Happy Thursday! DS Guest Posting today! I’m filling in for Coco today and covering Wedding and Party planning!

It occurred to me recently that I pop up on the blog to share my favorite cocktail dresses or front door style tips every so often, but I have yet to share one of the best parts of my life, my career as a wedding planner!

When I’m not working with COCOCOZY on brand partnerships or brainstorming blog content, my time is spent helping newly engaged couples plan and design one of the biggest days of their lives. Now I must confess up front that I am not married and the challenge to not get carried away planning my own wedding before there’s a groom has been quite real…I like to think that my experience in wedding planning will only help me whenever I am in that season of life. Similar to COCOCOZY, the event planning company I work with, Couture Events, empowers strong, capable women to own their career and shape the life they envision and I am a firm supporter of that. The success I have experienced in my career and the confidence I have now is a result of the encouragement I have received from both companies and for that I will be forever grateful.

It is such a joy that today I have the opportunity to blend both worlds! So often in wedding planning, our clients look to us for design inspiration, to really tell the story they envision from the biggest of decisions, like their venue, to the somewhat minute, like what color plates mix well with gold flatware and antique glasses. COCO has taught me the value in research, research, research when it comes to design inspiration (remember this amazing outdoor table she designed with a little help from Target’s home section…I think I added almost everything in that post to my wishlist!). Today I’m sharing a few tips of the trade when it comes to planning an event on a large scale, in a nutshell, find the best looks at the best prices and make it picture perfect!

1. Design Your Inspiration Board – before you buy out the home section in any department store, take some time to think about what you want your reception to look like. Think about what you want people to walk away remembering and find images that represent that! Pinterest can be a great resource for this, especially when you’re working with a bride, it offers her an easy way to share her own photos with you and be a part of the process.

2. Let the expert be the expert. Remember when you’re working with planners, whether it be for a Wedding or a 30th Birthday Party, or even a holiday party for work, the greatest asset you can give to your team of vendors is Trust. You hired them to do what they do best, let them do it!

3. It’s all in the details! The details and personal touches of any wedding make the day unique to each couple. This couple wanted each guest’s name hand-carved and placed on their napkin as their place card. They wanted a dessert bar with a gold-flecked cake, meaningful quotes about love written in calligraphy on wood planks and romantic, brass candelabras on their sweetheart table. These were just some of the details important to them and we made sure they happened.

Photos: Teale Gunter Photography

Whatever the occassion, I hope these tips help make the planning process smooth and worry-free!

xo

DS