The planning process is a delicate balance between sharing expertise and being open to the couple’s vision. For us coordinators, this means that we have to be great listeners while also having the creative capacity to tap into past experience and utilize it to make this new vision work. For brides, this means that you have to trust your coordinator. We know what we are doing and we will not lead you astray!

2) This is a job, not a hobby

If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, “I’ve thought about going into event planning, I would love to do this on the side”, I would be very, very wealthy. Event planning and coordination at this level is not a hobby. We dedicate 60+ hours a week to ensuring that our clients are taken care of and that visions become a reality. While some folks have the organizational skills consistent with event planning backgrounds, not everyone is cut out to be in this business, and we’ve worked very hard to get to where we are today.


3) Your wedding day is indescribably important to us

We do not look at you and see a number, or a date. We look at you and see a beautiful bride with wedding dreams that we will do absolutely anything under the sun to make come true. When you are upset, we are upset. When you are happy, we are happy. We hate saying “no.” We will go above and beyond to ensure that this is the best day of your life. We care about you, immensely.


4) This job is physical…and emotional

We are on our feet for 14+ hours a day. We run, sweat, climb, lift…and this is all before the wedding itself even begins. We deal with drunk guests, rude guests, guests who completely lose sight of the fact that this day is not about them. We skip meals to set up your décor and redo paperwork for the 7th time when you add in another guest, all the while keeping a smile. It is hard on our bodies, and even harder on our minds.

5) We wouldn’t trade it for the world

A lot of people ask me if my job is fun. While there are fun moments, my job is without a doubt the most rewarding aspect of my life. There is nothing better than pulling off a great surprise from a bridesmaid, or getting to know your parents, or seeing you and your new spouse smile together as you take it all in. So why do I do it? Because even after my craziest day, there is still a happy couple that makes it all worth it.

With a new year comes a new wedding season. While a-la-carte venue arrangements often seem like an appealing way to customize your wedding experience, all-inclusive packages can save you time, money and quite a bit of stress. As you’re shopping for your reception venue, be sure to keep the following items in mind so that you can be confident in your final decision!

1) Catering
Does the venue offer on-site catering? If not, this means an additional vendor will need to be booked. Booking a caterer often involves scheduling a tasting and paying additional fees for other necessary items that sneak into the picture, such as china, flatware and chafers.

2) Bar
Similarly, does the venue offer an on-site bar? Catering companies can often provide you with a bartender as well, but this also usually means paying for glassware and additional staffing charges.

3) Staffing
Does the venue have its own in-house wait staff? While many folks tend to overlook the importance of the wait staff, servers play a major role in keeping the wedding running as smoothly as possible. Beyond passing appetizers and serving dinner, wait staff ensures that the venue stays tidy, that guests’ needs are attended to, and that the order of events remains as scheduled on the timeline. If the wait staff is in-house and familiar with the venue, this adds more stability to the event’s success.

Helpful Hint: Don’t be afraid to ask what the server-guest and bartender-guest ratio is. Some venues may include more to increase the speed and quality of service.

4) Linen
Does the venue include a standard/basic linen, or is it an additional cost? Linen is essential to the formality and style of the wedding and can be very costly if rented or purchased through an outside service. Be sure to ask your tour guide what linen options are included in your package and what options would be considered an upcharge.

5) Tables and Chairs
While this may seem like a no-brainer, many rustic or barn-like venues do not offer anything other than the structure itself. This means that tables and chairs would also need to be brought in from an outside source, adding more on to your list of rentals. If you’re interested in a barn wedding, don’t forget to think about components such as heat/AC, lighting and restrooms, as several barn venues do not include these facilities.

6) Coordinator/Planner
Does the venue include a point of contact who will aid you in the planning process? Will this person also be there on the day of the wedding to ensure that every element remains on track? An in-house wedding coordinator will relieve a lot of wedding day stress and can help you to prepare for the big day by answering any logistical questions about the venue and its wedding process in advance.

Helpful Hint: Don’t shy away from asking how hands-on the coordinator will be in your planning process. It is good to know how much outside help will be required and how much is already there for you to utilize.

7) Venue Fee/Site-Rental Fee
Is there a separate charge for the space itself, or is that rental fee included in your price per person? This is a crucial question to ask as it may affect your budgeting plans. A low price per person may sound wonderful, but can be off-set by a high site-rental charge.

