Meet the Team: Ashley Carpenter - Event Architect

 

 About you:

·        Any Nicknames:

o   Ash, Carp, ACarps (My Friends are Very Creative) J

·        Favorite color:

o   Purple

·        Favorite Television Show:

o   The Real Housewives (Any City) & Vanderpump Rules (Reality Television is a guilty pleasure of mine)

o   Parks & Recreation

o   Nashville

o   All of my favorite shows sadly do not air anymore: One Tree Hill, The Office, & Friday Night Lights

·        What you like to do in your spare time:

o   Spend time with my family, boyfriend, friends & my puppy!

o   I belong to the UFC Gym where I box & kickbox (overall love to be active)

o   Snowboard

o   Concerts & sporting events

o   I am constantly dancing (Have been since I was 3)

Why did you become a Wedding Planner?

·        When I first attended Illinois State University, I went in as a Nursing Major… which I figured out very quickly that it was not for me.  Looking for advice from my friends & family on what to do next, 100% of them said that I should be an Event Planner of some sort.  From a very early age, I have constantly planned everything from Family Vacations, to Birthday Parties, to even hanging out with my friends.  So I switched majors, and actually did an Internship with Oliveaire, an internship at The Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC, & one with Paulette Wolf Events in Chicago, & fell in love with this industry!  Everything from utilizing my skills and working with people, to creating a dream day for my clients & the rush I get on the day-of the event, is something that has totally captured me and assures me that I am in the right line of work!  I absolutely love what I do, and it comes across in my work & my events! 

What is your favorite part of planning a wedding?

·        There are so many reasons why I love planning Weddings!  First off, I love getting to know the couple’s story, getting to know them personally, & creating a bond with them that grows throughout our Planning process.  I believe it is so important to really get to know your clients & to form a trusting relationship!  I am planning the biggest day of their lives, and I want them to trust me 110% and to know that I am there for them no matter what!

·        I also love the feeling that I get on-site & when I get into “Planner mode”.  Making sure everything is absolutely perfect & seeing all of my hard work come together to create the couple’s Dream Wedding, is such a great feeling! 

·        But I have to say the best feeling is seeing how grateful & happy the client is, & knowing that they will remember this day for the rest of their lives, and that I was such a big part of that!  I love making people happy, and there truly is no better feeling!

How would you describe your style as a planner?

·        As I have mentioned many times, organization is one of my greatest skills, and is something I use on a day-to-day basis as a planner.  As organized & serious as I can be about my job, I am a very kind & emotionally invested planner, especially when meeting/chatting with my clients! On-site I am very serious, constantly running around and checking to make sure that everything is perfect!  It is my goal to stay on-time, and that all the details are exactly how the client wanted it!  Once everything falls into place, I start to relax & really enjoy being there & directing/assisting where needed.  I make sure the client is constantly happy, fed & enjoying their day. 

What one piece of advice would you give to a newly engaged couple?

·        Advice that I would give a newly engaged couple is do your research, start planning right away, give yourself enough time to plan all of your details, and most importantly, enjoy the planning process & especially enjoy your wedding day!  This only happens once, and you do not want to look back on these months, years, and on your special day as a negative & stressful time!  This is exactly why we recommend hiring a planner, it is the Wedding Gift to yourself that keeps on giving.  Allow an expert to guide & assist you with details that you may not have thought of before, or do not want to stress about!  On the day-of your event, be the Bride & Groom, and allow your family & friends to be the family & friends, and allow your planner to be the one setting up inventory, checking in vendors & confirming their and the venue’s set-up, and making sure everything is going according to plan.  Like I said before, it’s your Wedding Day, enjoy it to the fullest & focus on the perfect moments & the ones you love the most!  

Do you have a favorite wedding moment or event?

