FROM MOOD BOARD TO REALITY

Some of our clients come to us with a very specific vision for their wedding. Some have absolutely no idea what they want in terms of design, and some have wayyy too many ideas (thanks to Pinterest) that are all over the place. If you fall into any of these categories, that's okay! Know that most couples are likely in the same boat as you are, and part of the process in the beginning of the wedding planning is to filter and curate through all the different ideas to hone in on a design direction that truly speaks to you! 

When we kick start the wedding planning process with our clients, we always start off with an extensive Design Questionnaire. It's a series of questions that encourages you to think through some of the bigger wedding questions. It's also a way for our team to get to know you and your relationship on a deeper level. Some of these questions could be:

What are you known for as a couple?
What are your favorite brands and what do you like about them?
Where do you dream of traveling to and why?
How would you describe the mood of your dream wedding?

....and so on. After reviewing all of your answers, and taking the time to go through every pin on your Pinterest boards, we would present a Design Summary with a mood board that portrays that look and feel of your wedding. Below, you'll see one that we did for a wedding at the Bently Reserve in San Francisco, where we described the wedding style as clean, modern, sleek, streamlined, structural, refined and polished. We went for a color palette of black, pearl white, champagne and blush, with accents of metallic gold.

We love dreaming up great ideas and beautiful details with our clients, but what we also happen to thrive on is the work that is required to bring all of those ideas to reality! This includes finding vendors that are the best fit to produce the results that we want, working out the logistics on the backend to ensure the ideas can truly execute well, and a lot of other "behind the scenes" production work that is absolutely critical. Although such detail-oriented work may not feel fun to most people, our team truly finds it as one of the most rewarding parts of what we do! 

Here's a collage to show how we brought the above mood board to life at the Bently Reserve! 

Photos by Milou and Olin Photography

Cheers,

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR WEDDING VENDORS

After you've set a date and secured a venue, the next big task on the wedding planning to-do list would be to pull together the best possible team of vendors.

As a side note, I usually don't like to use the term "vendor" because it misrepresents the amazing artists and talented professionals that these people are. Vendors make it sound like they are commodities and they truly are anything but. The event professionals that we recommend and work with are passionate and creative artists that are devoted to producing the best possible work for their clients. There is heart behind their work, whether it's creating a bridal bouquet, designing menu cards, or photographing an engagement session.  They care about your wedding and feel honored to be a part of it.

That said, there are certainly some black sheep that have caused a bad rep for everyone. We've all heard the horror stories of photographers closing shop before albums were produced, of Officiants who pronounced the couple with wrong names at the ceremony, or cakes that didn't hold up in perfectly fine temperature. The truth is, as with any industry, there are unethical, unreliable, and untrustworthy people in the wedding world as well. What I'm hoping to do in this blog post, is to provide you some tips to avoid hiring such vendors as part of your wedding team.

If you have a Wedding Planner, you should most definitely trust him/her to recommend the right event professionals for you. They would know the ones to be the best fit for your budget, your personalities, and the overall context of your wedding. If you are not working with a Wedding Planner, here are our top tips for you to vet your own event professionals:

1. When asking them to provide references, do not ask for the names/contacts of former clients. It goes without saying that businesses will only provide names of highly satisfied, happy clients who will give raving reviews of their work. Instead, ask for a list of venues they work at most often, and then reach out to the events department at those venues to ask about their experiences with these event professionals. 

2. When reading online reviews, pay close attention to any negative ones. You can often tell if the reviewer is a high maintenance, overly demanding client or if the event professional truly failed in certain areas. If possible, see how the issues raised were resolved. Did the event professional respond to the review in a defensive manner? Or did he/she show sincere regrets and tried to make things right for the client? The truth is, we all make mistakes no matter how great we are at our jobs. The important thing to note is how we handle mistakes that come up, which can be telling of our integrity and business/personal values.

3. What kind of processes do they have in place when working with clients? Those who have been in the business long enough knows the importance of having some kind of process. There are so many details in a wedding, and by having a good process in place, you can rest assure that the event professional will be organized and on top of the details for all of their events.