8) Apples to Apples
Here are a few other items to consider when comparing venues:

i.  Number of passed hors d’oeuvres included for your cocktail hour
ii. Number of entrees/stations included for your dinner service
iii. Number of hours included for your overall event
iv. Is a wedding cake included?
v. Is there a ceremony fee? If so, how much?
vi. Do they include any sort of centerpieces or décor?
vii. Do they offer an décor rentals (candles, drapery, etc.)?
viii. Are you sharing the space with another wedding, or is the space yours for the entirety of the day (to use as getting ready space, for photos, etc.)?

Shopping for your wedding venue is the first big step in the planning process. With your big day approaching, the last things that you want to be worried about are hidden fees or expenses. Arming yourself with these important questions will help you to make a decision that you can feel comfortable with. 

Congratulations on your engagement—now get to shopping!

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about what a wedding is truly all about. Sure, you have the food, the dancing, the favors, the glitz and glam, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you are getting married in the first place?

At its core, a wedding is supposed to be a celebration of love. It brings together two families, two sets of friends, two different groups of coworkers, who couldn’t wait to rejoice in your honor. But for some reason,  many brides tend to overlook this aspect and focus more on the tiny details—details that no one else in attendance will most likely even notice.

Don’t get me wrong—every bride and groom should have a list of items that is most important to them. Whether it be the linen, the centerpieces, the food or the entertainment, there are usually 1-2 large components that, after evaluating the wedding day, seem to mean the most. However, your wedding planning should not feel like an arduous task.

While in a meeting with one of my brides last week, she began to tell me a little bit about her best friend’s wedding that is coming up shortly. When discussing the bride’s planning experience, she said: “She told me that she just can’t wait for the honeymoon. She just wants the wedding to be over at this point.”

WHAT?! The wedding is supposed to be the height of the experience! If you find yourself lost in a sea of details with only dreams of post-wedding peace pulling you through, there are several items that you need to reevaluate:

1) Are all of the small details that you are incorporating necessary? Are they worth the stress that you are putting on yourself to make them a reality? What items are a must for you and your fiancé? If you can live without the customized mason jars on the bar, nix them. You’ll thank yourself in the end for saving both time and money on something that wasn’t that important to you in the first place.

2) Who is taking care of your day-of setup? If your venue does not come with a coordinator, hire a day-of planner. They are professionals with a heightened sense of task/time management. After a few meetings and phone calls, your day-of setup will be in phenomenal hands, removing more weight off of your shoulders.

3) Are there other obligations currently taking up time that you would otherwise use to plan? A lot of my couples are in the process of buying a house or earning a degree. If other tasks require that sacred free time, hire a wedding planner. Just as you would hire a DJ to handle your music and a florist to handle your centerpieces, a planner will be able to execute your vision to a T. Invitations, favors, escort cards, DIY projects and more can be taken care of by the capable skill-set of a professional planner.

4) Finally, step away from the Pinterest Board. Remember, while a lot of the ideas on Pinterest are gorgeous and entirely doable, there are also a lot of photos that are staged (created for photo shoots). If all of the ideas swirling around you seem overwhelming, take a step back. You may need an uninfluenced moment to think of something more original, achievable, and most of all, worth your time and energy.

So for all of my brides-to-be, please remember what your wedding day is all about and try to have some fun along the way! If you find yourself dreading the process or anxiously awaiting for the wedding to pass you by, your process needs to be tweaked. Here’s to your excitement only growing as the big day gets closer and closer.

XOX

Bouquet/Garter Toss

For couples looking for uninterrupted dancing time, the bouquet/garter toss may be something to forgo. This tradition usually winds up being more of a “we-feel-like-we-should-do-this” formality than something that the bride and groom are actually invested in. If you wouldn’t miss the toss at all, skip it!

Tiered Wedding Cake

No one on this planet loves cake more than I do. But even dessert-junkies like myself can find alternatives that allow you to spice things up a bit. Consider a sweetheart cake for the two of you to cut into and save, accompanied by a dessert of an entirely different nature, such as a sundae bar, venetian table, cookie bar, chocolate fountain, etc. This is where you can really put your personal touch on the menu!
(I’ve also had brides completely skip the cake cutting altogether, but I’m not entirely sure if the wedding world is ready for that elimination yet….)

Even Bridal Parties

Gone are the days when one groomsmen needed to be evenly paired up with one bridesmaid. If your hubby has 10 groomsmen and you have 4 bridesmaids, you can still make it work! Ceremony recessionals and reception introductions can always be customized. While I am undeniably a fan of symmetry at the altar, I encourage you to choose your bridal party members based off of who you really want to be an important part of your big day. Don’t feel the need to cut down or bulk up to match your partner’s number.

