Sarah and Hunter

This weekend, we were out at the beautiful Driftwood Estates Winery managing an equally beautiful wedding.  Sarah and Hunter were truly one of the sweetest couples I have had the pleasure to work with.  Sarah was such a laid back bride and she created a fun festive atmosphere for her special day.

Wedding Ingredients:

Venue- Driftwood Estates Winery

Photography- Tyler Schmitt, The Mill Photography Studio

Cupcakes- Sweet Treet Bakery

Flowers- Bouquets of Austin, Becky

DJ- Music 4 Life, DJ RJ

Rentals- Austin's World of Rentals

Catering- Flores

Coordinator- The Fairytale Effect, Rachel Stepanov

What is a Wedding Planner: The Details Part Three

Now Excepting Candidates for FREE Wedding Planninsg Services.  Please call or email: 512.657.7209 or thefairytaleeffect@gmail.com

Today we're going to continue our look at planning services provided by your wedding planner.  

1)     Delivery of Welcome Baskets

When there are many out of town guest, its nice for them to receive a little welcome gift waiting for them in their hotel rooms.  Seeing as a lot of the guests will be arriving when the bride and the families are their busiest, its logical for the wedding planner to deliver these to the hotels.  I will deliver to up to three hotels.  For an additional fee, your wedding planner can assemble the welcome baskets for you as long as you provide what all the basket entails.  

2)    Complete Planning of the Subsequent Parties

Your wedding planner can also plan the other parties associated with your wedding.  This includes engagement parties, bridal showers, and the rehearsal dinner.  A planner would do the same services that she would preform for a wedding; assistants with hiring vendors, assistants with rentals, creating a party agenda, and executing that agenda, set-up and clean-up. 

3)     Arrangement of Group Transportation

Not one of my favorite add-on services, but it is popular. Group transportation is needed particularly when their are a lot of out of town guests and when the wedding venue is in a more remote location.  Your wedding planner can arrange all of the group transportation for you, making sure to find a company that meets all your requirements and is in your price range.

4)     Wedding Gown Shopping

Your wedding planner can help you find that perfect dress.  I have a little bit of an insight on this particular add-on, seeing as I got my start in the wedding industry as a wedding gown consultant for David's Bridal.  For three separate bridal gown boutiques, your wedding planner will schedule shopping appointments, help you select your gowns to try on, help you get dressed in your gowns (if you would like), teach you the proper way to wear the gown (yes there is a proper way), and help to pick out accessories to complement the look you are trying to achieve.

5)     Assembling Wedding Items

There is a lot of assembly required to pull off a wedding.  If you need someone to put together your send-off items, your guest favors, your invitations, your welcome baskets, your programs, or anything else, your wedding planner can accomplish this task.  She can also address your invitations for you.

The Fairytale Effect can add any of these services to your wedding planning package and if you have something specific in mind that isn't listed, just ask....we can probably do it for you!  

What is a Wedding Planner: The Details Part Two

 Now accepting candidates for free wedding planning services.  Please call or email: 512.657.7209, thefairytaleeffect@gmail.com

 A wedding planner might be a little bit more involved in the planning process depending on the bride.  There are many different reasons why a bride would hire a planner for more detailed services, but there are two main reasons that I've come across; 1) the bride is from out of town and she is doing the planning remotely and 2) the bride is too busy to do the planning on her own.  Either way, all of the final decisions are made by the bride, the planner is just executing and adding to the bride's vision of her wedding day.
  Below you will find some of the other services a wedding planner can provide followed by a brief description of those services:

1)    Vendor Meetings

For this service, your wedding planner will  act as your secretary and will book your vendor meetings.  I include meetings with three of the same vendor, so if you were to hire me for your photographer meetings I would book three photographers for us to meet with.  Once at the meeting I would take notes, offer feedback, and negotiate pricing.  After the meeting I would type and send you the notes.  Once we've met with all the photographers, I would type up and give you a comparison of all three and then I would tell the vendors of your selection so that you would not have to have an awkward conversation with those that you did not select.
I offer a different option for my brides, as well.  Its kind of an in-between option in which I do all the leg work for the bride.  I research all vendors in a particular category to find which vendors meet the bride's specific needs and I then call to make sure that they are available for the wedding date.  After that, I present the bride with my research (along with reviews of wedding professionals that have used this particular vendor) and from there the bride will tell me which vendors she would like to meet.  I would setup the appointments, but I would not attend the meetings.  Afterwards, I would let the vendor know of the bride's decision.


2)     Additional Consultant Meetings

Some examples of these meetings would be to order rentals, visit venues, work on the budget, arrange transportation, attend a tasting, or to attend another vendor's meeting.

3)     Budget Tracking

This is a continuous budget that begins when the planner is hired.  The budgeted amount is determined by what a bride is willing to spend extra on and what a bride is wanting to save on.  Once the vendor is hired the planner will adjust the entire budget to reflect the costs.  If more is spent than what is budgeted, costs will be taken from another vendor to offset the amount.