·        My favorite event was a beautiful wedding this past December, & the Bride, the Groom & their families could not have been more kind & loving!  The whole planning process was an amazing experience & the client was constantly available, always so generous & appreciative, and I not only got to know the Bride as a client, but as a friend as well!  The event went perfectly, and they deserved every perfect moment of it!  Not only was I thanked many times on-site, I received a letter from the Bride, telling me how appreciative she was and how happy she was about the entire planning process & especially how her event went!  When I still read her letter, it gives me so much happiness & gives me the confidence that this is what I am supposed to do!

How would you describe what you do every day?

·        Another reason why I love my job, is that my days are NEVER the same! From meetings with clients, venues & vendors, to completing necessary paperwork, and constantly on my email & phone calls answering questions that my clients or vendors may have.  I also assisted in creating our Global Event Resource Certification Conferences, and have our first ever conference in April, so I have been very busy with this as well!

What advice would you give someone who wants to start working in the event industry?

·        Make sure that you are EXTREMELY organized, are able to multi-task, and love working with people.  If you can’t say that you are able to do all of these three things, than this business may not be for you. 

·        Also, be prepared to work weekends & nights!  99.9% of weddings happen during the weekend, and most clients cannot meet or take a call until after they are done with work, so make sure you are 100% okay with this before joining this industry.

·        You are about to go into a career that may be very overwhelming at times, but I promise, if you really have a passion for planning & providing the services capable of producing a couple’s dream day, than it will also bring you so much happiness!  Passion is the most important thing to have for this business, and if you have that, it will shine through your work & your events!

 

A New Spin on Old Traditions

Ever heard of the saying “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed & Something Blue”? Of course you have!  Keeping with tradition is important, but why not put a new & unique spin on it!  Here are some ideas to keep these traditions alive in a creative way!

Something Old

To help keep the memories of loved ones close to the Brides heart, Brides are now placing pictures of their loved ones in lockets and even pinning them to their bouquet. It is a nice and memorable touch to incorporate "Something Old" for your wedding day.  If you would like to share in that moment with your guests, the growing trend right now is creating a collage of all your departed loved ones and putting it out on display for guest to admire.

Another beautiful way to keep a piece of your loved ones with you when walking down the aisle, is to collect meaningful fabric (from mom’s or grandmother’s wedding dress or from father or grandfather’s shirt) and sewing it into the lining of their dress. 

Something New

The biggest item that is usually ‘something new’ is the bridal gown, but if a bride would like to take that a step further, some great ideas would be buying some new make-up, jewelry, or lingerie (who says it has to be something seen?) Even a new perfume would be great as every time you smell that scent you will be reminded of your wedding day!

If you are a bride that is taking your soon-to-be husband last name you can always get your soon-to-be new initials monogrammed on a necklace or even have it sewed on your veil! It will be your new name after all!

Something Borrowed

Usually something borrowed would be family jewelry, the dress, or even the veil. However, we have noticed a new and creative twist that brides are doing for this tradition! Why not rent a stunning hand bag for the day? There are a lot of websites to checkout to find a gorgeous handbag that you will use on your special day. The same can go for jewelry. By renting it for the night you can get a striking piece of jewelry that will compliment your wedding dress.

If you would like to do something more meaningful with your ‘something borrowed’ you can always borrow the jewelry that your mother wore on her wedding day. Or a sweet gesture would be to include your future mother-in-law and wear something of hers too!

And remember, it doesn’t have to be something that the bride has to wear… why not ‘borrow’ the First Dance song of a couple you admire? The couple would be so surprised and honored that you thought of them on your wedding day!

Something Blue

For the most part, a lot of brides will make their garter blue for this tradition, but the new twist popping up everywhere is taking that pop of color and putting it on their shoes!  We cannot get over how beautiful a blue show looks against a white or ivory gown!

Another stunning way to incorporate something blue would be to get blue stitching on the inside of the dress embroidered with your wedding date.

If none of this sounds appealing to you –or perhaps you just do not want the color blue on you for your big day- why not create a signature blue drink? That way you and your guest could enjoy this old tradition together!