Signing Book

While I don’t see this too frequently anymore, the idea of a standard signature guest book still seems to linger. The guest book is another opportunity to get creative and show your guests a good time. Some of my all-time favorites include Polaroid selfies, calendar guest books (where guests sign their name on their birthday), and video messages that can be recorded via photo booths with video capability.

Cocktail Hour Photos

I encourage my brides to enjoy their cocktail hour as much as possible. Sometimes this means coordinating a first look with the photographer and getting as many photos taken ahead of time as possible. Other times it means emphasizing to your photographer and more importantly, your family members, that the photo session at the beginning of cocktail hour needs to be quick. Provide them with a meeting location ahead of time and designate a handful of bridal party members (or your wedding coordinator) to catch any stray uncles that may have headed straight to the open bar.

In the end, it’s your day—make it your own! If eliminating some of these trends will make for a happier Mr. & Mrs., it’s a no brainer. But if any of these traditions are vital to the success of your wedding day in your eyes, you should honor them. Before you begin your planning, take some time to sit down with your fiance and determine what aspects of the big day are the most important to you. This will help you weed out the grueling formalities from the ones that matter the most!

You can catch me rather frequently babbling quietly to myself (I promise, it’s not as peculiar as it sounds). While some of my mumblings have to do with the next item on my to-do list, 90% of the time I am actually rehearsing.

Rehearsing for what, you might ask? For the conversations that will take place within meetings with my clients.

In addition to admittedly holding full-fledged conversations with me, myself and I, I am also a self-proclaimed people-pleaser. This means that I spend quite a bit of time thinking about what I am going to say to my clients, how I am going to say it, and how I can do everything in my power to make their wedding or event exactly how they envision it to be in their minds.

When my wedding and event planning journey first began, I did not dare to ever utter that one word that tightens the brow of many clients—that one word that so many of us have trouble saying with confidence: NO. If a client asked for something, I obliged without a second thought.

“Yes, I’ll hand-make those decorations for you for no additional charge”
“Yes, I can set up the sundae bar in the middle of the ballroom, during the reception”
“Of course you can switch the guests at three of your tables an hour before the wedding. No problem!”

But time and experience has taught me that sometimes, saying “no” is a necessity. A “no” without an explanation may leave a sour taste in a client’s mouth, but a “no” backed up with solid reasoning that can be trusted because you have worked to build a strong relationship with your client will leave all parties involved very thankful that someone was brave, strong, smart etc. enough to put their foot down.

There are two very important sides to this conundrum:

1) The Bride Side: It is important for brides to know that your wedding planner has a very good sense of what will work well and what will not. While you may see something unfolding one way, your planner may tap into past experiences and suggest a better way. For example, you may really love the idea of providing your guests with the ability to “order” food off of a menu during the reception, but a planner will know that this will delay dinner service and potentially lead to a shortage of food, as kitchens often do not prepare enough of each choice for all of the guests. After dinner service, you may want the venue staff to setup your dessert in the middle of the hall where all of your guests can see it, but your planner will know that staff crossing the dance floor with trays, tables, etc. will be an eye-sore for your guests. This does not mean that your planner should not try their absolute hardest to make your wedding dreams a reality. However, after the planner takes all of the factors into account, assesses the situation, and weighs the different options, a “no” might just make your wedding night flow that much smoother.

On the other hand, as a bride it is also crucial to avoid being talked into things by your vendors that you really do not want. The difference here lies in personal taste versus functionality:

Functionality
Bride: “Okay, I see what you mean about the favors working better at each place setting than on their own table. That way, the guests won’t miss them on the way out.”

Personal Taste
Bride: “I know that you highly suggest adding them into our package, but we do not want the strobe lights at our wedding”

2) The Planner/Vendor Side: In early March, I had the amazing opportunity to attend the 2015 CaterSource conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was here that I was able to converse with others in the business, listen to the stories of their successes and learn a great deal from their past hardships. During a session with Delaware-based wedding/event planner and business owner Tiffany Chalk, the repercussions of my complete inability to say “no” really hit me. Because Tiffany’s lessons were so helpful to me, I’ve decided to share them with you:


a. Know your worth. While your client may ask you to work within their tight budget, you still have to know the cost realities of your materials, your labor, and most importantly, your time. If this industry were an easy one, no one would need an event planner/DJ/Photographer, etc. Charge what you are worth!

b. Trust your gut. I know that our dessert stations function best in our greenhouse space, but I still have let clients talk me into setting them up in the ballroom. Why? Because I didn’t want the ever-ominous “no” to tarnish our vendor-client relationship. While they may have been happier with their ability to sway my decision at the time, I, my staff and the guests now have to deal with lugging the materials through our busy ballroom to set the items up. If I had trusted my gut back then, the reveal of the dessert station in the greenhouse would have been a huge hit with the couple and their guests. Thankfully, I have learned this early on and my current brides are now thanking me for the strong suggestion. Trust your gut and know that on the big day, the couple will see why you made the suggestions that you did.

