, and Videographer?
Why these major wedding professionals should be considered shortly after booking your venue and how waiting too long could limit your options.

3. What Wedding Vendors Can Wait?
We're breaking down recommended booking timelines for hair and makeup, florists, transportation, hotel blocks, wedding attire, stationery, and more.

4. How Does Your Wedding Date Affect Vendor Availability?
Why popular wedding dates, especially September and October weekends in New Jersey, can make booking your favorite professionals more challenging.

5. Does Every Couple Need to Follow the Same Booking Order?
Not necessarily! We're sharing three important questions to help you decide which wedding vendors should be YOUR biggest priorities.

We're also sharing a real New Jersey wedding experience where limited hotel availability meant a couple had to get ready approximately 35 minutes away from their wedding venue.

There isn't one perfect wedding vendor booking order that every couple needs to follow.

Start with the decisions everything else depends on, identify which parts of your wedding matter most to you, and prioritize the professionals whose availability is limited.

The goal isn't to book everything as quickly as possible. It's to make sure you're choosing the wedding vendors you genuinely want rather than settling for whoever is still available.

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments: Which wedding vendor are you most excited to book?

00:00 Welcome to We Love That For You
00:14 What Wedding Vendors Should You Book First?
01:27 Booking Your Venue and Ceremony Location
03:18 Creating a Realistic Wedding Budget
04:39 When to Book Your DJ, Photographer, and Videographer
07:10 Hair and Makeup, Stationery, and Wedding Attire
11:26 Engagement Photos and Transportation
13:15 Catering, Wedding Cakes, and Hotel Blocks
18:34 Wedding Planning at 3–5 Months
20:03 Final Preparations at 8–10 Weeks
22:42 Does Every Couple Need the Same Booking Order?
26:37 Book Now or Wait? Wedding Vendor Rapid Fire
35:28 Final Wedding Planning Advice

Episode Description

How do you know if the wedding vendors you're hiring are actually prepared to handle your wedding day?

In Episode 20 of We Love That For You, Chris and Jackie break down the biggest wedding vendor red flags couples should watch out for before signing a contract, and how to recognize the difference between someone who's talented at their craft and someone who has the experience to handle a FULL wedding professionally.

So how can you tell if you're hiring the right wedding professionals?

It's not just about beautiful portfolios, impressive social media accounts, or promises that everything will be perfect. It's about communication, preparation, experience, and knowing how to handle the unexpected without putting that stress back on you.

We're sharing 6 wedding vendor red flags and the questions you should ask before booking your wedding DJ, photographer, videographer, or other wedding professionals.

1. Communication: Why consistent communication matters and what you should expect from your wedding vendors throughout the planning process.

2. Handling the Unexpected: How experienced wedding professionals navigate bad weather, timeline changes, and unexpected challenges.

3. Personalization: How to recognize a cookie-cutter wedding experience and why your vendors should involve you in the planning process.

4. Backup Equipment: What happens if a camera, microphone, laptop, or other essential equipment fails during your wedding?

5. Reading the Room: Why experienced wedding DJs, photographers, and videographers need to understand the flow of your celebration and adapt in real time.

6. Wedding Vendor Insurance: Why liability insurance matters and what you should ask before signing a contract.

You'll also hear real examples, including a couple who found themselves searching for a new wedding photographer just four months before their wedding after serious communication issues, and how Jackie navigated photographing a New Jersey wedding during a nor'easter with heavy rain, strong winds, and challenging lighting conditions.

Plus, we're wrapping up with a rapid-fire round of additional wedding vendor red flags, including contracts, payment methods, full wedding photography galleries, suspiciously low pricing, and why an impressive social media presence doesn't always tell the whole story.

The biggest takeaway? You're not just hiring someone for what they can create when everything goes according to plan. You're trusting them to make decisions, solve problems, and guide you through the unexpected so you can actually enjoy your wedding day.

Whether you're planning a New Jersey wedding or celebrating somewhere else, this episode will help you ask better questions, recognize potential warning signs, and feel more confident about the wedding professionals you choose.

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

What's one question you wish you knew to ask your wedding vendors before booking?