4. Attitude matters. How excited are they about your wedding? Does it sound like your event is just one of many events for them? Hiring people that are passionate about what they do makes a big difference on the quality of work they produce. We all know that if we love what we do, it never feels like a "job" and we would put in our best efforts at all times.

5. What other event professionals are they associated with? For example, if the company you are vetting claims to do "high end weddings" and prices their services that way, check out their past work to see what venues, event planners, and other event professionals they have worked with. Are those all high end professionals as well? 

6. Be wary of prices that are too good to be true or that are not in line with the quality of event you're looking to host. Event professionals who are serious about their jobs know that they need to charge fairly for their time and expertise. Those that are quick to give discounts may either be weekend warriors (they have another full time job during the week) trying to gain more experience, or they have to make up for the loss somewhere else (such as cutting the time they have to spend preparing for your event, or taking on more volume even though they are not equipped to handle it). 


In this age of social media, it is often hard to tell if a company's online persona is truly reflective of their real personality and business values. Therefore, we encourage you to chat with them over the phone, Skype, or to meet in person. Getting to chat with them live will allow you to see if you can establish a good rapport with them. At the end of the day, you want to hire people you genuinely like and trust, because you will not have the capacity to micromanage them on your wedding day.

Lastly, I want to mention that the team dynamics on a wedding day can really impact how well the event is executed, so it would be to your benefit to hire a team that is already familiar with one another. Just like in an office setting, working amongst team members that you know and genuinely like can make a project so much more fun and productive. Everyone pitches in to help one another and works harder. It's the same for wedding professionals! Once you've hired a photographer, ask them who they enjoy working with for makeup/hair, cinematography, flowers, etc. Chances are, those references would be a great starting point for you to go off of!















Happy planning!

Cheers,

HOW TO SEND A PROPER WEDDING INQUIRY

We get many inquiries a week from prospective clients whom are interested in obtaining more information about our services. Believe it or not, this initial contact that we have with them can already be telling to us if we would be a good fit.

I chat about this a lot with my vendor friends in the industry, and decided to do a blog post so that I can offer some tips on how to property craft an email inquiry. Remember, weddings are highly personal events and the "interview" goes both ways. I understand that this process is new to most couples, and hopefully, this post will educate them in making a great first impression with wedding professionals! 

Tips for sending a proper wedding inquiry:

1. Do not, I repeat, do not send an email with your first (or only sentence) being "How much do you charge?"

Wedding professionals should not be seen as a commodity. Finding the right vendors to fit your budget is important, but if your concern is solely about the costs, then you are viewing every vendor as being exactly the same. It is assumed that you are inquiring with them because you found yourself admiring their portfolio online, or that you obtained their name from a trusted referral. Take the time to find out more about their product/service, their personality and their approach to events before you get into pricing. The pricing only makes sense once you have a context to put it in.

2. Introduce yourself, and offer some information about your wedding.

Most people prefer using email as an initial point of contact. That's great and efficient, but can also feel a bit impersonal. When you are inquiring for an event as personal as a wedding, I suggest offering a little more information besides your wedding date. It would be nice to include both you and your fiance(e)'s names, and to convey some preliminary thoughts you may have for your wedding, such as guest count, potential venues or geographical locations, and any other initial vision you may have. It would also be much appreciated by vendors if you can tell them where you found their website, and what it was that drew you to reach out to them.

3. If possible, include a phone number to reach you.

Wedding vendors get a lot of spam mail, which includes "fake inquiries" in an attempt to scandal money. Your email is always a lot more trustworthy when you include an actual phone number to reach you. 

4. Request a phone consultation prior to an in-person meeting. 

Time is a scarce resource these days. If we met with every inquiring clients, we'd never have time to actually work on our events! I'm sure it's the same for our couples, who are incredibly busy with their work and social lives. Therefore, by requesting a phone consultation prior to an in-person meeting, you are respecting everyone's time. Ofcourse, if all goes well with the phone consultation, it would be an excellent idea to proceed with an in-person meeting (assuming you are located in close proximity to each other). 

