Bridal BFF

Mikayla talks with Rachel of Screen Door Diaries about where the name came from and what concierge-level planning actually includes. They start with the question almost every couple gets backwards: whether to book the venue or the planner first.

Check your date at The Lumen House: https://thelumenhouseevents.com/inquiry?utm_source=bridal-bff&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=season-1&utm_content=ep06

CHAPTERS

00:00 Where the name Screen Door Diaries came from

02:02 Journaling a couple's story to their wedding day

06:08 The jump scare right after you book

09:54 Venue first or planner first

13:03 "Am I thinking about this correctly?"

17:09 What calling yourself a designer actually means

20:28 Interviewing your planner, and being interviewed back

24:10 How to actually talk to caterers and other vendors

29:01 When the palette shifts in the middle of planning

32:05 What she tells couples not to cut

37:25 The front-loaded ninety day vendor sprint

40:46 Pacing deposits so month one isn't brutal

44:51 Planner ego, and what it costs couples

53:44 What this venue makes possible

56:47 Thinking past the obvious use of a space

Rachel walks through her front-loaded ninety day vendor sprint and how she paces deposits so the first month of planning isn't brutal, which is the part nobody warns you about. They also get into turning a Pinterest board into a design that actually works, planner ego and why it costs couples money, and a live pivot on a wedding day when the staging showed up oversized.

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Bridal BFF comes from The Lumen House, a wedding venue just outside Charlotte. Each week, owner Britt Loukos and some of the top experts in the wedding industry tell you what they'd tell a friend over coffee: how the money works, what to ask before you sign anything, and the parts of planning nobody warns you about.

New episodes every Wednesday.

thelumenhouseevents.com

Instagram: @thelumenhouseevents

#charlottewedding #northcarolinawedding #weddingvenue #weddingplanning #engaged #weddingbudget

Britt talks with Hayley of Hue Events about the road in through retail and venue management, and how the two of them met when this place was still framed studs. They get into why a venue host and a planner are two completely different jobs, why Hayley cut her partial planning package, and what a planner sees on a tour that a couple can't.

Check your date at The Lumen House: https://thelumenhouseevents.com/inquiry?utm_source=bridal-bff&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=season-1&utm_content=ep05

CHAPTERS

00:00 Waking up on your wedding day with nothing to do

03:01 "Do you want to keep helping me?"

07:21 Launching Hue Events

11:26 Pick the vendor you want to talk to for a year

16:53 What a wedding is actually for

19:39 Why a venue host isn't a planner

24:13 What a planner sees on a tour that you don't

28:56 Why she cut the partial planning package

35:22 How much communication is actually included

37:59 Getting ready, and who is doing what

42:31 Turning a Pinterest board into a real design

48:40 The timeline mistake couples make most often

53:07 Family dynamics, and meeting the in-laws

59:13 The three-bin rule for decor

1:03:03 Who actually unloads all of it

1:07:35 The last time she was genuinely moved at a wedding

1:11:35 What this venue makes possible

Every vendor can provide the service, so pick the one you want to talk to for the next year. Ask exactly where a planner's scope ends, because partial means something different everywhere. Don't ask family to work your wedding, or they'll miss it. Know your top three non-negotiables before you tour. And bring less decor, tested at home first. Hue Events is on our preferred planner list, and we'll point you toward the two or three worth a call rather than all sixteen.

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Bridal BFF comes from The Lumen House, a wedding venue just outside Charlotte. Each week, owner Britt Loukos and some of the top experts in the wedding industry tell you what they'd tell a friend over coffee: how the money works, what to ask before you sign anything, and the parts of planning nobody warns you about.

New episodes every Wednesday.

thelumenhouseevents.com

Instagram: @thelumenhouseevents

#charlottewedding #northcarolinawedding #weddingvenue #weddingplanning #engaged #weddingplanner

Mikayla sits down with Alyssa and Jenny from Roots Catering, chef driven, thirteen years old, and one of the first food trucks in Charlotte. They talk about how a family recipe or a whole culture becomes a wedding menu, and what the process actually looks like from discovery call to tasting.

Check your date at The Lumen House: https://thelumenhouseevents.com/inquiry?utm_source=bridal-bff&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=season-1&utm_content=ep04

CHAPTERS

00:00 Meet Alyssa and Jenny of Roots Catering

02:34 What people outside catering don't realize

06:54 The emotional weight of the job

11:49 Discovery call to tasting to wedding day

18:03 Cooking off site, and what that rules out

21:31 Staffing, and what happens on site

26:26 What this venue makes possible for a caterer

You can taste the food before you commit, so use that. Bring real detail on a family recipe, because the more specific you are the closer they get. Ask early about anything fried or finished at the last second, since off-site kitchens have limits. Plan roughly one staff member per twenty guests for stations. And you are not locked in after the first proposal. Roots is on our caterer list, so ask for the full list when you tour and book a tasting before you decide.

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Bridal BFF comes from The Lumen House, a wedding venue just outside Charlotte. Each week, owner Britt Loukos and some of the top experts in the wedding industry tell you what they'd tell a friend over coffee: how the money works, what to ask before you sign anything, and the parts of planning nobody warns you about.