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to We Love That For You
00:30 How to Spot a Wedding Vendor Hobbyist
07:29 Red Flag #1: Poor Communication
16:54 Red Flag #2: No Plan for Wedding Day Challenges
23:40 Red Flag #3: Lack of Personalization
33:51 Red Flag #4: No Backup Equipment
40:09 Red Flag #5: Inability to Read the Room
48:08 Red Flag #6: No Liability Insurance
51:21 Rapid-Fire Wedding Vendor Red Flags
57:46 Final Advice Before Booking Your Wedding Vendors

Want to know how to keep your wedding dance floor packed and create a wedding reception your guests will actually enjoy?

In Episode 19 of We Love That For You, Chris, Jackie, and Joe break down a real wedding at Park Loft in New Jersey where the dance floor was packed, the energy was incredible, and guests of every generation were celebrating together.

So what made this wedding so successful?

It wasn't one perfect playlist. It was thoughtful planning, a couple who knew their guests, and a wedding DJ who could read the room and make decisions in real time.

We're sharing 7 wedding DJ tips that actually work to help you plan a fun, memorable wedding reception.

1. How to choose wedding music that appeals to different generations.

2. Why your must-play and do-not-play lists shouldn't be too restrictive.

3. How an experienced wedding DJ reads the room and keeps the energy flowing.

4. Why telling your DJ the stories behind your favorite songs matters.

5. How dance floor lighting can transform your reception atmosphere.

6. How to choose a last dance song that brings everyone together.

7. Why getting yourselves onto the dance floor can encourage your guests to join you.

You'll also hear real examples from this Park Loft wedding, including an unexpected sing-along to "Zombie" by The Cranberries, creative transitions between music genres, and how the couple's enthusiasm helped shape the celebration.

The biggest takeaway? A packed wedding dance floor isn't about forcing everyone to dance. It's about creating the right environment, choosing music that connects with your guests, and trusting your DJ to guide the experience.

Whether you're planning a New Jersey wedding or celebrating somewhere else, these tips will help you feel more confident about your wedding reception music and entertainment.

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

What song will get your guests to go wild?

Wondering how to make your wedding different and give your guests an experience they'll actually remember?

Don't overlook your cocktail hour.

In Episode 18 of We Love That For You, Chris, Jackie, and Limelight Event Host Joe are talking about how couples are turning cocktail hour into an interactive wedding experience instead of simply treating it as the hour between the ceremony and reception.

We're sharing some of the most interesting wedding cocktail hour ideas we're seeing right now, including live musicians, roaming magicians and mentalists, live painters and artists, interactive photography experiences, and audio and video guest books.

The goal isn't to fill every minute of your wedding with more entertainment.

It's to choose one or two experiences that feel like you, encourage your guests to interact, and give them something memorable to experience together. As we discuss in the episode, the best choice isn't necessarily whatever happens to be trending. It's the experience that makes your wedding feel more personal, social, and fun to be part of.

In this episode, we're talking about:

• How to make your wedding cocktail hour more interactive
• Unique cocktail hour entertainment ideas
• Live musicians for cocktail hour
• Saxophone, piano, guitar and string players
• Roaming wedding magicians and mentalists
• Live wedding painters and fashion sketch artists
• Interactive wedding photo experiences
• Personality portraits for wedding guests
• Audio and video wedding guest books
• How cocktail hour entertainment can transition into the reception
• Choosing experiences that actually fit your guests and wedding style
• How to make your wedding memorable without overdoing it

If you've been asking "How can we make our wedding different?", your cocktail hour might be one of the best places to start.

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

Are engagement photos worth it, especially if you already have hundreds of photos together?

In Episode 17 of We Love That For You, Jackie and Chris are joined by Limelight lead photographer Jessica to talk about why an engagement session is worth it and why its biggest benefit may have very little to do with simply getting more pictures.

If you're worried that you're awkward in photos, don't know how to pose, or are nervous about how you'll look in your wedding photos, an engagement session gives you a low-pressure opportunity to experience professional photography before the wedding day. You'll learn how your photographer directs you, what feels natural, and how quickly those awkward feelings can disappear with the right guidance.

We also talk about why working with your actual wedding photographer before the wedding can be so valuable. Your photographer gets to learn how you interact naturally, which prompts work for you, your favorite angles, and what makes you feel confident. At the same time, you get to know the person who will be beside you for so much of your wedding day.

We're also answering some of the other big engagement photo questions:

• Are engagement photos still worth it if you already have proposal photos?

• What should you wear for engagement photos?

• How do you choose an engagement photo location?

• Should your engagement session location be meaningful to your relationship?

• Can you bring your dog to your engagement session?

