The Wedding Session

Don't be a grumpy bear on your wedding day! We give you the tools you need to as feel happy as a clam!

You can't photo shop a smile! 

Some days we come across our couples and see they are in a fowl mood. Cold, hungry, tired, stress, we get it. All these things can happen on your wedding day! 

We give you sound advice on how to prevent this from happening. During the planning process and on the day itself. 

Our main item, get some comfy shoes and just accept a waterproof parka jacket, or I like to call it, a sleeping bag with arms. And for the love of God, bring some SNACKS!

SO MANY THINGS have changed since we've last graced the air with our internal thoughts and advice 

Mainly, we have added a new member, Monsieur Maxime! Kelly welcomed her son and she talks about how being a wedding planner and tackling motherhood. We also bring our team member Shannon, Kellys sister and now Auntie to Mighty Max, on how she had to take on more responsibilities this year and has become a permanent member of the Say planning, decor and admin team. 

We go on and share some stories and insight from 2022, but we are here to prepare you for 2023.

PLANNING YOUR 2023 TIPS 

• Your vendors are booking up incredibly fast.
• Your vendors are really tired, so it’s taking longer to get back to you
• The pressure with families is higher then ever to impress all guests at the wedding.
• You’re guest count will not drop, do not assume there will be a 10% drop, everyone wants to get out and party 
• People have forgotten how to behave in public. 
• You staff costs are going up without a doubt.

TRENDS FOR 2023

• Cocktail style wedding and why you need to assign seating even if it's casual.
• Wedding colours are a mix of 5-8 and not just two or 3. 
• Small to having no wedding party is becoming more popular.

HOW PLANNING CAN BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR YOU

• Hire a wedding planner, duh! 
• Expect you won’t get your first round of picks, have 2-3 you like. 
• Book quickly if you are truly set on a venue or vendor
• Select and secure your venue first before selecting other vendors
• Look for the vendor relationships and take their suggestions

WE LOVE YOU! We anticipate more podcasts coming your way for the 2023 season! 

How to plan for your wedding based on your favourite theme?! We're here to help, as we begin another series where we discuss different wedding themes and how to design your wedding around them. 

This week, we talk about a super popular wedding theme: The Boho wedding!! The theme is supposed to be to feel effortless, eclectic and thrown together.

Consider some of these tips:

• What you want the overall guest experience to feel like - informal, fun, 70s vibe and flowy
• Some of our suggestions on wedding venues here in Vancouver include: The UBC Botanical Gardens, Sunwolf, Spirit Ridge Resort, and Bodega Ridge
• Food + Drinks: Food trucks! *but please make sure you have enough food for everyone!!!, and Champagne Trailer 
• Dress style - fitted but comfy, and macrame and lace for dayzzzzz, also...hats. So many hats.
• Decor - geo shapes, eclectic pieces and textures, Lace/Macrame/Wicker/Rattan, Earth tones/taupes/neutral colours/dark reds and burnt orange, Low lounge with comfy poufs
• Stationary - earth tones, geo shapes
• The Wild card ;)

Notes:
Kiana & Garrett

It's the morning of the BIG DAY!!!! When all the fun begins, but this is probably THE MOST important part of the day. In this case, we're talking about the getting ready part and how this can impact the rest of the day. 

Here are some things to remember!

• Don’t stress over the small details of your wedding.
• Be present in the moment with loved ones
• Don’t concern yourself thinking your wedding party might feel bored or tired. 
• Anticipate your space will feel chaotic, so prepare however you need to 

We'll offer you tips for the ladies and the gents on what they can do to make the morning the best start of the day - which of course, will circle back to food! But hey, you're not you when you're hungry. But at the end of the day, we highly suggest to give yourself buffers in your timing to ensure if you go off the rails, that you come back and stay on time for your ceremony!

Ok. You’re getting married, you’ve done the research and found your vendors. We’re approaching game day. What do you do…..Well, for starters, leave it us and trust the professionals!! You’ve hired a kick ass team of pros to help you have the wedding of your dreams. We’re all here to make that happen. 

Why would you hire a professional:

• You don’t have the skill set 
• You don’t have the time or the bandwidth
• You like their overall style, vibe and service
• It’s a special occasion!!

Why is it important to trust the folks helping you on your day?

