Why You Need a Wedding Planner (and Why Your Venue Coordinator Isn’t the Same)

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Venue: The Vault | Photography: Carrie Wildes Photography

Let’s talk about your day to day life. Generally speaking, you typically wake up, go to work, commute home to make dinner and try to relax for a few precious hours before starting it all over again the next day. Now let’s throw planning your wedding into the mix. Doing simple tasks such as finding the perfect venue, reaching out to vendors for pricing, AND figuring out how to execute it all while keeping your head on straight. Seems like a lot, right?

One of the biggest suggestions that Event Design can recommend to any newly engaged couple (or ones who have come to realize that they’re in over their heads) is to hire a wedding planner! These professionals are experts when it comes to figuring out the nitty gritty and are there on your wedding day to make sure everything runs to plan. You may be rolling your eyes and thinking to yourself “but my venue already includes someone to be there day of” which is probably true, but are they really wedding planners? Nine out of ten times the answer is no. Though these individuals are experts at their job, assisting you with your wedding isn’t their sole priority.

Still unsure if you should really take the plunge of investing in a planner rather than doing it yourself? Our good friend, Lauren, from MDP Events has been a planner for over ten years and has broken down four reasons why you NEED a planner and four reasons why the person you’re working with at your venue is NOT one!

Wedding Planning Process

Wedding Planners are with you throughout the entire process and are able to assist the couple with staying within their budget. They are able to offer advice, design guidance, and referrals with vendors who they work with frequently.

Wedding Planners Understand the Vision

After countless hours of communication between both you and your fiancé, planners have a knack for knowing your ideal vision. This allows them to make sure that the day looks not only cohesive and seamless, but exactly what you envisioned.

Wedding Planners Provide Constant Support

Planners are there to support the couple every step of the way. They have the ability to properly organize everything by creating timelines as well as scheduling vendor deliveries.

Wedding Planners Take Care of Personal Items

Wedding Planners are there to set up and tear down all of the couple’s personal items including photographs, escort cards, and custom details that will enhance the atmosphere of the space.

Venue Coordinators are Catering Sales Managers

Unlike Wedding Planners, the Venue Coordinator is an employee of the hotel/venue. They aren’t hired directly by the couple for all of their wants and needs. This means that if something were to happen elsewhere on the property, the Coordinator could be pulled away from your wedding to handle a different situation.

Venue Coordinators Have Other Responsibilities

Along with being responsible for the venue’s day to day actions, Venue Coordinators have to worry about other events happening on the same day, run and manage AV (if it’s provided), room blocks for other upcoming events, and so much more!

Venue Coordinators Don’t Stay for the Entire Time

Most likely after the food is served and the cake is cut, Venue Coordinators leave for the day while the remainder of the wedding finishes up. Of course, the venue’s banquet staff will be there for any dire situation but you will no longer have the ability to speak to the person that you’ve been working with for months prior.

Venue Coordinators Handle More Than Just What Meets the Eye

Venue Coordinators assist with room layout, providing helpful information about the venue including in-house items, recommended vendors, processing invoices, and occasionally managing catering needs. This job title takes care of the mechanics of running the venue’s operations smoothly and your wedding is not necessarily their prime focus.

Although at times Wedding Planners and Venue Coordinators have similar responsibilities, at the end of the day hiring your own planner will help ensure that everything will run accordingly to YOUR means. While a planner can be an investment, Event Design cannot stress enough how much easier having one will make your life in the long run!

3 Color Palettes that are HOT this Season

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With fall finally here, Floridians are officially in their wedding season! Even though the weather is still ridiculously hot, many couples have decided to include fall colors in their wedding scheme just to pretend that the south experiences some of the autumn weather. Through previous weddings over the past few months and upcoming ones still in progression, these three colors are the ones that we’ve seen most couples choose to incorporate into their special day!

Yellow

Venue: Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk | Photography: Celebrations of Tampa Bay

As one of Pantone’s colors of the year, brides have been eager to include a pop of yellow into their arrangements. Incorporating commonly known yellow flowers, such as sunflowers, is a great way to create a more lively tone to a very warm atmosphere. As stated in Pantone’s website, this hue creates the feeling that everything is going to continue to get brighter, which is what we all hope to achieve throughout the many years of marriage!

Muted Pink

Venue: The Orlo | Photography: Roberts Imagery

Following in the boho vibe that we’ve been seeing over the year, the soft shade of pink has appeared throughout this fall season. By incorporating a muted color and different styles of greenery, couples have been able to create arrangements with dimension while still giving off an earthy feel.

Burgundy

Venue: Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay | Photography: Jon Montis Photography

As we transition closer to the winter season, many couples have included a deep red shade into their wedding. Usually seen in winter weddings, burgundy has recently been utilized in the fall months as a transition color into the colder season.