New episodes every Wednesday.

thelumenhouseevents.com

Instagram: @thelumenhouseevents

#charlottewedding #northcarolinawedding #weddingvenue #weddingplanning #engaged #weddingcatering

Mikayla talks with Christian of House of Willingham, ten years into wedding photography and also getting married here. They cover why she rebranded from her own name to a team, how she runs a discovery call without turning it into a pitch, and what separates good coverage from great.

Check your date at The Lumen House: https://thelumenhouseevents.com/inquiry?utm_source=bridal-bff&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=season-1&utm_content=ep03

CHAPTERS

00:00 Meet Christian of House of Willingham

03:22 Rebranding from her own name to a team

07:15 Running a discovery call without pitching yourself

10:08 How to vet a photographer nobody has heard of

13:35 What she notices first walking into a venue

16:44 The hardest parts of the job couples never see

17:12 What a great photographer gives you that a good one doesn't

20:48 Why vendor response time changes everything

23:36 What couples miss until they're standing in the space

Anyone can buy a camera and start a business, so go deep on portfolio and word of mouth before booking on price. Ask whether a second shooter is included, because that is usually where the candids come from. And when you tour, look at the light in the getting-ready room. Photography is one of the few things you take home from the day, so if it's near the top of your list, ask us for an introduction.

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Bridal BFF comes from The Lumen House, a wedding venue just outside Charlotte. Each week, owner Britt Loukos and some of the top experts in the wedding industry tell you what they'd tell a friend over coffee: how the money works, what to ask before you sign anything, and the parts of planning nobody warns you about.

New episodes every Wednesday.

thelumenhouseevents.com

Instagram: @thelumenhouseevents

#charlottewedding #northcarolinawedding #weddingvenue #weddingplanning #engaged #weddingphotographer

Britt sits down with Jake and Josh from Bartender's Plus, the in-house bar team here, fifteen years into the Charlotte market. They get into why cocktail hour is the hardest hour of the whole day, what is actually inside a bar package, and what happens in the months between booking and your wedding.

Check your date at The Lumen House: https://thelumenhouseevents.com/inquiry?utm_source=bridal-bff&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=season-1&utm_content=ep02

CHAPTERS

00:00 Meet Jake and Josh of Bartender's Plus

00:25 The problem they started the company to solve

02:58 One of the first weddings they did here

06:14 What separates them from a mobile bartender

10:17 Why a professional bar service matters

14:37 Why getting the bar right matters to them personally

21:56 What the bar tasting is actually like

26:17 What couples wish they'd told them sooner

31:23 What the bar looks like running on a wedding day

35:55 The mocktail program

39:28 Setting the scene, not just pouring drinks

43:18 What couples don't appreciate until they're in the space

Also covered: staffing ratios, signature cocktails and why pre-batching speeds up service, champagne toasts and second bars, and the martini and bourbon bars. Bar service at The Lumen House is in house through Bartender's Plus, so ask about the tasting and the mocktail menu when you tour.

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Bridal BFF comes from The Lumen House, a wedding venue just outside Charlotte. Each week, owner Britt Loukos and some of the top experts in the wedding industry tell you what they'd tell a friend over coffee: how the money works, what to ask before you sign anything, and the parts of planning nobody warns you about.

New episodes every Wednesday.

thelumenhouseevents.com

Instagram: @thelumenhouseevents

#charlottewedding #northcarolinawedding #weddingvenue #weddingplanning #engaged #weddingbar

Britt tells the story of The Lumen House in long form for the first time: how a career selling new construction homes, then developer finance, then boutique hotels and spas, turned into a wedding venue outside Charlotte with a greenhouse at the center of it.

Check your date at The Lumen House: https://thelumenhouseevents.com/inquiry?utm_source=bridal-bff&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=season-1&utm_content=ep01

CHAPTERS

00:00 Why couples always ask "why did you build this?"

01:47 Selling new construction homes out of college

04:06 Pivoting into boutique hotels and spas

06:16 Designing so a five hour reception isn't one room

07:09 Her first house, and Charlotte's third Airbnb

09:08 A hammock, a skydiving field, and the greenhouse idea

10:43 Meeting Jonathan and deciding it was now or never

11:59 Two years hunting for land with no power lines

13:05 Why banks decide what buildings look like

14:54 The greenhouse never appraised

15:36 "Oh, like a barn?"

19:22 Building a business with your husband

21:41 The arches everyone told her not to do

23:10 What still scares her

25:05 Why the drive is the point

27:34 How to choose when you're touring five venues

30:03 The moment in a wedding day that gets her every time

31:56 If you're on the fence

She and venue manager Mikayla Tate get into meeting Jonathan, the two years they spent hunting for land with no power lines running through it, and the fight to keep the greenhouse and the arches when everyone kept asking whether she was building a barn.

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Bridal BFF comes from The Lumen House, a wedding venue just outside Charlotte. Each week, owner Britt Loukos and some of the top experts in the wedding industry tell you what they'd tell a friend over coffee: how the money works, what to ask before you sign anything, and the parts of planning nobody warns you about.

New episodes every Wednesday.

thelumenhouseevents.com

Instagram: @thelumenhouseevents

#charlottewedding #northcarolinawedding #weddingvenue #weddingplanning #engaged