COVID: To begin planning or not, that is your current dilemma.

You have anxiety about planning your wedding right now in this new world. Questions are overflowing in your mind.  ‘Will we have to reschedule and with less favorable terms than we began with?’ ‘What if we have to reduce the guest list to under 50 and why does this feel next to impossible?’ ‘What if we have to move the wedding outside and our current date is during the winter months?’ ‘What if rescheduling costs us additional fees?’ ‘What if someone in our families gets sick before the big day?’ ‘Will a socially distanced wedding even be fun?’

At the same time, not planning a wedding may be giving you as much anxiety as actually planning a wedding. To delay moving forward with your wedding may feel like you are disrespecting yourselves. Perhaps you find yourselves angry, yet there is no one to really be angry at!  You are not alone; this is how many couple’s are feeling.

During a time of many unknowns it can be crucial to have a skilled planner by your side. You need a planner who is going to set you up for both safety and success so you can comfortably move forward with your much-anticipated wedding day. 

Yes, given the atmosphere of our world, there are some parameters we must plan ahead for. For one, you may want to air on the side of a smaller wedding so that if you do have to limit your guest count, you will not have to uninvite as many guests. Alternatively, you may want to send Save the Dates to your first 50-60 closest friends and family and save the other Save the Dates to mail in early 2021.

Perhaps the biggest fear persuading you not to begin planning is costs. Will you be charged more should you have to move your wedding to another date? Will you be charged the same amount should your guest count need to drastically drop?  These are valid concerns and we understand your desire to respect your money. However, these are not all barriers to begin planning. Given the current climate, the initial leg work to find the right vendors for you both may take a bit longer and you may not want to sign up for your first choice because of their COVID related terms. We can walk you through this process and ensure you select the best vendors for YOU.

Most noteworthy, we have had three events in COVID times and they all were beautiful, fun and safe. The guests and vendors did get tested before coming into the area and then were tested again right before the big day. Had someone tested positive prior to the wedding, they would have been unable to attend the in-person events. The staff was tested at two of these events and at the another we knew they were tested within that week. The staff members also took extra precautions to distance themselves when they could and the menu and service was slightly altered for the event where the staff wasn’t tested the day before. 

Personally, we feared the smaller weddings being awkward but for our events it was quite the opposite. We do believe the main reason why these COVID friendly events were not awkward was because we laid out the laws of the land to guests before they arrived and also because everyone was tested. Guests knew what to expect and they respected the wishes of the host and the current laws in the area. When guests don't know what to expect it makes for far more anxiety. ` 

If you are not a candidate for a full planner but want assistance with the start of planning so that you can begin confidently during these uncertain times, we are offering alternatives to our traditional full planning packages. 

Couples may bring us on hourly or with a package rate to help with the following: 

• Securing a wedding venue with the best possible terms allowed

• Securing vendors who are best suited to your budget, location and comfort level.

• Prior planning your Covid related details and parameters.

• Setting you up on a planning timeline for the year ahead.

• Educational sessions on all things planning: venues, paper, timelines, hotels, decor, etc. 

We assure you if you choose your date and book your venue, you will relax more. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions! We look forward to working with couples planning their special days during these uncertain times and helping to execute, intimate, fun and beautiful weddings. 

Happy Planning, 

Ashley + Team

6 common misconceptions about wedding planning

At first glance, wedding planning can look easy and fun, spending time putting together Pinterest boards and looking at floral samples. Yes, planning a wedding is all of the above and more, but under the surface planning a wedding is hard simply because most have not done it before. There is a level of stress that comes with the time, energy and unknowns that come with planning. The benefit to bringing a planner on board is that they have a wealth of knowledge about the intricacies of planning and can work with you to ease any stress or uncertainty to ultimately make planning your wedding a fun and exciting process. 

Certainly, you have your own work lives, skills and strengths that will help lead you to make logical assumptions about how a certain vendor or piece to the process works. Often times these assumptions, however logical they may seem, can be misleading. We have found that, despite some common similarities, every industry is not the same. Setting up a tent is not the same as constructing a building and designing a wedding is not exactly the same as designing a home. A planner will guide you through the elements of planning that may seem unfamiliar and fight for your wedding vision from start to finish.

Below we share 6 common misconceptions about wedding planning. 

ONE: It is less costly to host your wedding at home. 

