7 Expert Tips for Planning a Seamless Luxury Wedding
Planning a wedding requires attention to detail and expertise, and it certainly can be a daunting task to get started. According to Martha Stewart Weddings, couples spend anywhere from 150-300 hours planning their magical day! Thankfully, the Maggie Walker Weddings Team has combined 18 years of experience to guide you and help take the planing burden off your shoulders. Here are seven tips from our expert planners to ensure your big day goes off without a hitch.
Tip 1: Start with a Vision
Discuss the importance of having a clear vision and theme with your partner and then with your planner.
The first thing we ask our couples is to identify their top priorities, both as a couple and individually. Regardless of budget, everyone faces compromises during planning. By centering decisions around what matters most, you can ensure the planning process and wedding weekend feel purposeful and meaningful. Collaborating closely with your planner will bring this vision to life!
Tip 2: Budget Wisely
The biggest determining factor for your wedding budget is your guest count.
Proposals from your catering and bar team, florist, decor and staffing, dessert baker, and beauty team – all of these vendors and more build quotes around a final head count. These conversations about who can be invited are always tricky, but understanding that the final number of guests will have a huge impact on how your budget is prioritized is crucial.
This is why our team starts with tip #1, rather than jumping straight into a conversation about the budget. If we can help you understand what is most important to feeling celebrated, then we can offer appropriate budget advice!
Tip 3: Choose the Right Venue
Choosing the space you’ll be getting married and celebrating in often molds the remaining major planning decisions. Your venue is such a grounding part of design choices and determing the logistics breakdown for your day. Knowing your priorities, your guest count, and therefore, your ideal budget range largely plays into what available venues are a good fit for you.
Other things to consider:
the time of year and the different weather hurdles it can bring. Think: rain and storms, heat and bugs, chill and icy roads, and wind!
Being open to available dates your perfect venue has to offer, instead of sticking to a specific date or time of year - sometimes, a different time of year may suprise you!
~ OR ~ sticking to a specific, meaningful date and solely choosing venues that are available for that day.
Discuss options with your planner to gain their advice and insight to the pros and cons of each venue option.
Check out this Junebug Weddings article to get even more insight.
Tip 4: Hire Top-Tier Vendors
The last thing any couple needs to deal with is a vendor with a bad attitude and poor communication. Often, this is a very frustrating part of wedding planning that doesn’t need to be! The importance of hiring top-notch vendors known for their reliablity in the luxury wedding industry, experience in working weddings similar to your vision, and overall customer service is unparalleled to easing wedding planning stress.
This is why we call our vendor list a respected vendor list. We only recommend vendors that love the wedding industry and know how to navigate it professionally and joyfully.
Tip 5: Personalize the Details
The art of tuning out the noise is especially necessary when planning your wedding. Remember, this day is a chance to reflect what you love about your partner and to enjoy the start of marriage with your loved ones!
Again, keep focused on the top priorities you and your partner identified early on in the planning process. Ask your planner to help keep you grounded in those choices. Enjoy adding details that show off your relationship to make this more fun! Some things we’ve seen over the years that we love:
Involving your pets on the day, whether actually having them attend or simply naming a signature cocktail after your furry friend.
Replacing table numbers with childhood pictures of you and your partner at that age.
Incorporating places you and your partner have traveled into the decor, like a Tuscan villa-themed dinner or a Tulum beach-themed after-party.
Celebrating both of your beliefs and/or ethnicities in the ceremony to unite these important parts of your identity into your marriage.
Tip 6: Plan for Contingencies
One of the main tasks of our planning team is to plan a detailed backup plan or rain plan. Often, the backup plan isn’t actually shaped around weather but other hurdles that may lead to a last-minute change. This could be other severe weather, sure, but it can also be a bride with high social anxiety, an ex-military groom with PTSD, or a mother-in-law requiring ADA accommodations.
Additionally, your planning team and hired vendors should be prepared for the uncontrollables. Sometimes, unfortunately, there are circumstances that arise that are unforeseen or unprepared for. This is when having an experienced planning team really is worth the investment.
For example, the shuttle gets a flat tire leaving the hotel, but the shuttle company and planning team have a policy in place for how to efficiently get guests to the venue in a timely and safe manner. This is something obviously no one could see coming, but the planning team is aware of how the hired shuttle company operates and is able to step in and handle the stress on behalf of the couple and their arriving guests with the utmost care.
Tip 7: Focus on Guest Experience
Notice that this tip is much farther down on this list! I know, I know - keeping your guests at the center of your decisions is a reality, but I always counter with your guests’ reality: they are showing up to celebrate you and your love, plus attending a very fun party!
Beyong basic care and attention for your guests (i.e. having passed Hors d'oeuvres and signature cocktails during cocktail hour to alleviate lines), there are really only a few things to consider in this category:
have effecient and thorough communication - timely save the dates and invites with correct info, regularly updating your wedding website with FAQs, etc. this is a scenario where more info out there = less of a texting and phone call burden on you.
provide plenty of dietary options for food and drink - most catering and bar teams are accustomed to offering a full spread for any dietary needs. talk with them about creative options to offer your guests!
be clear on your seating chart - we have a few recommendations of how to go about this so that your guests (and the staff) aren’t confused during this transition.
for even more tips, check out Brides Magazine for their thoughts!
Take these tips into consideration when planning your luxury southern wedding and enure that it is flawless and unforgettable! Our planning team is happy to help alleviate these stresses and bring your wedding day dreams to life! Fill out the contact form to get an inquiry started.