Saying “no” will most likely never come naturally to me. However, first-hand experience and the advice of others has helped me to see that “no” is not always a confrontational word. In fact, one simple “no” can make the difference between a hectic event and one that flows as smooth as silk.

While there are several cons involved (the risk of being cliché, the fear that your guests will have the desire to make other plans, etc.) there are also many pros to consider (the opportunity to be creative with your décor, adding in factors that help all couples in attendance to celebrate their love as well, having an awesome anniversary date, and so on). No matter how you feel about the subject, I’ve created an inspiration board to get your mind geared toward Valentine’s Day, weddings, love, happiness and rosy-cheeked bliss. Enjoy and feel free to leave a comment or two with your thoughts on a Valentine’s Day Wedding!

 

]]> 2015-02-12T18:07:18+00:00 //farmingtongardensct.com.dev.jonster.com/blog/comments/the-great-pressures-and-rewards-of-being-an-event-planner //farmingtongardensct.com.dev.jonster.com/blog/comments/the-great-pressures-and-rewards-of-being-an-event-planner#When:17:38:11Z

For those that have not yet worked with a wedding or event planner, it may seem as though the job is made up solely of glitz and glam—of dreaming up elaborate centerpieces and rocking matching bedazzled headsets and clipboards. While this is not entirely untrue, there are many behind the scenes aspects of this profession that make it one of the most challenging yet most rewarding occupations of them all.

Vendor Relations
Pressure: At first, our fellow vendors may feel like our competitors. We look at their successes and we ask ourselves, “Am I producing results like they are?” “Are my ideas as strong as theirs?” “Is he/she better at this than I am?”
Reward: With time these fears dissipate, and in their place a sense of companionship forms. Our fellow vendors are the best friends that we could possibly have—no one understands the pressures and rewards of the job as well as those who are right there in it, right alongside us. We can learn from one another, confide in one another, and form an idea-sharing network that at the end of the day, betters the wedding industry as a whole. Our fellow vendors are truly something to be treasured. As one of my absolute favorite DJs once told me, “We’re all along for this crazy ride together.”

The Numbers Game
Pressure: How many weddings do you have booked this year? How many available dates on your calendar are still waiting to be filled? How many bridal expos have you attended to promote yourself/your company? How many packages have you e-mailed out to potential clients? How many of those potential clients received a follow up e-mail?
Reward: Surely, you can see how quickly the numbers game can become overwhelming. But in the heart of this pressure lies a phenomenal reward—the ability to recognize and reflect upon our strengths and weaknesses. Realistically no one can do it all, so maybe you’ll dedicate some time this year to reworking your brand, or keeping up with your blog. Instead of focusing on the dates that are not yet filled, we can take a few free moments—as they are few and far in between—to examine how far we have come and determine where we would like to go from here. Because in the end it really isn’t about the numbers at all, but about our dedication to making our current clients’ events a success, and to the unique ways in which we choose to better ourselves and our planning processes for future clients.

The First of Many Firsts
Pressure: The event planning business is a vast and diverse industry. Bar Mitzvahs require an entirely different set of planning tools than weddings, fundraisers, bereavement luncheons or corporate parties do. When we encounter one of these events for the first time and do not know exactly how to tackle it, it may leave us feeling inadequate.
Reward: Every single individual that you know, planner or not, has and will continue to face many firsts throughout their lifetime. It is part of the human experience. Rather than allowing these firsts to scare us, treat them as projects to be conquered. With just one “first” under your belt, you can confidently approach all future events with the necessary know-how. When I planned my first large event, I thought I had everything under control. When I look back now, I can’t believe all of the small missteps that I made, missteps that I can’t imagine making now. Life is one big learning experience, and the event planning business is no exception to that rule.

