Find the perfect venue in the Quad Cities for your upcoming wedding! Whether you're planning a small party or a large celebration, we have you covered with our venue resources.

What are you actually paying a wedding photographer to do? So much more than just taking photos of your walk down the aisle! Here’s all that’s involved in preparing for and capturing a wedding.

Your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and hiring wedding vendors to bring your day to life is a large part of the planning process. You may have heard or read somewhere to verify your vendors are insured, but it’s easy to assume that your happy, smiling florist, photographer, or baker has insurance. Verifying that your vendors are legit, insured, and tax-paying businesses is a small step to avoid potential catastrophe down the road.

Do not make the mistake of hiring a friend/ family member. If you have a close friend or family member who is just getting into photography or has a professional camera, it can be tempting to accept their offer to shoot your wedding day for free (or much cheaper than a professional photographer would). But letting a non-professional photograph your wedding can result in low-quality or even terrible images, meaning you end up with no good photos of one of the most important days of your life.

Two dollar amounts— $21k and $36k. One is the amount most QCA couples actually spend on their weddings and the other is the amount required to hire a high-quality wedding professional in all categories. So what’s the $15k discrepancy? That’s where couples prioritized and made some tough choices.

Below are some examples. Consider that the first three couples had a $20k budget and a guest count of about 150— both pretty realistic. Each couple prioritized parts of their wedding day and allotted their budgets to reflect that.

One aspect of wedding planning that isn’t often given the attention necessary is choosing your wedding date. There are a lot of personal, public, sports, and holiday events to consider. Below is a step-by-step plan for how to pick a wedding date.

Chances are that the wedding night won’t be your first roll in the hay, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be perfect and magical and memorable. Just like everything wedding-related, you have to think ahead a bit. With a bit of planning you can create the perfect wedding night for the two of you.