• What can you actually do with your engagement photos afterward?

• How does an engagement session help you feel more comfortable on your wedding day?

Because your engagement session isn't simply another photoshoot. Done well, it can make walking into your wedding day feeling comfortable, confident, and familiar with your photographer so much easier.

Planning a New Jersey wedding? Head to LimelightWedding.com to learn more about our wedding photography, DJ, videography, and content creation experience.

And remember, wherever you're planning and whatever you are dreaming, WE LOVE THAT FOR YOU.

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

Do you feel that an engagement session is worth the cost?

What should you put on your wedding do-not-play list, and how long should that list actually be?

A wedding do-not-play list tells your DJ which songs, artists, or types of music you don't want played at your reception. But there's a big difference between giving your DJ helpful direction and creating so many restrictions that it becomes difficult to read the room.

In Episode 16 of We Love That For You, Limelight Entertainment Event Hosts Chris and Joe break down exactly how they recommend couples approach their wedding do-not-play list, must-play songs, guest requests, and overall wedding playlist.

• What is a wedding do-not-play list?

• Do you actually need one?

• How many do-not-play songs is too many?

• Songs vs. artists vs. genres on your do-not-play list

• Why a 30-song do-not-play list can become restrictive

• How many must-play songs should you give your wedding DJ?

• What to do if you already have a 100-song Spotify wedding playlist

• What happens when a guest requests a do-not-play song

• How DJs balance your music preferences with your guests

• Why notes about when you want an important song played can help

• How much creative freedom should you give your wedding DJ?

• How DJs read the room and decide what song comes next

At Limelight, our couples can submit up to 30 total song requests between their must-play and do-not-play lists. We've found that this gives our Event Hosts enough information to understand what you love and what you don't while still giving them room to react to the dance floor throughout the reception.

The biggest takeaway? Your do-not-play list should give your DJ direction, not create a rulebook for the entire night.

Planning a New Jersey wedding? You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

What's one song or artist on YOUR wedding do-not-play list?

How do you build a wedding timeline that feels relaxed instead of rushed?

In this episode of We Love That For You, we're walking through an entire wedding day timeline from start to finish. From hair and makeup and getting ready all the way through your ceremony, cocktail hour, portraits, and reception, we're sharing the timing strategies we use to help couples actually enjoy their wedding day.

You'll learn why building breathing room into your timeline matters, how much time you should allow for portraits and family photos, whether a first look is right for you, and the biggest timeline mistakes we see couples make.

Whether you're planning a New Jersey wedding or getting married anywhere else, these wedding planning tips will help you create a day that feels calm, intentional, and unforgettable.

• When to start planning your wedding timeline

• How to schedule hair and makeup

• The ideal amount of time for portraits and family photos

• First Look vs. traditional ceremony timing

• How to enjoy your cocktail hour

• Reception timeline best practices

• Wedding planning mistakes to avoid

• Tips for creating a stress free wedding day

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

What's one part of your wedding timeline you're most nervous about planning?

And remember...

Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Planning your wedding and wondering how to choose the right wedding DJ?

In this episode of We Love That For You, we're joined by Limelight Event Host Moe, who shares what really goes into creating an unforgettable wedding reception.

From building personalized music stories and reading the dance floor to preparing for the unexpected and working seamlessly with your vendor team, this conversation gives you an inside look at what separates a professional wedding DJ from someone who simply "loves" music.

If you're searching for a New Jersey wedding DJ, wondering how to keep your dance floor packed, or looking for honest wedding planning advice that helps you actually enjoy your day, this episode is for you.

• How personalized planning leads to a more meaningful celebration

• Why reading the room matters more than a playlist

• How to keep guests of every age on the dance floor

• Why trust between you and your DJ creates a better celebration

• Why preparation is one of the most important qualities in a wedding professional

• How experienced vendors solve problems before you even know they exist

• Common wedding entertainment mistakes couples make

• What makes a wedding reception truly unforgettable

You can find more wedding planning resources, real wedding inspiration, and information about working with us at LimelightWedding.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode of We Love That For You.

🎧 New episodes drop bi-weekly. Follow us for more.
💬 Looking for YOUR Wedding Dream Team? DM us,leave a comment or email at jackie@limelightentertainmentnj.com. And remember, Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.

Tell us in the comments:

What's the one thing you're looking for in your wedding DJ?

And remember...

Wherever you're planning and whatever you're dreaming, we love that for you.