• They do this for a living, and on a weekly basis!
• They have years of experience and can navigate if anything goes wrong
• They will likely have worked with some of your other vendors, which means they can work together in any situation
• They can address almost any situation as it comes

What can happen if you don’t trust the Pros

• Stress + Disappointment
• To  many helpers is like watching toddlers play soccer 
• Delays because of micromanaging 

Let the professionals take care of you! 

You're engaged! And the you're families are both over the moon excited for you both. To the point that they're 'volun-telling' you advice or throwing out traditional 'expectations' at you that makes you go *record scratch*...not for us!! 

Remember, a wedding is just about the family as it is about the couple. And the best way to honour them is include them, but it might be on your own terms. Listen in as we breakdown some ways you can elegantly incorporate your family in the planning process.

Things to think about:

• Having quiet time with them in the morning
• Walking down the aisle with both Parent/Guardians/People who hold a special place in your heart
• Get someone to manage snacks on the day!!
• Give them a task - personal delivers, etc.
• and more....

Sustainable weddings. It's something many of our clients ask for, and strive to incorporate in their special day! In an unofficial PART II from our Sustainable Wedding Episode, we go a bit deeper into sustainable weddings and ideas for your wedding.

Sarah began the Wildlife-friendly Wedding Guide, while she was planning her own wedding, and she breaks down different things she considered while in the overall planning process.

NOTES:
Edible Cutlery
So Kind Registries
Footprint Calculator
Check out MJM Weddings for local Vancouver Consignment

It's an instagrammers dream - an tented wedding! We love outdoor weddings, and boy, have we be doing a heck of a lot of them lately! So it made sense to break down some things to think about when planning your outdoor wedding. 

First off! Why do you think it's an awesome idea!

• You can “mostly’ choose the perfect spot! Or work with a venue with a unique backdrop
• It’s a blank slate for decor, you can do whatever you want
• You can bring in your favorite vendors - like food! And booze! 
• If it’s a private property, you can start setting up on Wednesday for a Saturday affair
• It's a rustic/woodland/desert/boho dream! What pinterest board are made of.

Listen in as we give you some behind the scenes of planning an tented wedding, and some action items to help you along the way! 

This weeks episode we're featuring Kelly's sister Shannon! 
We take a trip down memory lane and get a non-planners perspective on some of the weddings we've done. Shannon is on track to be one of our main designers and we can't wait to get her more involved in weddings! 

• Tom & Sam - Sea to Sky Gondola 
• Novia & Paul - Harthouse
• Sarah & Blaise - Squamish Wedding

Shannon is a Reiki Practitioner with Guiding Light Reiki. Get in touch with her at [email protected] or find her on Instagram @guidinglightreiki

The Little Mermaid. Not the first thing you think about when it comes to a destination wedding. Yet, there are some very interesting things to think about in the wedding scene that might pertain to your day!

While we dive deep into the Mermaid wedding in the movie, there are some logistics to think about for your Human wedding! 

• Selecting a local 'Destination'
• Including your family in the festivities
• Catering + Dietaries
• Sound + AV
• The officiant! 

Now, let's breakdown the Pros' and Cons' of a local "Destination" Wedding:

Pros - 

• It’s in your own dollar amount!! 
• You can usually get there in under 2hrs hours, so you can drive! Which means you're not wasting time in an airport/on a plane!
• Guests love to be tourists in their own city. And maybe you're destination is a place they've never been to before. 
• It gives your Guests an opportunity to do things around your wedding, or you can make it a weekend full of fun 
• Your guests get to try local things, which means they also get to support local
• It gives you and your guests an opportunity to see each for more then 4-6 hours. 
• Less people might be inclined to go  

Cons - 

• Since it DOES take up at least 2 days of your time, you have to plan for your time away and see if it works with your schedule 
• Not everyone can join - if they have mobility issues (like being in a Wheelchair, but your ceremony is on the beach in Tofino)
• Hotel blocks can be a pain in the ass
• Hotels can be booked months in advance or the price can be increased because of events happening around your wedding
• Transportation - you carpooled but now you have no way to get around
• Your guests will get lost easily, which they in turn might call you. All Day. Every day. 
• If you don't prep the guests, rural areas don’t always have reception and sometimes that makes people grumpy
• Trusting the vendors onsite can be tough, which gives you two options - you either make the time to go up and visit the city you’ve selected or bring your own but pay for the accommodations. 

NOTES
Sam + Tom
Ep 67: Sustainable Weddings