Wedding planning is no easy task, but learn from my experience and see how beautiful the process can be.
What This Accomplished
I love working in the world of weddings; in my most recent wedding planning process, I wanted to stretch myself to become a wedding planner that a client could trust whole-heartedly. Working out of state with new vendors, clients, and locations made me more excited than ever to dive right into it, but it definitely had its challenges as well. Through this new experience I have pushed myself in every category to understand how I can use online tools to my advantage and maintain professional and consistent contact with vendors that are not so close.
Blog Posts & Wedding Updates
Table Settings
Ceremony Decorations
Paper/Logo Details
Blog Post Snapshots
To find more of my blog posts you can visit my website and look under the “wedding planning” tab.
Challenges Faced
What’s a wedding without challenges? During this wedding planning process, I faced many new challenges that I have yet to come across for various reasons. Working with an out-of-state wedding in the winter season was something new for me. Some difficulties I had right off the bat were not seeing the venue in-person, not knowing what the weather would be like mid-December, and working with vendors that I had to solely rely on through the phone.
I first set out to set up as many Facetime calls as possible. If I had the choice between text, voice call, or Facetime I would always choose Facetime. This allowed me to meet the vendors “face-to-face” and get a feel for their personalities. It also allowed me to tour the venue, organize decorations, and visualize the wedding day all from a long distance.
Secondly, I made a plan A and a plan B for the ceremony. The reception would be held inside regardless of the weather so there was no need to worry about that, but the ceremony would be based on the weather forecast. Plan A was to have the ceremony outside in the venue’s gorgeous gazebo with bistro lights and snow falling from the sky. Knowing that this was a small chance I made plan B a whole lot safer. Plan B, was located inside the venue. This layout would guide the bride down from the staircase to the aisle that led to a beautiful indoor forest created by “Wild Clover,” the chosen rental wedding decoration company. After showcasing these two plans to the bride, plan B was chosen without a second thought to missing out on plan A.
What was the Process?
Throughout the process of wedding planning, I have found a few apps and websites that I have fallen in love with to make all of the wedding planning just a little bit easier. Some of my favorite tools I have used on this wedding are:
- Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Photos, etc.)
- WordPress
All of these tools kept me on task and organized in their own unique way. Google Workspace, kept me up-to-date with contacting vendors and budgeting. It also allowed me to back up and store all of my inspiration photos I screenshot for the wedding.
Pinterest was used similarly to Google Photos, however, it wasn’t my own photos. With Pinterest, you can browse ideas from others all around the world and curate your perfect vision. I did this to build inspiration guides for the photographer, venue, and wedding decoration rental company.
WordPress was used for blogging. I wanted to create something for the people who don’t readily have the money to spend on a wedding planner. I created posts of little tips and tricks I have used throughout my very own wedding planning process. It is a fantastic way to showcase my knowledge on the subject and to build trust with my current and future clients.
An Insightful Journey into Wedding Planning
Through the many twists and turns that happened during this wedding, I would say that it was overall a delightful experience. We started from the very basics with colors, centerpieces, venue layout, and even florals! But built our way up to create something special for the couple to remember for all their years.
I learned that it really does take a village to plan the perfect wedding and it can’t be done single-handedly. It takes clear communication, honesty, trial and error, thinking outside the box, and dedication. If it weren’t for dedication almost nothing would get done and the magic of wedding planning wouldn’t exist. This is an industry meant for people who love working with people. I had a chance to learn that for myself when I decided to take on the long-distance wedding project.
My Thoughts on the Planning Process
In planning an out-of-state winter wedding, I learned that the importance of collaboration, clear communication, and dedication is what makes a wedding successful. This wedding experience has emphasized that the process of wedding planning is a collaborative and human-centered endeavor, requiring passion and creative problem-solving. Because without it, the industry would crumble. I met the most passionate wedding vendors that truly love what they do and have pushed me to continue on in my wedding planning journey. All-in-all wedding planning is both challenging and delightful, but it reinforces the magic of bringing love stories to life.