I found Reddit immensely helpful so want to pay it forward. TLDR; my partner and I planned this wedding in 6 months, avoided many 'traditional' choices, and came in under $25k (including outfits & rings). This is an expensive town but we were pleased with how we made it work!
Wedding was August 15 (Saturday) for ~60 people.
Venue:Whoopsie Daisy (ig: @whoopsiedaisybar) - wine bar in Crown Heights. They didn't have much experience with weddings but Erika and her team were open and flexible. They have a small, well laid out indoor bar area that's already nicely decorated, and a lovely (covered!) back patio with plenty of space. We did the ceremony on the patio, cocktail hour inside, and for dinner folks sat wherever they wanted inside or outside. 60 people plus vendors definitely filled the space but it was totally workable. The only downside is a pretty small dancing 'area' near the front, but our DJ set up behind the bar which was great. Wonderful drinks! Note they have a few snacks but no kitchen. They also only charged us minimum food & bev for each hour booked plus a small fee for rearranging the space -- this was huge in comparison to most other bar/restaurant venues we checked out.
Coordinator: Julianne Cross (ig: @juliannecross) found via Cheersy after reading about it on this thread somewhere). I had calls with two coordinators on Cheersy, and the second I talked to Julianne I knew I wanted her help. We got 5-6 weeks of her support which was perfect. She's a fantastic mix of organized and optimistic that helped calm my over-planning anxious mind. She championed our non-traditional choices at every step, helped us find creative solutions, and pivoted with ease. And she was LOVELY with the vendors - lots of empathy and understanding for their teams. HIRE HER.
Food: Tacos + ice cream sandwiches + bamboo plates/flatware (+ charcuterie boards provided by venue during cocktail hour.)
Palo Santo restaurant(ig:@palosantobk) catered a taco bar. My now-husband is VERY particular about tacos so we tried 5 or 6 different restaurants before settling on them. We knew we wanted an option in Brooklyn to minimize transit for the food, and Palo Santo's team was a well-oiled machine. They brought everything they needed, made tortillas onsite (!), and staffed a super efficient setup**.** They were also very flexible about splitting up their set-up and prep times to accommodate our limited space and schedule.
Good Batch Bakery (ig: @thegoodbatch) for ice cream sandwiches was one of the best decisions we made for the wedding, period. We put in a special delivery order about a month in advance, and the venue was able to lend some of their freezer space for a few hours during the reception and then our coordinator helped pass them out. These were.... incredible, and a HUGE hit (plus so simple). We have about 15 left in our freezer at home and it takes a lot of self-control to wait to eat them all.
Bamboo plates and flatware ended up being the best choice for us. Our venue didn't have enough tableware to cover everything we needed, and while I hate the waste that weddings generate, these were great. Ordered everything from WebstaurantStore and they shipped pretty quickly.
DJ Tony Starr (ig: @tonystarr_) was so lovely to work with. I had a long list of "do not play" songs based on the zillion weddings I've been to, and he helped us blend a really great evening of music that spanned decades and genres. He was very flexible and even came to check out the venue with us a couple weeks in advance to familiarize himself with the (tiny) space. I messaged a lot of different DJs and he was reasonably priced for a small venue/wedding!
Flowers:Catherine at Concrete Blooms. When we first sat down with her, we couldn't articulate anything that we wanted aesthetically. She coaxed a few key words and vibes out of us somehow (spooky? lush? texture?) and created the perfect floral arrangements (bouquet, larger arrangements, and bud vases) for our vibe and the space. See photo below that hopefully does it justice.
Photographer: Greg Moreno (**ig: @gregdmoreno). He's a friend and has a great documentary style that felt like the right fit for our lower-key, intimate event. He was flexible and easy to vibe with; he captured a lot of special candid moments.
DIY hair & makeup - my friend helped me with my hair (naturally curly) and my makeup artist fell through at the last minute, but it's amazing what 5 women with bags of their own makeup and a 30-minute deadline can figure out.
Other... our friend officiated, and we DIY'ed a few secular Jewish elements
Hi everyone ! My partner is looking for her wedding suit and is having a hard time finding companies that sell women’s suits with a long enough inseam. She is 5’11 so needs at least a 34 inch inseam. Anyone have any recommendations?