Miss Megan Janes (941) 763-3041
  • Home
  • Services
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Gallery

Covid and The Future of Weddings

8/13/2020

0 Comments

 
The love and joy that comes with celebrating a wedding will remain resilient long after COVID, as people have learned not to take one second of life for granted. You have been kept astray from your friends and loved ones, and this is your moment to embrace the yearning of missing them so dearly. You’re about to encounter an experience most likely to have never been felt before. Take this moment, wrap it in your hands, and never let go. Show your guests the love they have been missing and together share a moment that will last an eternity. Let the new normal bring you peace and love as you begin the shared path with your forever soulmate.
The love and joy that comes with celebrating a wedding will remain resilient long after COVID, as people have learned not to take one second of life for granted. You have been kept astray from your friends and loved ones, and this is your moment to embrace the yearning of missing them so dearly. You’re about to encounter an experience most likely to have never been felt before. Take this moment, wrap it in your hands, and never let go. Show your guests the love they have been missing and together share a moment that will last an eternity. Let the new normal bring you peace and love as you begin the shared path with your forever soulmate.


Health and Safety:


Wedding Planners Suggesting’s


Wedding Website FAQs Pages
As you start planning your special day, begin to form a general FAQ page on your website that details each safety protocol and measure that you and your vendors will put into place. Doing this will help your guests feel reassured, cared for, and safe.


Virtual Meetings
​As virtual life has become a thing, we suggest virtual venue tours. Also, phone or virtual vendor meetings, home-delivered tastings, online shopping, and bridal fittings at the convenience of your own home. Also, remain open with the possibility of date changes and even rescheduling your wedding. Be sure to have your planner check and recheck all contracts with venues and vendors and their rescheduling protocols. Be open to having your wedding on a date that fits everyone’s schedule, including venues and vendors.


Protocols pertaining to venues and vendors
Venues and vendors may begin to take extra measures such as installing sanitation stations and contactless faucets. You will see added cleaning procedures for set-up, tear-down, and throughout the entire day. Be sure to understand each vendor’s PPE measures. Ask as many questions as possible, so you are ready to embrace your day, and you ensure all concerns have been taken care for you. Will they have masks and gloves? How will they be distributed? Who is responsible for the guest’s PPE? Also remember, a bride wearing white gloves is a timeless fashion and elegant accessory choice.


What to know about catering
Proper etiquette is returning to our foreseeable future. You will see new rules and serving customs. The utmost safety is assured as precautions are a top priority concerning extra staff training, food temperatures double-checked, new sanitizing standards, the way dishes are made and served, and measures never thought of before. People may shift more to plated meals, and single plated hor’s d ‘oeuvres. Remember: plated meals will save you on finances compared to an open buffet and accessible hor’s d ‘oeuvres.


New Layouts (a skill that planners and designers accustom to)
Ceremony and reception layouts are one of our specialties. We love new creative designs such as circles and half-moon ceremony set-ups and receptions with fewer guests that give us more room for innovative décor. Outside weddings are a beauty in themselves. You have endless opportunities with the world around you. You have space that can quickly expand; you can easily change a layout to face away from the sun. And the fresh air you and your guests can breathe freely without the surrounding walls holding in. And, as your side-eye catches your uncle Robert (A fifth cousin removed twice) staring at you from the sidelines, all you got to do is move. As planners, we are continually changing layouts, seating arrangements, and shifting “difficult” guests away from their unlikely sitting mates, with six-foot distances and sitting people with whom they get along with best….no problem.


Greetings have formed their own new Culture
Let’s make the best of this and embrace your individuality. How about the bride curtseying at the groom’s side and the groom is bowing to the bride’s side. Or do you have a unique wave that you and your partner have constructed, now is the time to teach your guests. Let’s be gone with the traditional receiving line and embrace that individuality some more. Have each person in your party show a talent or throw a gesture as they singly walk down the aisle.


Let’s talk about socially distanced dancing
Guests will no longer have to worry about whose dancing with who and omg do you see what I see. Yes, this means close family members will have to dance together and avoid “Karen” from across the dance floor. Welcome to traditional and futurama, combining. Satellite dance floors and DJ’s with a broader music set and multiple DJ’s will emerge as guidelines have asked for that awkward slow dancing to disappear amongst guests and to keep a close family together.