 

Here is an added bonus:

The Groom

            Let us not forget the groom… It is his special day too! Some subtle but creative ways for him to participate in these traditions could be to wear heirloom cufflinks or even a tie from a close friend or relative that he admires (something borrowed or something old). Another sweet gesture would be to include his past loved ones in the collage table or even in the photos attached to your bouquet, I am sure your groom would appreciate the thought.  Something new could be a new tie, new shoes, or even new cologne.  For the Something Blue, he can incorporate this color with his boutonniere, in his cufflinks or as a fun pop of color in his socks!  No one said that the Bride had to be the only one participating in these traditions, so why let him have a little bit of fun too!

 

I hope these little tidbits of advice can help inspire you for your big day! What other ideas have you done to update these old traditions? Any past Brides out there that would like to give some creative ideas to what they did for their wedding day? I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment below!

 

BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now), 

Olivia

 

Wedding To Do Lists

Let’s face it, no matter how hard you try to stretch them, there are only 24 hours in a day. Take out the time you need for your work, sleeping, socializing, working out, and errand time – that leaves you with not much time to plan your wedding, unless you delegate.

The first thing a bride and groom should do is figure out how much time they can, and should, devote to planning their wedding. Every day, one day a week, or plan for a full straight month and get it over with?

Also, couples need to analyze their lifestyle and personalities at the current time. For example, is she busy at work? Is he working on his master’s degree? Is she super organized, or not? Is she a control freak? Is it the couple’s preference to spend time with their family and friends, etc. Life, or time, does not stop when you’re planning a wedding.  

Finally, a bride and groom are usually afraid to give up control of their wedding fearing they will lose that vision they have in mind. Who can blame them, it’s their day. So, what are they willing to let go of?

What should you delegate and to whom?

Delegate is a great word, when used wisely. We all delegate in some way. We look to experts to do our taxes, car repair, and even clean our car, because we either do not have the time or we’re just not good at it. A wedding, big or small, cannot happen unless a bride and groom share the celebration and tasks with other people.

If at all possible, leave it to the professionals. If you don’t know how to make centerpieces, hire a florist. If you don’t know how to sew, buy your dress. If you have a friend or relative who loves designing invitations, there you go! Hiring a wedding coordinator is ideal, because a coordinator can guide you thru almost everything. Even wedding planners hire other planners to help them, because they want to make sure your day goes off without a hitch. But the reality is, in today’s economy, and with our hectic schedules, we cannot afford to hire everybody we would like to help us.

So here’s what you do:

•   Find a few people in your life that you trust and are dependable.
• Give them a few small tasks at a time.
• Be specific: Don’t ask sweet Aunt Joan to “Call restaurants” for your rehearsal dinner, give her a detailed list to call and with a specific list of questions for each.
• Giving volunteers reasonable tasks will make them feel like they’re helping with your celebration, not serving as your personal assistant.
• Take the hardest task that is on your list and break it down into small tasks, and ask your bridesmaids to help you. You know which task that is – finding everybody’s address, the seating chart, the RSVPs, etc.
• Give your fiancé a task like buying the groomsmen gifts. You laugh? Give them a task, but remember break down that task. For example, determine your budget, then figure out your groomsmen’s style and personality, find a theme, and validate his ideas. You can give him ideas, but you should have him make the decision on what kind of gifts.
• Use a real checklist and check off what you accomplish.
• Don’t make the list too complicated, but do add who is assigned to each task.
• If you don’t have a list, you can’t see what you’ve done so far, or not.
• Only use one to-do list at a time.
• Do hire professionals for certain tasks.
• Don’t over delegate, even (especially!) to yourself.
• Don’t under delegate, unless your helper is your 5-year old flower girl.
• Be grateful and show appreciation to your helpers. Saying thank you and giving them a hug is often enough.
• After you read this, start your checklist.

BBFN (Bridal Bliss For Now), 

Olivia