New York does not hand luxury to anyone. The city's best venues book eighteen to twenty-four months out, its top florists and photographers carry waitlists, and its logistics — freight elevators, load-in windows, noise ordinances, borough-to-borough transit — punish anyone who treats a five-borough wedding like a destination event in a resort town.

There's a particular kind of panic that sets in around month four of wedding planning. You've booked the venue. You've agonized over the guest list, cut your second cousins, added them back, cut them again.

Few wedding decisions spark as much back-and-forth as this one. You want to look sharp in every photo, feel comfortable all night, and not blow the budget on something you'll wear once. So: rent or buy? The honest answer is "it depends" — but it depends on specific, knowable things about your situation. Here's how to figure out which side of the fence you're on.

Of all the details couples agonize over — the florals, the font on the invitation, the exact shade of the tablecloths — the signature cocktail is the one that consistently generates the most unsolicited compliments on the day. It's a small thing, done right.