The Guest Experience
As the guest list becomes smaller, the couple can use that extra finance to improve their guest’s experience. Menus can now elevate to a more fine dining level. All your guests can now taste that expensive wine you like, and entertainment can now become performances from artists that can be a once in a lifetime experience. 


Turn your Weddings into a story 
Now that you have had extra time to think let’s make your fairytale come true. Personalize your wedding favors, guests’ experiences, send-off, and everything in between. Take your talent and customize your wedding favors into something that guests will know that you and your partner enjoy and love. If you love baking, make cookies. If DIY is your thing, then make them all something that means the world to them. Everything from getting ready to the guests sending you off can be personalized into your own story for all to remember forever.


Whats Minimony? 
As rescheduling has forced you to change your date, you have most likely come across the dreaded weekday wedding. Look at it this way. The venue and vendors are all cheaper; you are saving money and can now buy that little thing in the store window that has you distracted from life. Having a weekday wedding allows you to expand your wedding celebration to however long your heart desires. Now you don’t only have the COVID excuse; you also have the “Its my wedding excuse”. When’s your wedding date?…oh December 2021. Why are you having dinner with the girls? Cause it’s a wedding get together and because of social distancing and the number of friends I have, I need more than one dinner. Why are you having a bachelor party now?... Because I’m getting married next year. The dates and possibilities are endless. It’s your wedding, do what you want and expand for as long as you want. You can also take advantage of technology and stream your entire wedding. Have guests attend whichever part of your wedding that you want. If you don’t wish to have your cousin at your bridal shower, give her the live stream link and politely mention that you are trying your best to keep your guest count to a minimum.


Registries and Receiving gifts
Online registries are already standard, so why not have your gifts delivered to your home as well. You already love Amazon and hiding them packages from the hubby. Why not get deliveries that are bought by someone else…no hiding of boxes needed. Instead of gift cards with money, have that directly deposited into your account through Venmo, PayPal, or whatever service you use. Why do you have to do all the work on your wedding day and collect the cards and have to go to the bank and cash them or deposit them when a simple click can do it for you. This will also mean that your guests won’t have to fork out money on a card that you’re probably going to throw away eventually. They’ll love you for it. 




0 Comments

Why hire a wedding planner

10/25/2019

0 Comments

 
Wedding planners also known as coordinators and event planners will help you organize your big day.


The Undertakings of Wedding Planners
 
The Starting process
 
  • Wedding planners start off by meeting with the couple to:
  • Understand the event and recognize the services needed.
  • Evaluate the overall budget
  • Understand the style, colors, vibe, and taste of the couple
  • Discuss progress to date
  • The planner then proposes the help needed and presents the couple with a contract for wedding planning services. The services will be a combination of duties, depending on your needs and budget.
 
 
Organizational Queens
Your planner will:
  • Produce and review vendor contracts
  • Organize your wedding day timeline
  • Coordinate vendor arrivals and deliveries with your venues
  • Prevent expensive mishaps such as rush shipping charges or unnecessary changes
  • Remind you of obligations, appointments, and budget limits
 
Style Mavens
A wedding planner can:
  • Provide ideas, and tell you about current trends
  • Help pull together any incoherent elements, and produce a unified look
  • See and add details you might have overlooked
  • Coordinate all vendors
  • Help you choose your bridal gown and/or groom's wear, bridesmaid dresses and other wedding party attire
  • Find coordinating and fashionable favors
  • Design your tables, lighting and other visual details.
 
Peace Makers
If you regularly argue with your parents or each other, wedding planners can use their negotiating skills to establish peace. Whether it's talking to the mother-of-the-groom about the revolting dress she requests to wear, helping to arbitrate budget disagreements, or saving you from etiquette hindrances, wedding planners can be very useful.
 
Vendor Resources
Experienced wedding planners have contacts in the business, so they may be able to find you that reception venue with the perfect view, or the one caterer who will work with trifling budgets. They may also be able to pull in favors to get discounts or perks.
 
