Sunday 7 September 2014

Essential Qualities For a Wedding Planner

I get so many enquiries from people of all ages and backgrounds who want to get into wedding and event planning.

It's got me thinking about the essential qualities you need to succeed as a wedding planner. It's not an easy job and not particularly glamorous, like many people believe it to be. However getting to play such a key role in something as amazing as a wedding can make it the feel like the best job in the world.

Physical Strength

Unless you have a huge crew to help you it's pretty likely you will be setting up weddings by yourself and sometimes clearing up after too. This involves a lot of lugging boxes, carrying heavy chairs and trestle tables, bending, lifting, stretching, climbing ladders and the ability to stand for 12 to 15 hours. Transforming this empty tent into the image below took many hours of hard work but the results were so worth it! 

Emotional Stength

Weddings can be emotional and so can running a wedding planning business. You have to be strong willed and motivated to succeed. No one will hand you success on a plate. You need to go out and work hard gaining experience, networking and developing your brand. Knock backs are hard to take but success will have you soaring on cloud nine! 





People Skills

Not only do you need to provide an excellent service to your couples, but you also need to get suppliers on board and liaise with venues to create your vision. You'll also be on hand to assist guests and respond to their requests on the day. You need to do all of this with a smile even on long and stressful days.

Creativity

If you want to be involved in designing weddings you need to be creative and have a good eye for trends and understand how to make a wedding look amazing. You may be able to work with a stylist to help with this, but being able to put together a styled shoot or design a beautiful cohesive theme is a key skill.



Diplomacy

Often you might need to be the peace keeper or negotiator during the planning process. You need to keep everyone on side from the couple to family members and other suppliers. This can be tricky if there's lots of strong opinions involved.

Business Minded

As a wedding planner you will be running a business from home. You need to become an expert in social media, marketing, accounting, admin, invoicing and business planning. 



Organisation

Not only will you be organising wedding but you will have heaps of admin to keep on top of as well as scheduling client meetings, liaising with suppliers and remembering lots of small details. If you don't love lists and spreadsheets then this might not be the right career path. 

Flexibility

You will need to be flexible and quick thinking to deal with any issues that arise.  You may end up working longer than you planned or changing things on the day that don't work but you have to have an open mind and lots of contingencies in place.

I hope that's useful, Steph x

Photo Credits: Life in Focus Photography and Stephen Richardson wedding Photography 





Monday 21 July 2014

Bristol Wedding Planner: 2014 Highlights

As were half way through 2014 and this years wedding season I thought I'd share some highlights of what Sweet & Pretty weddings has been up to.

                                     



                                     

It's been a great year so far and there's still lots of great weddings to go in the busy season between now and September.


                                     

                       

                         


I've noticed rustic weddings overtaking vintage this year with lots of burlap, natural looking  flowers and hay bales making an appearance but vintage is still popular as always.

                                    

                       


                       

                       

If you're looking for a Bristol based wedding or party planner for your 2015 wedding in the Bristol, Bath or Somerset area then do get in touch.







Sunday 1 June 2014

The Little Wedding Space Launch

The 2nd Little Wedding Space is almost over but if you haven't popped in yet you still have today and tomorrow.

This afternoon you can visit for a special
Inspiration Afternoon from 2pm to 5pm.

                             

Here's a few snaps from the great launch night.

                              

                                     

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                  

                                 

You can visit www.littleweddingspace.co.uk to learn more about the talented suppliers.

Tuesday 13 May 2014

The Little Wedding Space

The Little Wedding Space is back, bigger and even better in a fabulous shop on the Glasswalk at Cabot Circus. 


Make sure to pop in for lots of inspiration and some great offers from top wedding suppliers

Monday 28 April 2014

Tweet Up at St George's Bristol

St George's Bristol hosted a wedding industry networking event organised by Sweet & Pretty Weddings and the events team at St George's.

                           

                            

                            


Sweet & Pretty designed the decor along with gorgeous flowers from Adele at Tin Can Floral. The stunning sequinned table cloth for the candy buffet was borrowed from the Sequin Collection by Pudding Bridge and The Little Wedding Helper.


                            


                            


Many thanks to Kate's Kitchen for the delicious cakes and Goldbrick House for providing the canapés.


                          

                          


                           

St George's Bristol is a fantastic venue for a wedding reception with the crypt bar and main hall available for hire as well as beautiful grounds that can be used for photos and drinks receptions.

                             

                              

As a leading concert venue, St George's is perfect for live music and guests were entertained by the Trish Brown Band as well as acoustic guitar and vocals by Matt Bee.

                                          


                            

                            

If you'd like more information about St George's Bristol visit their website www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk. 

If you are interested in hiring St George’s Bristol you can also contact the Events team on 0117 929 4929 or events@stgeorgesbristol.co.uk.

Suppliers

Candy Buffet: www.sweetandpretty.co.uk
Planning & Styling: www.sweetandpretty.co.uk
Flowers: www.tincanfloral.co.uk
Canapés: www.goldbrickhouse.co.uk
Music: www.trishbrown.com and www.bristolweddingsinger.co.uk
Cakes: www.kateskitchenbristol.co.uk
Sequin Linen: www.puddingbridge.co.uk

Thanks to Ruth Garner Photography (www.ruthgarnerphotography.com) for the images.




Friday 21 March 2014

Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair 2014

Last Sunday was one of my favourite wedding fairs, the glorious Bristol Vintage at Clifton Pavilion, Bristol Zoo. Each year Ali from Bristol Vintage brings together a group of hand picked wedding suppliers who offer something very special to visitors who come from far and wide.