Yes, at first glance hosting your wedding in your backyard may appear less expensive, but when you boil down all of the costs in 90% of cases hosting your wedding at home will end up costing you more than a venue. When comparing wedding venues, it is important to know all of the underlying costs associated with each option, and a planner can help you uncover those costs.  

Unless your alternative venue is a tented event site that charges a site fee and does not come with a tent nor anything else, hosting at home may make more sense for you both. You will also have fewer parameters to adhere to planning at home. If you are in fact considering a wedding at home take the following into account. If 150 people come together for a dollar meal and need cocktails, wine, soft drinks, plates, utensils, a chair or two, and a wait staff to serve that meal, it is going to cost more than you may think. Planning at home does not have to be daunting if you understand what to account for and the steps to take in order to make for a beautiful celebration. Weddings at private residences are some of our favorite.

TWO: Substituting candles for florals may lower your floral bill. 

Contrary to popular belief, candles can actually be quite expensive. Unless you are blanketing your wedding with candles in glass cylinders from the dollar store and your distant cousin is prepping them, putting them out and cleaning them up afterwards, adding more candles won’t put as large a dent in your floral bill than most expect. Candles, especially pillar candles, cost a pretty penny. And the vessels or lanterns they go in will add to that cost. Replacing the majority of your florals with candles is tricky because most of the time when a wedding begins it is not dark enough for the candles to even have any effect on the ambiance.  However, there is certainly a way to design your wedding to include both candles and floral elements that is true to your vision. Putting costs aside, we love a ton of candles in conversation pieces and incorporated into focal points.

THREE: Booking your vendors is the bulk of planning. 

Actually, booking your vendors is only the start of planning, there is much more that comes down the line once your vendors are booked. Many couples feel that once they’ve booked all of their vendors they have done most everything already and only need a planner to bring all of the pieces together. This is what planners hear all the time and it could not be further from the truth. Planners have a lot to offer you in regard to insight during the process of booking your vendors and negotiating their contracts. You may find yourselves booking vendors while not necessarily knowing what is ahead in the process and what other costs may arise depending upon which vendors you booked. When you book a vendor, in any category, their work is not done once you’ve signed the contract with them.  For instance, when you book your florist, your entire design is not final when you are presented with your contract to sign. You will likely meet with your florist several times over the course of the planning process and revise your design after each meeting, until you have a design you are completely comfortable with. Some florists really don’t design but focus just on the flowers and its your planner that makes sure all the elements of your wedding are taken into consideration, are cohesive and true to your own vision. Booking your vendors is really just the start to the process and bringing everything together is the bulk of planning a well-executed, beautiful event. 

FOUR: A casual wedding will cost me less

Quality and volume influence the cost of your wedding more than the type of ambiance you are trying to create. Every detail has to be accounted for whether a wedding’s dress code is black tie or cocktail attire, or even more casual with guests in their summer whites and sandals. 

FIVE: You can wait on the rain plan tent.

If you know you will need a plan for rain, address that early in the planning process. Waiting until the last minute to secure a rain plan is a scary idea for a planner. We have been down this road in the past and learned our lesson. That’s why you hired us - lessons already learned! All tenting companies are not made the same and tenting companies only have so many staff members, let alone tents. Next year, and perhaps the year after, tent companies are going to be busier than ever with many people planning outdoor weddings that otherwise may have been indoors. They may have tents left in their warehouses, but they need their trained staff to install them, run the event and conduct breakdown in a timely fashion. When you add a rain plan tent you are reserving the company’s time along with the tent itself. A planner will walk through the intricacies of a rain plan with you to help determine your the best course of action.

SIX: You can hold off on booking a videographer since it does not matter as much as a photographer. 

If you know you want a videographer at your wedding, then you should plan to book them at the start of planning and perhaps in tandem with your photographer. You may, however, not want a videographer, which is just fine and common enough for our clients but contracting a videographer that is not of the same quality and professionalism as your photographer is the wrong way to go. We have countless examples between our own weddings, and weddings done by friends in the industry, in which videographers were contracted in the last hour and got in the way of the photographer, planner and the couple as well.If you want a videographer, we recommend asking your photographer and planner for recommendations at the start. It pains a planner to have a client who regrets any one of their vendors. 

There are many misconceptions that come with planning a wedding that only become evident once you get into the height of planning. As planners we have seen our fair share of weddings and will be able to work with you to address these misconceptions from the start and make for an enjoyable planning process and seamless wedding day. Weddings are expensive no matter your budget. Spend wisely and hire a planner. 

Happy Planning, 

Ashley + Team