It’s In The Details

Congratulations, you’re engaged! Now what? Time for wedding planning!

As children, we all dream about what our wedding day will be like and fantasize about all the exciting details that are about to begin. Are you planning your own wedding? Have you decided to hire a wedding planner? Are you choosing a venue that does all of the venue planning for you? What is your theme — rustic, elegant, natural? The details can be exciting and overwhelming. With so many choices to make, having a good organizer and support system of friends and family are vital essentials to planning a wedding.

As event coordinators, weddings never get boring. Each one is individually planned, and each couple is unique. This makes our jobs exciting every day and certainly creates a magical environment for everyone involved. To be an event or wedding planner, you must love what you do so it shines through each and every little detail — from setting up a ceremony site to bustling her dress after their first dance.

I always tell myself I’m not going to cry at this wedding and the tears of joy are hard to hold back. The emotion can hit you so unexpectedly when you see all your hard work and the unmistakable smiles on your couple’s faces the first time they see each other in an amazing surrounding that took shape just as they had imagined.

As you start your wedding planning journey, I put together just a few simple tips to not be overlooked.

1. Be clear on what you’re looking for and how much or little you want to do on the day of your wedding. Venues can offer full-day planning and coordinating while other venues just provide the space.
2. Make sure you understand and thoroughly read all your vendor contracts. We find that during initial meetings and tours there is so much information given that sometimes you may forget what was initially explained to you. Good contracts will have all the vendor guidelines built in so you can always go back and reference them.
3. Have a direct contact person and a day-of phone number to reach your vendors in the event of any last-minute changes. On the day of your wedding, a generic office number is not helpful when they may have already left for the day to start handling your setup details.
4. Remember that you may need to feed your vendors and also give them a place to sit in your reception to enjoy their meal. Most venues will offer a separate meal plan for vendors that are discounted so be sure to ask.
5. Have a solid system to organize your invite list and seating chart. We use an amazing program that is interactive with our venue layout, and our couples have their own login. They can get a real feel of what their final floor plan will look like.
6. Invites — be sure you choose a reply date that gives you adequate time to gather and organize your meals and counts for your contracted deadlines.
7. Will you be scheduling a “first look”? My entire Beaumont team and I believe this is one of the most romantic times for a couple. Although many feel it’s untraditional, we see more and more couples choosing to take advantage of our grounds. They can get all their pictures done prior to the ceremony, and then they get to enjoy their family and friends during cocktail hour. I personally happen to love the intimate moment that is shared just between the two of them during the first look, but that’s just me.

Whatever you choose, just be sure it’s what you and your partner decide together. Your memories will last for your lifetime, and it’s always our pleasure to be a part of your amazing day!