When I decided to explore new and exciting options in the fall of 2019 for 2020 brides a dear friend of mine and colleague, Naomi Korolew who owns The Popup Wedding Collective in Melbourne Australia, was creating these beautiful weddings on a smaller scale to create stunning events, affordably. I had watched her succeeding at this model and since 2018 we had been looking at various all-inclusive event offerings for our clients but had never found anything that really clicked or gave me that true “wow” factor. What Naomi was doing was taking an idea like ours and making it even better and far more sustainable.
Let me back up a second and explain…
When we poll brides what’s your biggest concern about planning a wedding? It’s far and away, paying for it. The guest list and expectations coupled together with many people’s lack of funds can send even the most positive person into a state of despair.
We tend to see the following cycle of the bridal journey. I’m going to name our bride, Emily. Emily grows up dreaming of her wedding day and spends hundreds of hours playing dress up, having tea parties, looking at magazines and watching movies with everything wedding. As early as 15, begins her Pinterest board dreaming of what her future wedding day is going to become; saving beautiful options, curated and created by event designers such as myself. Fast forward a period of time, Emily meets Joe. They get engaged and “whalla” the Pinterest boards become active and off to the planning races she goes. Any of you see yourself in this story?
Emily decides it’s time to make a plan and commissions her bridesmaids, her mother, and they hit the local bridal shows with pep in their step, matching t-shirts and a head full of ideas. THIS is going to be an epic day. They enter the show with empty bags and decide they are just going to chat with vendors and get an idea of what this whole wedding planning thing is going to look like and more importantly, cost.
Five hours later, Emily and her ladies emerge from the hustle and bustle of the show and are utterly exhausted and what Emily doesn’t really want to admit, she’s not entirely sure where to start. She’s been planning this since she’s been 15 and yet it all seems so overwhelming…..
Does this sound like you? Somebody you know? This, my friend, is the typical journey of a bride today. Maybe they don’t frequent a bridal show, but they can do the same with the vast amount of information and free bridal Facebook groups. You download apps and trackers but at the end of the day it all starts to become unrealistic. Emily and maybe even you, start to feel like you’re going to have to sacrifice your dream day for…. Expectations of all party’s involved and financially, it’s just overwhelming.
I don’t write this to belittle any of you that are seeing yourself in this process. Trust me, it’s 95% of you. I want to help the fact that all of this can be avoided by taking pause and doing things a bit differently.
First, SHOW ME THE MONEY! I know we all go to the Jerry Maguire scene in our heads, but this sentence cannot be truer during wedding planning. You MUST know where the money is coming from and even more importantly, the EXPECTATIONS around it. I encourage every single bride to do our Money Talks PDF. It will place you in such a different position emotionally before you tackle the planning. Dreams don’t fund themselves.
Second, take a good hard look at how far that money is going to go. Pull up resources that show you the average costs of a wedding in your area. I can promise you; you aren’t going to be the exception unless you position yourself to be. Weddings are very expensive; they are considered a luxury purchase… but do they have to be?
I don’t know about you, but I get so irritated when I hear things like, “Kids today need to just realize that money doesn’t grow on trees”. “They should just get “hitched” at the courthouse or a backyard”. “Don’t spend money on your wedding, but save for a house.”
UGHHHHHHH trust me, I get it. The practical side of me gets it…. But the emotional side of me says NO… absolutely no way. Girls like Emily deserve beautiful weddings days. Every. Single. One of them. But how? Weddings are expensive. There is 0 way around that. They aren’t a necessity and you CAN get married at a courthouse for a small fraction of the cost. But I knew there had to be a way…. Let’s jump back to where I started this story.
Naomi was doing something revolutionary and I wanted in. I wanted to create beautiful weddings for a fraction of the cost. To give brides the peace of mind they had somebody with experience planning and securing their vendors, so they didn’t have to. Somebody that knows the things to expect and allows them the freedom to pick the fun things. Let brides truly enjoy the process of planning a wedding AND enjoy their engagement. Lastly, doing it in a way that made brides feel like they had the ability to personalize their day in a bespoke way. To make it “theirs”.
So, we created BeSpoke Weddings by Amy Grace Events. We are taking the collective costs of a traditional wedding, upgrading the fun features such as rentals & flowers, bringing in some of the best vendors in the wedding industry, and we are picking dates and places to “pop-up” for all-inclusive weddings. Bridal couples pick from brunch, afternoon or evening available slots and truly enjoy a wedding of their dreams for a fraction of the price tag and no-hassle. If you want to learn more, jump over to our BeSpoke weddings page and watch my video about “What’s A Pop-up Wedding”.
Women like Emily and yourself deserve beautiful weddings days. We at Amy Grace Events are excited to give every woman the day of their dreams. So, check it out! Look at our 2020 dates and get on the waitlist for our upcoming cities. Don’t see your city and want us to come? Reach out! We can explore the option.
Until next time…
Happy Planning,
Amy Grace