0 Comments

2020 Trends

10/23/2019

0 Comments

 
Proposal and engagement trends
With 2020 being a leap year you can expect to see more women proposing. YouTube and other social media will be booming with proposal videos. Keep an eye out for people recording the entire emotional moment they propose and then documenting every stage of wedding planning.
 
Wedding dress trends
Their will be a rise in ‘princess’ dresses that include drama, big skirts, personal touches, edgy accessories, personalized embroidery, long sleeves, ruffled collars, tulle,  trains, and veils. Expect to see cathedral length veils and high-necklines. There will also be a rise in simple, clean designs that feel timeless. More brides are also opting for a second wedding dress for the evening or gowns that can totally transform for a radically different look.
 
Wedding flower trends
You’ll notice more informal, relaxed bouquets that are bespoke and left a little rough around the edges. You’ll also see leafy greens and botanicals as well as more unusual foliage. Sustainability will play a big factor, as more brides are putting this first when planning their big day. Also expect bold colors.
​
Wedding food trends
Get ready for more vegan and free-from menus in 2020. The ‘chicken or fish’ dinner is dying a death. ‘Even couples who aren’t themselves vegans are more empathetic than ever before, and they are keen to cater for guests with all dietary requests.’ Couples are also going to choose more informal eating arrangements, such as snacks, buffets, and food stations. Gin will continue to be the cocktail of choice. You’ll find more couples creating their own signature drinks, alongside personalized canapés and desserts.

Wedding décor trends
Expect 2020 to feature balloon walls and wedding wall art murals – all carefully chosen to provide great backdrops for guests’ wedding snaps. There’s going to be a real move to escapism and fairytale touches with chandeliers under trees and arches with hanging fairy lights. You’ll spot lots of indoor furniture being moved and set up outside, so don’t be alarmed if you see a full sofa hanging out in a field. And, of course, you’ll see loads of fruit as decoration. Lemons are a big deal.

General wedding day trends
Expect crowdfunded weddings and requests for financial contributions from guest. Aisle procession dances captured on video. Guests will be involved in group activities, such as laser quest, zorbing, and cocktail making. Couples will focus less on religion. More personalization and unique touches will be incorporated. You will see more mixed-gender bridal parties, more environmentally-conscious weddings, city weddings, weddings at stately homes and castles, surprise touches for brides and grooms, buddymoons.
​





0 Comments

Things NOT to do right before your wedding

10/23/2019

0 Comments

 
1) Break in them dress shoes. Do not forget to break in all the shoes you will be wearing on your    wedding day.

2) If you insist on being tan before walking down the isle. Make sure you start weeks early in order to avoid burns, orange streaks, and unnatural looks.

3) I know you all want perfect looking nails on the day of your wedding. However, be sure to get your nail fix on only a few days beforehand in order to avoid smudges, cracks, and broken nails. Make sure you also try on multiple colors in order to find the perfect match for your perfect day.

4) Avoid any facial or skin treatments or new makeup products. Often new products can irritate your skin and cause redness or even blemishes.

5) If you insist on getting a new hair style or color be sure to do this weeks beforehand. It takes time to get use to a new style and it takes times for mistakes to grow out.

6)  Be sure to cut back on the alcohol a few weeks before your big day. Alcohol can cause blemishes, bloating, and worse of all cold feet and bad decisions.
0 Comments

Day of Coordination Does Not Exist

10/23/2019

0 Comments

 

Day of Coordination is much more than just one day of actual work. It actually involves approximately 50 hours of work.

The following is a basic example of hours related to day of coordination:
  • 5 hours of consultation and contracting
  • 15 hours of coordinating
  • 12 hours of day of service
  • 12 hours for day of service with an assistant
  • 3 hours of rehearsing and pre organization
  • 3 hours of prep time for the day of event
This is approximately 50 hours of work.
If you take an average of $500 for day of coordination and divide it by 50 hours of work that equals to $10.00 an hour. Once you take out taxes, expenses, and assistant pay, the planner is in all actuality working for free.
0 Comments
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Services
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Gallery