Sea of Requests
Pressure: With each new client comes a new set of ideas and requests. These lists may seem daunting at first, for you have just come off of a long stretch of relatively demanding events. Can you do it? Can you live up to their expectations? Can you successfully create the wedding of their dreams?
Reward: Yes, you can. Each new client is a new opportunity to prove to yourself that yes, you are more than capable of exceeding their expectations and yes, you really do love what you do. New requests are exciting challenges that allow you to reaffirm your confidence in your abilities as a planner. You chose this job because you are passionate about planning, designing, working with others, and unleashing your innermost creativity, and these new requests allow all of those aspects to come together beautifully. Perhaps trusting ourselves and our capabilities is the true challenge here.

Keeping Up with Wedding Trends
Pressure: Wedding trends fluctuate frequently, and as a planner you are expected to know what they are at all times. If you don’t know what this year’s color palate is, or that Styrofoam cakes are on the rise, “what kind of planner are you?” Wedding coordination is much more than working with décor, but also knowing which décor is the right décor depending on the year, season, couple and trend.
Reward (sort of): I hold a slightly different stance on this topic than many other industry professionals do. While I completely recognize the importance of following wedding trends (every professional should make an effort to understand the trends of their industry if they would like to survive in this ever-changing technological world), I also strive to avoid planning only in-trend. If a bride really wants something that is “so last year”, I encourage her to pursue it. If someone inquires about a trend, I am more than happy to offer answers, samples and suggestions, but I also do not want any trend, no matter how amazing it may be, to interfere with the desires of my brides. There is a fine line here between understanding the business and understanding the needs of your client, and finding a balance between the two is certainly a reward in itself.

A Personal Struggle: My Baby Face
Pressure: Although I am a thriving, young professional, I was unfortunately not-so-blessed with a baby face. During a meeting with a client last month, my semi-recent graduation was thought to be from high school, rather than from college. While the frequency of comments like these has taught me to brush them aside, I’d be lying if I said that they are not a major blow to my confidence. Because I appear to be so young, clients often fail to take me seriously.
Reward: At the core of every client-planner relationship is trust. While some bonds form immediately, others have to be worked toward. I know what I am capable of, but the challenge is convincing those who have not worked with me before. While it may feel like something that has to be forced, it is actually a rather organic and natural process. Do what you love, and do it well—before you know it, your baby face will be smiling at a job well done. What I have found to be true is that the clients that you have to work the hardest for are the ones that cause you to produce the highest quality work. When the stakes are high, the reward is even greater.

These are just a few of pressures and rewards that I currently face in my daily-planning life. Over time these will surely shift, opening the door to new pressures, new rewards, and new obstacles. Thankfully, this business has also instilled in me a sense of resiliency—one that will allow me to see the reward in any new pressure that may arise (and boy, will they arise).

 

]]> 2015-01-29T17:38:11+00:00 //farmingtongardensct.com.dev.jonster.com/blog/comments/start-of-something-new //farmingtongardensct.com.dev.jonster.com/blog/comments/start-of-something-new#When:19:52:03Z

Time is a peculiar thing. On the one hand, it feels as though Farmington Gardens opened its doors to our first brides-to-be just yesterday. On the other, it feels like those first weddings took place ages ago. No matter which hand our nostalgia favors on any given day, one fact remains true: Farmington Gardens hit the ground running in 2011, and we have not stopped since.

Often times, our couples ask me what my favorite aspect of working at The Gardens is. Without hesitation, I am able to tell them that it is our dedication to customization. Everything that we offer here, from our menu, to our linen, to our floor plans and decor, is altered to suit the needs of each individual bride and groom. Each wedding at Farmington Gardens looks completely different, carrying with it its own personality, style, and flare. We love that our couples are able to treat our venue as a blank canvas—an elegant yet versatile space with which they can create their perfect day, the wedding of their dreams (or of their Pinterest boards).

With a jam-packed 2015 calendar, I am looking forward to the excitement that the upcoming year will bring. In the spirit of the New Year, I’d like to treat this blog as an opportunity to chat about all of the unique elements of Farmington Gardens’ weddings and events. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback and commentary as we explore wedding trends, venue updates, and other exciting topics! Here’s to a phenomenal year ahead!

]]> 2015-01-18T19:52:03+00:00 //farmingtongardensct.com.dev.jonster.com/blog/comments/first-blog-post //farmingtongardensct.com.dev.jonster.com/blog/comments/first-blog-post#When:05:01:07Z Just in time for wedding season Farmington Gardens is excited to launch our new website with the help of Jonster.com..  Please pardon any unfinished parts of our site as we are still updating.

Feel free to contact us with comments or feedback!

]]> In The Community, Weddings, 2013-03-06T05:01:07+00:00