We all want to work with people that we enjoy being around, so as you interview your wedding vendors, please look beyond the pricing and try to understand and appreciate what they truly have to offer. The result will be very rewarding to all parties.

One of my favorite parts of the job--being the first to greet my couples right after they are pronounced husband and wife! 

Cheers,

THE COST OF A WEDDING IN SAN FRANCISCO

When I am contacted by newly engaged couples, one of the first questions I get asked most often is:

How much is my wedding going to cost?

To be honest, that's like asking how much a house will cost in the United States. There is such a huge range in pricing! I get it though, because if I'm not a professional Wedding Planner and I am newly engaged, I would likely ask that very same question as well. 

The truth is, there are so many variables to a wedding that I can't even provide a range without gathering a lot more information. We've planned weddings for 120 guests for $100K, and we've planned weddings for 120 guests for $1.5 million dollars. That's a pretty wide spectrum, so you see, without spending more time getting to know your vision, your priorities, and your style, the number I throw out at you will not be a useful reference point.

When we start the planning process with our clients, one of the first things we do is to put together a realistic budget. Budgets are important, because almost everyone has some number in mind in terms of how much they'd like to spend on their wedding. Even a million dollar is a million dollar budget, and clients always want to know where and how their money is spent. Prior to creating the budget, we ask our clients an abundance of questions to get to know their vision on a macro and micro level. Gathering such information will help us to assess the type of venue that's suitable for them, the quality of vendors, and the amount of decor there will be.

Within each vendor category for a San Francisco wedding, there is a really big range in pricing. A full-time, experienced and professional photographer can cost between $5000-$20K. Venue rentals can range from $2500-$30K. A solo guitarist for your ceremony can cost $600 whereas a string quartet can be between $1000-$1800. For non-design vendors, the variation in pricing could have to do with the vendor's level of experience. A photographer that's relatively new and trying to build a good portfolio would likely charge less than a photographer who has hundreds of weddings under their belt and is well sought after. It may also have to do with the different ways the vendors structure their businesses. A volume-based company who has the manpower and capacity to take on several weddings a weekend would likely charge less than a boutique company that takes on a limited number of weddings.

Design vendors create proposals based on the products they are providing and the staffing required to execute each design idea. There are huge variables here too.

A more simple escort card display like the picture below can cost around $500 for the table and linen rentals, and the silver trays.

Photo by Jennifer Skog

A more elaborate escort card display like the picture below can cost around $3500 for the tree rental, installation, break down, and the labor to hang each card.

Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

An event with 100 chiavari chairs can cost $1000 to rent, deliver, and pick up.

An event with 100 ghost chairs is double that, costing $2000 to rent, deliver, and pick up.

Photo by Augie Chang Photography

Even the exact same design concept can be more costly to install at some venues versus others, depending on the timing and logistics. For example, at a venue like the Bently Reserve in San Francisco, we have the luxury of an all day set up. Vendors can arrive early in the morning for their installation, and have plenty of time to do what they need to do while working around other vendors. At a venue like the De Young museum, we can only access the event spaces after closing hours, giving vendors a much tighter window of time to load in and set up, equating to more labor involved.

If you don't have a Wedding Planner to help you establish a realistic budget, I would suggest the following steps to do it on your own:

1. Discuss your vision and priorities. Do you envision your ceremony being outdoors? View or no view? What type of venue would you want your wedding to be held? A hotel? Museum? Winery? Think about the experience as a whole that you want to create for your guests. What would you want your guests to say or feel when they leave your wedding?

2. Do your homework. Research on the rental rates of the type of venues you like. Go through vendors' online portfolio to hone in on the quality of work that appeals to you, and then find out the price ranges of those vendors.

