By Kim Sayatovic, Belladeux Event Design
If you’re looking to foray into full-service event design and planning, there are some considerations to keep in mind when taking on an event from start to finish. Design and planning go hand-in-hand and bringing them together can make for a simple and seamless event timeline for your clients. While they’ll love the chance to work with you throughout the planning process, be sure that you’ve worked out all of the details in the event process so it runs like a well-oiled machine.
Design
For many couples, this is the fun part and some may even come bearing Pinterest boards full of color palettes and DIY projects. In this stage, it’s all about fleshing out the details of the couple’s vision. Is there a certain feel they are after? Do they want a specific theme? What colors do they love? Take in all of their ideas and create a mental picture of the wedding that they’ve dreamed up. At this time, it’s also good to get some of the early to-dos knocked out, like narrowing down vendor options and finalizing the budget and guest list. I set aside approximately three to four months for the design stage before getting into the nitty-gritty of planning and execution.
Planning
The planning stage is generally longer than design, as it involves a lot of the smaller details that come together to create the perfect wedding. We typically allocate seven to eight months on planning, just to ensure that everything falls into the right place. The planning phase is perfect for your type-A couples – you know, those who are all about organizing spreadsheets and breaking schedules down to the minute. Work alongside them to check off the remaining to-dos on the list, including things like ensuring vendors deposits are paid in full, keeping the event team on top of things, and checking in with the venue to share any updates. It’s up to you to make sure everyone is on the same page for the big day!
Execution
Once everything is in place, it’s time for the final execution of the event. The week leading up to the wedding is for tying up loose ends, finalizing the day’s timeline and ensuring everyone knows when and where to arrive and drop off their equipment, if necessary. At this point, most of the event should be ready to go, but take the last week to firm up all of the plans and stay in communication with the event team, as well as the couple.
Together, these three stages form the basis of any remarkable event – while each a distinct step, they all come together in the end for a couple’s dream come true!
Kim Sayatovic is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Belladeux Event Design, a full service wedding and event design firm based in New Orleans, Louisiana.