         
                                

    
                               


It really is a treat for vintage lovers and anyone who wants a pretty vintage inspired wedding.

There were beautiful original vintage dresses on display as well as bespoke creations. Jessica Charleston, LK Bespoke Bridal and Heavenly Vintage offered some gorgeous choices for discerning brides. 

                               

     
                               


Hermione Harbutt and Bridezillas were on hand to offer beautiful sparkling accessories. 

Live music was provided with Bristol's very own Michael Buble, the talented JP Crooner, acoustic guitar and vocals form Matt Bee and even Mr Sawtime playing a saw. Seems odd I know but it's actually rather beautiful and must be seen (and heard) to be believed.

                                      

 
                                 

                                 


For those with a sweet tooth Sweet & Pretty provided a pink candy buffet and jam jar wedding favours with stunning florals provided by artisan florist Adele Brown from Tin Can Floral

 
                                   

                                   



Bake My Cake also had a beautiful stand. They had borrowed sequin linen from the Sequin Collection from Pudding Bridge and The Little Wedding Helper. Chocolate Delores uses chocolate to create cakes that are works of art as shown below. They really do taste as good as they look too.

 
                                   

                                   

You can find out more on the Bristol Vintage Wedding fair blog or find out more about the suppliers below.

Bake My Cake
Beehive Brides
Bridezillas
Brown in Town
Chocolate Delores
Clifton Hill Costume & Textiles
Clifton Pavilion
Clifton Rocks
Days of Grace Vintage
Documentary Image
Fishee Designs
Flo-Jo Boutique
Gemma Sangwine
Heavenly Vintage 
Hermione Harbutt
Hotel du Vin
Jessica Charleston
Jo Hansford Photography
Lily and Louie
Lilygrace Originals
Lizzy-May
LK Bespoke Bridal
Marie Man Photography
Matt Bee
Miss Jones
Moomie Swan
Mr. Sawtime
Pearl Bespoke Dressmakers
Pete Cranston Photography
Pretty Nostalgic
Pudding Bridge
Rose Popay - The Wedding Painter
Ruby & The Wolf
Shellac Sound
Sweet & Pretty with flowers by Tin Can Floral
The Jeanie Lee's
The Little Wedding Helper
The Wilde Bunch
Tricia Designs
Your Unique Scrapbook



Tuesday 11 March 2014

Spring Wedding Fairs and Events

There's lots of great wedding fairs and events coming up in the Bristol area.

Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair is back this Sunday with many of the regions top vintage suppliers in one place at Clifton Pavillions at Bristol Zoo Gardens from 10:30am to 4:00pm.

                                               

Next Wednesday, 19th March there is a networking event (for wedding suppliers only) at St George's Bristol. It opens at 6pm and there will be the opportunity to tour the historic listed building, partake in some drinks and nibbles and catch up with wedding industry colleagues. 

                             


On Sunday 23rd March the fabulous Berwick Lodge are hosting their Spring open day and then on the 6th April head over to Thornbury Castle for their Wedding Showcase and meet some of the areas top suppliers all in one place in an amazing historic venue.

                                  



Monday 10 February 2014

A Sweet and Pretty Year

Well it's almost the first anniversary of Sweet & Pretty launching and what a fantastic year it's been.I thought I'd share a little recap of the highlights of my year as a Bristol Wedding Planner.

I've had the opportunity to be involved in 23 amazing weddings and events and my diary for 2014 already has over 20 entries so it looks like 2014 is going to be even busier.

I started off by launching my new brand and products at the fabulous Bristol Vintage Wedding Fair. My jam jar wedding favours proved an immediate hit and have graced many weddings since.

                                            

Candy buffets have also been popular this year proving they're a trend that's set to stay. Here's a look a some of my work. I think this year I've really honed my signature style and tried to set my sweet tables apart as offering something a bit different for the style conscious couples.

                                   

                                               

                                   

                                              

It's also been fantastic to focus more on wedding coordination and planning this year. I've been lucky enough to work as a freelance wedding coordinator at two unique Bristol wedding venues.

The first is St George's Bristol, an amazing music venue just off Park Street with gorgeous grounds, a stunning hall and its own underground crypt bar. It's been a pleasure working with the couples who had their receptions there and the team at St George's. 

                                  

                                              

                                     

The other venue is the seemingly unusual wedding venue Arnos Vale Cemetery. If you've not thought about getting married in a cemetery (I wouldn't blame you!) then you'd be amazed quite how beautiful and  serene Arnos Vale is. 

                                                 

                                                  

After working at several weddings there I have to say I was a little unsure if it would feel spooky or strange but it honestly doesn't. It really is stunning with the historic Anglican Chapel and Spielman Centre. You also now have the opportunity to marry legally outdoors in a woodland setting at the new Underwood Centre. I'm looking forward to my first woodland wedding soon.

I've also been busy with on the day wedding coordination at some fantastic venues.

                                     

                                                   

                                      

Thanks to Steve Richardson Wedding Photography for the above images at Wick Farm.

Here's a few other shots from some of the venues Sweet & Pretty have visited this year. These include Corsham Town Hall, The Roman Baths, The Four Seasons Hampshire and Bath Guildhall.


                                                 

                                      

                                                 


                                                 

                                                 

                                                 


Here's a few more fun things I got up to. Here's one from the Orangery at Tortworth Court and a movie night themed candy buffet for a James Bond premiere themed school prom I planned for Broadlands Academy.

                                          

                                                    


                                             

Phew! What a great year. I can't wait to get stuck into some amazing weddings and parties in 2014. I have just a few summer weekends free if you need any help planning your event or want yummy candy buffets or favours.


Drop me an email: Hello@sweetandpretty.co.uk

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