3. Do a low and a high column for your budget. You'll likely come in somewhere in between. When creating your budget, account for the following categories:

Venue rentals
Officiant fees
Ceremony musicians
Catering
DJ or Live Musicians/Band
Photographer
Cinematographer
Floral Designer
Lighting Tech
Stationer
Cake Designer
Transportation
Hotel Room Blocks
Furniture and/or specialty rentals
Makeup/Hair Artist
Attire and Accessories

4. Always add a contingency amount of at least 15-20% of the entire budget. Things come up that you did not account for, which could increase costs for you as you get closer to the wedding. For example, when you finalize your timeline, you may realize your need your photographer and videographer for 2 extra hours for a more complete coverage.

Remember that a budget is dynamic. Having one in place helps you to understand costs in the beginning of the planning, but numbers will shift around as you progress. If you come across a photographer that you absolutely love and want to hire, you may decide to splurge on his/her fees by going over budget in that category. This may entail reducing the budget for another category, or an increase to the overall budget. The important thing is to know what you feel comfortable with, and to be realistic. You can't ask for ghost chairs if you absolutely do not want to spend more than $10 on a chair.

Lastly, my advice is to always respect vendors' pricing. Sure, it's okay to ask if they can work with your budget, but ask nicely. Don't demand or threaten them to lower their prices for you. Many wedding vendors are small business owners, and are talented artists who try to make a living by doing what they are passionate about. This means they need to make money too! Respecting each vendor's pricing and talents will only make them want to go above and beyond for you on your wedding day.

As always, feel free to ask us questions in the comment section or the inquiry form on the right column of this blog!



Cheers,

Creating Your Wedding Website

If you're wondering whether or not you should create a personalized website just for your wedding, our recommendation for you is YES! 

In this digital day and age, most of your friends and family probably obtain the majority of their information via their mobile phones. It's a part of their lifestyle and comfort zone, and they'll likely expect to do the same when it comes to your wedding. 

This is not to say that you should replace printed stationery when it comes to your wedding Save the Dates and wedding invitations. As high-tech as I am, I still feel strongly about the formality of mailed announcement and invitation the old fashion way--stuffed inside lined envelopes, hand-addressed, and with a pretty stamp. A wedding website, however, serves as an extended invite, allowing you to add and update wedding related details long after your invitations have been mailed. Once guests know of your wedding website url from your invitations, they can conveniently access all your up-to-date wedding details through their phones and not have to worry about forgetting the venue address, maps/directions, etc. on the wedding day. The goal is to make it easy for your guests, which goes back to planning a great experience for them from beginning to end! 

No sweat if you have no idea how to build a website. There are lots of companies out there who makes it easy on you to create a beautiful, custom site. To make it even better, many of them are free! 

Here are a list of our favorites to recommend for our clients:

1. Square Space

2. Project Wedding

3. Wedding Wire

4. Wedding Window

A few tips from us as you create your wedding website:

--When choosing your "website term", your end date should be at least 2 days after your wedding. Most guests will jump online to check out your site when they first get the link, but you actually get the most traffic during the week leading up to the wedding, as that is when your guests really wrap their heads around the 411s and will refer to your site for the info. If you plan to share photos on the site following the wedding, then your end date should be extended even longer then, depending on when your photographer can have the images ready for viewing. 

--Include a personal story about the two of you, and snippets about the proposal if you're comfortable sharing. Many of your guests may only know one of you, so it's nice to provide photos and stories of how the two of you met and how the relationship evolved. This helps to introduce your guests to the other partner prior to the wedding! 

--Some couples use their wedding website to collect information such as RSVPs, music preferences, etc... which can all be quite helpful for the planning process! 

--If you have guests traveling from out of town, it would be helpful to them to include a page of travel tips. This often includes airport codes, weather forecasts, transportation info, hotel room block details, and a list of recommended activities and restaurants.

--Include a day-of contact number, and that is often someone from our team if we're involved with the wedding. When guests are in a pinch on the wedding day, they need to know whom they can call besides you! 

--Your wedding website will be a work in progress, so be sure to update it as you make decisions along the way. 2 weeks before the wedding, you should take one final look to be sure the site has all the up to date information.