5 Questions to Ask Your DJ Before You Hire Them

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Venue: Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk | Photographer: Celebrations of Tampa Bay | DJ: Eric w/ Grant Hemond

Disc Jockeys can make or break the atmosphere of a wedding ceremony and reception. These are 5 important questions that we recommend couples ask candidates during the interview process to ensure that you make a decision you’re comfortable with. Of course, make sure to do some research ahead of time to determine a company’s eligibility, and best of luck with your shopping process!

Will they take song requests from guests?

It is extremely common for guests to request songs at weddings but certain DJs won’t accept them without your permission. If there is an artist/song that you would not like played during your reception you can make a “do not play” list to give your DJ ahead of time.

Do you offer lighting services? (i.e. uplights, GOBOs, etc.)

Some DJs offer packages that include lighting designs to enhance the ambiance of your wedding even more! Pieces like uplights and GOBOs are a great inclusion to completely transform your reception space! *Pro Tip* If your ideal company doesn’t offer this, we do ;)

Do you offer emcee services?

There are certain parts of the ceremony and reception that would make having an emcee ideal. Simple things like toasts and introductions will run more smoothly if you have someone available to guide the audience’s attention. We always encourage couples to ask their DJ if they offer this service and if not it may be something that you’ll want to look into to avoid a headache day of!

How do you encourage dancing if the crowd isn’t moving?

Ironically sometimes there can be a lull period at the reception where many guests aren’t on the dance floor. It’s a great idea to ask potential DJs what they’ve done in the past to energize the crowd.

Have you played at our reception venue previously?

It can be even more reassuring if the disc jockey has played at your venue previously. This means that they are familiar with the space and are likely aware of their requirements such as sound levels and load in schedules.

5 Moments to Look Forward to on Your Wedding Day

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Is your wedding day right around the corner? Are you starting to feel the anxious jitters, butterflies, and every other emotion pouring out of you? Even if you still have some time until you walk down the aisle, you can probably relate to this feeling at least once or twice in your life. I mean, you’re only human, right?! So we can all take part in the excitement together, we’ve made a list of some of our favorite moments to look forward to our your special day!

Delivery of Personal Florals

Hand delivering bouquets and boutonnières is one of our favorite things! Typically, these are dropped off first thing in the morning and we love to see everyone’s faces light up once they’re seen. Another bonus to this is that it’s kind of like a sneak peak to what’s in store for the rest of the day!

Decorated Archway

Seeing the ceremony space in general is usually when the “OMG!” moment starts to kick in. Imagine walking down the aisle and seeing your significant other standing in front of the perfect archway that you both dreamed about. This is typically the time of day that your excitement pours out and tears begin to be shed!

Seeing Your Reception Space for the First Time

A lot of the times, the reception area is where couples dedicate the most attention to detail. Through numerous proposals and only mental visions, it is a whole different feeling seeing everything come together for the first time.

Finished Centerpieces

Seeing the arrangements that you once saw on Pinterest but weren’t sure would look good with your wedding colors. After countless hours going back and forth to make the perfect design it finally comes to life and is everything that you had imagined!

Small Touches That You Forgot About

There’s so much going on when you’re planning your wedding that there’s bound to be at least one thing you forgot that you splurged on. Whether it be the custom table numbers or specialty linen, seeing them on display is a nice little reminder of all of the work that you two put into your wedding day!

Okay, okay. We know there are far more than only five moments to look forward to on your wedding day. We could probably make an entire website dedicated to these occasions. After all, your wedding day is what you make of it so there’s a million things that you can be excited about!

Thanks to the awesome photographers Darin Crofton Photography, Lifelong Photography Studios, Jon Montis Photography, Sunglow Photography, & JCanelas Photography

3 Tips to Make the Most of a Bridal Show

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Photographer: K&K Photography | Venue: Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club

Wedding season is finally here which means the debut of bridal shows will be soon to follow!

Bridal shows create a great opportunity for newly engaged couples to look around and see what people in the industry have to offer. Attending these expos seem pretty easy, right? All you have to do is go to a couple to view different vendors, find the ones you like, and sign away your life’s inheritance (joking!) Although in theory these shows are designed to take make your life easier, we have a few suggestions to get the most out of your experience!

Bring your Significant Other

This is a no brainer! Since you two will be making an investment for your wedding day it is encouraged to bring your fiancé so you both can meet the venders!

Create a Wedding Email

This is a great way to keep all of the contacts to your wedding vendors in one place. The last thing that you want is to accidentally delete an email from your favorite company because it was mixed in with all of the spam promotions from stores that you’ve purchased from in the past.

Bring Labels

Many companies offer promotions and contests during the exhibit. Having pre-made labels with your name, wedding date, and email/phone number is an easy way to enter them stress free! This also provides something to hand off to your favorite vendors so they can contact you after the show to set up a more in depth meeting!

Remember, bridal shows are supposed to show off different companies but not every provider in your area attends them. If you aren’t crazy about any of the vendors that you’ve seen, continue to do some research! The worst thing that a couple could do is sign a contract with a company who they don’t feel 100% comfortable with. Don’t forget, this is your special day and everything should go the way the you’ve hoped for!

Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Wedding – Kimber & Nick

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Kimber and Nick met at a bar in their hometown of Chicago, Illinois. They began dating and eventually took their first vacation at the Grand Hyatt in Tampa Bay. They immediately fell in love with the hotel and after Nick gave a heartfelt proposal a few years later they knew that they had to come back to Tampa, Florida to exchange their vows.

After much discussion Kimber and Nick decided that they wanted to go with a modern theme that included blue and white hues. They decided to focus a portion of their attention to the ceremony space by including drapery and hanging blue delphinium flowers from the top. They also had two large arrangements on either side of the aisle that accented the sweetheart table when it was placed between them after the ceremony was over.

For the remainder of the reception space, the couple decided to include soft touches such as uplights, lilies, and blue table runners. Looking back on her day, Kimber says she is happy she put so much attention to the details and was able to get exactly what she envisioned. Though she claims that marrying Nick was the best part of her wedding, we think that our help with executing the decor came in a close second ;)

If Kimber could give any piece of advice to couples who are planning their wedding she would recommend finding vendors who stay in contact with you throughout the whole process. With planning a destination wedding, she was extremely comfortable with the constant communication between everyone on the Event Design team. Kimber is thankful that we took the time to discuss her entire vision and provide a variety of different options in order to achieve her dream decor. “(Event Design) helped us create the most beautiful set up and make our design dream a reality! (They) handled everything and communicated with our other vendors to make the day go flawless!!”

Venue: Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay | Photographer: Carrie Wildes

I’m Engaged! Which Vendors do I Hire First?

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Ceremony Venue: Bell Shoals Baptist Church | Reception Venue: The Regent

You just became engaged and can finally start the planning process for one of your most memorable days! Once a set budget is in mind, you might ask yourself where to start and which vendors should you reach out to first? While every single one of them is important in making a smooth and painless wedding day, there are a few that we recommend going to immediately to ensure availability!

Venue

We highly encourage couples to decide on a wedding location before they even pursue other venders. Once a date is chosen, you will be able to get a better idea on availability of other venders and if the facility is within their area of travel. Additionally, certain venues only allow the use of their preferred venders which could limit the ones to choose from.

Planner/Coordinator

Planners and coordinators are under utilized gems inside the wedding industry! It might not seem like it at first, but planning everything out and sticking to a schedule is a full time job! Having someone there to map out every detail and create a timeline can alleviate unnecessary stress and make everything run much more smoothly.

Photographer

There’s an art to taking the perfect photograph so if you’re in love with someone’s work don’t hesitate to reach out to see their availability! Photographers (especially well known ones) can fill up fast and chances are if you found the best one on Instagram, other couples have too!

Decor/Floral

The possibilities are endless when it comes to the decor and floral aspect of a wedding! We encourage speaking with a company early on to see how much it would cost to recreate absolutely everything that you envision. Once that’s figured out, you will then have the opportunity to decide on what you really want/need as well as get a better idea on how much money you’ll have to spend on other things.

Planning your wedding may seem overwhelming at first, (trust us, we know) but once you have your core vendors figured out everything else will come together more easily. Remember, it’s never too early to reach out to these individuals, especially the ones that you have your heart set on!

5 Tips for an Epic Engagement Shoot

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Photography: Limelight Photography | Location: Craig Park

Engagement photographs are the perfect way to get comfortable in front of the camera as well as allow your photographer to learn more about you and your significant other’s personalities before the wedding day. The days leading up to these photographs may seem a little stressful, but our friends at Limelight Photography have given us some tips and tricks to get the best engagement shots

Personalize It!

Pick a location or setting that involves something that you and your significant other like to do together. Some examples of this could be going to the beach, cooking in your house, or even walks in the park! If you pick an atmosphere that is meaningful to you and your fiancé you’re more likely to be comfortable in front of the camera so your photographer can capture genuine happiness!

Use Props

Having items that are important to the ambiance that you are trying to recreate is vital! Imagine having a picnic blanket laid out on the beach to make the setting appear more like a date or bikes to ride on for shots in the park. Even smaller elements like champagne and glasses to use for a toast can take your pictures up to a whole new level.

Hire a Hair & Makeup Artist

Having someone else in charge of doing your hair and makeup will give you one less thing to stress out about. Doing this is also a great time for you to test out your wedding day hair and makeup stylist to see what you do and don’t like – that way there aren’t any surprises later on down the line!

Hire a Professional to Assist Pets

What’s better for an engagement shoot than to include your animals! Taking photographs with the entire family is an awesome way to have all of your loved ones in a single image. Keep in mind that pets most likely won’t be in every single image taken so make sure you hire a professional (or have someone in charge) of holding and entertaining your pet when they aren’t in photographs.

Avoid The Sun

It is recommended to avoid the sun at least one week prior to your engagement shots. You are spending good money for these images and the last thing you would want seen is a bad sunburn or unwanted tan lines!

Of course, the number one tip is to relax and have fun! You should never feel forced to do anything and if there’s something that you aren’t comfortable with let your photographer know!