Let’s be honest, we’d love to make our wedding day a spectacularly lavish affair. We dream of breathtaking styling and luxurious details, but that fantasy can be a little overwhelming if you don’t know what you’re doing. Trends are always changing, so even with advice from friends who have recently gotten hitched, you need a little help from someone who is up to date and in the know. The best person to turn to is a professional luxury wedding planner. Working with a wide range of tastes and visions, catering to each bride’s individual desires perfectly.
A Luxury Wedding couple is a couple who would like to plan an elegant and personalized wedding for them and their guests to enjoy. Having years of experience and the foresight to help you avoid forgetting anything important or skipping a part of the process which you may regret. Basically, my advice is worth more than gold in wedding land! So if you’re dreaming of a luxury wedding, here are some absolute “must-do.
Start a Pinterest board This is a great place to start, as you can quickly and easily get a good idea of what you do and don’t like. Having a Pinterest board dedicated to your wedding will help you to naturally solidify what style of wedding you’re after. “You will find that you will most likely pin the same things or images that have the same feeling and this may evolve into your wedding’s style and theme.” Follow your heart, not the trends While there are a whole lot of stunning wedding ideas online, make sure you remember your own individual style. “It is very easy to get swept up in the wonderful world of wedding styling once you start, but stay true to yourself and go with something that resonates with you and not necessary on trend as after all, this is your wedding (not the person that you found on Instagram) and your wedding should reflect you as a couple and as individuals,” Make a wish list and prioritize it This is where you turn the Pinterest board into a reality. Start with your wish list of items, then get a quotes and start to prioritize items and remove things that are less important to you.
Create a color scheme Consistency in color and tone adds an elegant and expensive air to any wedding. This is a common suggestion, but only a professional luxury wedding planner knows how to take it to the next level. “contrasting size and texture are a wonderful way to add visual appeal. Take your color cues from the wedding gown and bouquet and then feed them through the entire wedding palette to ensure it matches up”. An easy way to do this is to bring a swatch of your bridesmaids dress and your gown if possible to your meeting with your florist and stylist.
Don’t forget the ceremony Fiona believes that the ceremony is actually the most important part of any wedding. “As much as the reception is a wonderful party and a fantastic celebration for the couple and their family and friends, I feel the ceremony where the couple declare their love to each other in front of all the closest family and friends creates the most impact and the things that people will remember the most". So make sure you pay attention to the aesthetic of the more formal part of the day!
First impressions count Think about how you can wow your guests from the moment they lay eyes on your wedding. For me, seeing this reflected in the couple is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. “I absolutely love when the couple see each other for the first time at the ceremony and then they declare their love for each other!!” “I also love when the couples get to see the reception set up for the first time - I try to organize for all my couples to see the reception room before their guests walk in so they can see their complete vision come to life.”
Spreadsheets As a professional wedding planner, I love a good spread sheet! We prepares a
comprehensive timeline for each couple. They also create budget spreadsheets, venue and photography comparison spreadsheets and a RSVP spreadsheet where they collect all the guests’ RSVP's for the couple. This takes the guesswork out of the planning process.
Ask for help Couples are so busy in the lead up to their wedding that often they don’t get a chance to enjoy their engagement. Hiring a professional who can guide you and share the load is such a valuable investment. We offers a very boutique and personalized service. “We only offer our VIP Luxury Wedding Planning package to 6 couples a year so we can provide them with an extremely detailed and personalized service. “Another lovely feature is we offer our VIP Luxury Couples also recieve a iPad Mini personalized with their names and wedding date as part of this VIP package,”
Work closely with your wedding planner While it depends on the couple and their relationship dynamics, I encourages couples to be involved in the planning process. “Having the couple attend all the meetings with us, allows them to put their own personal stamp on their wedding and interact with the suppliers to create something unique.
Understand the process We start by meeting with a couple in a complementary initial consultation Be prepared to discuss every element of the wedding from what styling you like, colorr scheme, flowers, decorative elements you’d like to hire as well as the feel and mood you want to create. The next step is to create a mood board of ideas that work with the feel and colour scheme. This is where your Pinterest board and magazine clippings come into play. After this, the wedding planner meets with two or three florists to see what they can offer. “it is extremely important to find florist that match the client’s look and feel they would like to create. For example if the couple are after beautiful Rose floral balls then is best to find a florist who is particularly skilled at this and maybe to avoid the rustic/hipster florist for that couple.” Once the florist is locked in, I will speak with various décor hire companies and get quotes for the remaining items the couples are after such as chandelier, candelabras, white dance floors, custom bridal table, ceremony arbors etc.
Create an individual motif for styling A styling motif allows you to create a personal and unique wedding perfect for you. We love to create a personalized motif for each couple during the invitation stage of the wedding planning and then have this featured through out the wedding such on their ceremony aisle runner, menus, cake table and dance floor.
Match the cake to your décor The final piece of the styling puzzle is the wedding cake, you want it to suit the rest of your styling: “I like to take each couple to see two or three cake makers, so they can create a custom sketch of a cake unique to the couple and see what ideas they can bring to the table. It is also important to have the couple do a cake tasting, as the cake has to taste as good as it looks”.
Pay attention to detail Here are some key guidelines to make sure suppliers don’t catch you out:
Read all the contracts before signing especially paying attention to your venue contract.
Also ask your photographer how much extra sides cost in your album as this can be a huge cost that a lot of couples don't factor into their budget.
Always do a final meeting with your key suppliers especially your wedding venue, photographer and florist.
Always do a floral mock of your guest table centrepiece with your florist. This can often be an additional cost but it is worth its weight in gold.
Always ask the store you are getting your dress from if the alterations are included or excluded.
Make an emergency kit
Thinking of everything, if you put together an emergency kit for the wedding day. In it you should find Clear nail polish, dry shampoo, needle and thread, deodorant, breath mints etc.
The little touches make all the difference Little touches can add something special to your day. I suggests adding some lace from your wedding dress to personalize your bouquet. She also encourages you make a hashtag for your wedding so everyone can see all the photos taken on the day. "To all the brides out there, good luck with planning your wedding and drop us a line if we can help in any way make your wedding process a stress free process for you." Anyone who mentions this blog will get $500 off the Couture Wedding Day Coordination package worth $2,500 and includes three face to face meetings and eight hours of coordination on the wedding day.