4)     Returning of Rentals

This a popular add on service.  After the wedding is complete, there are many items that need to be returned.  First there is the obvious; the items from the rental company (which includes tables, linens, place settings, etc), but there are also less obvious rentals such as the cake stand and (even though is not a rental) the left over alcohol.  Instead of finding a friend or family member to do this, your wedding planner can do this for you.

5)     Maintenance of RSVPs

This is nice little add-on.  Instead of having RSVPs sent to the bride (or family) they can be sent to the wedding planner.  She will then keep track of all the RSVPs on a spreadsheet, update the bride with the guest count and then before the head count is due she will call non-responsive guests (if provided with the guest list and contact information).

Stay tuned for details of services provided by a wedding planner.

What is a Wedding Planner: The Details Part One

Now Taking Candidates for Free Wedding Planning Services.
Call 512.657.7209 or email austinbudgetweddingplanner@gmail.com

 

After you hire a wedding planner, the planning begins.  How involved your wedding planner is in planning is dependent upon you, the services you've decided to purchase, and how much of the wedding you've already planned.  No matter what, all Fairytale brides do receive a little bit of help with the planning that is remaining after we've been hired.  Each bride receives a personalized preferred vendors list with suggestions on what particular vendors they should hire.  When going through the initial consultation, the planner will ask preferences on different vendors; do you like rich or light and fluffy cakes, what type photography style do you prefer?  The way you answer these questions along with your budget are how your preferred vendors are determined.  This information is golden!  Because of a wedding planner's experience with multiple vendors, she will be able to provide with you a perfect match effortlessly, saving you time and money.
  Another tool all Fairytale brides receive is a personalized checklist.  This helps to keep the bride on task and get all the planning details taken care of in a timely manner.  Depending on how much help is needed, the bride can also ask for monthly reminders.
  The last thing that all Fairytale brides receive no matter how much planning services they require is access to the wedding planner.  If there is ever any issues or questions, your planner is there for you.  This is another experience perk.  Most people don't have the luxury of planning hundreds of wedding, but your wedding planner does.  Through experience, she is able to help you with logistics, etiquette, traditions, trouble shooting, you name it, she's probably seen it.  All Fairytale brides have access to their wedding planner from 8am until 8pm without any other limitations.  If your planner doesn't answer right away, she will get back to you within twenty-four hours (most of the time sooner).
  These are just the minimal planning details that your wedding planner preforms.  Stay tuned next time for The Details Part Two, in which we will talk about specialized planning services.

What's in a Name: The Fairytale Effect

 

 I came up with the name The Fairytale Effect as a way to describe what I would like to achieve with this project.  The name came to me when I considered the Butterfly Effect.  Most people know of the movie, but as a summary, the Butterfly Effect is an example used to explain the sensitivity dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory.  Basically the theoretical theory states that a hurricane can be formed by a butterfly flapping its wings several weeks before the storm.  So another way of explaining it, a seemingly minor event (butterfly flapping its wings) can lead to something of greater significance (a hurricane). Now how did I apply this theory to weddings and fairytales?  I wanted to inspire and encourage all couples to live the fairytale 'Happily Ever After' by finding couples that are an inspiration for many and creating their fairytale wedding.  I wanted not only the couple, but also all their guests to be changed by their story and their Happily Ever After.  So, again, a seemingly minor event  (attending a wedding) can lead to something of greater significance (being inspired to live your Happily Ever After).
  If you believe that you are or if you know of a well deserving, inspiring, loving couple with a budget of $5,000 or less and live in the Austin/Central Texas area, please email me at austinbudgetweddingplanner@gmail.com or call 512.657.7209.

About Me: Rachel Stepanov

 

Now booking weddings for December and 2013.  For a free initial consultation email or call, austinbudgetweddingplanner@gmail.com or 512-657-7209.  Wedding planning services no higher than $750!!

   My husband and I were engaged in 2004 after two years of dating, and thus started my wedding career.  I loved every part about planning my wedding, working on every detail, and dreaming about the day to come. It was actually my husband that had planted the idea of me becoming a wedding planner, and after initial stipulation that idea took on roots and grew.

  I did things a bit backwards; before I had any experience as a wedding planner, I educated myself and became certified by Penn Foster University.  A few months went by, my wedding took place and I then became a "wedding consultant" for David's Bridal.  While at David's, I began an internship at one of the top wedding planning companies here in Austin.  After about six months, I was then hired as a wedding planner for another top Austin company and worked as a company owned wedding planner for a year and half.  

  After that, I went into business for myself, and became more successful than I could have imagined.  After not even being in business for a complete year, I was named The Best of The Knot; a coveted award voted by past clients.  Not only do you have to be voted, but you have receive multiple votes.

  In September of 2010, against all odds, I became pregnant with triplets and decided to sell my business to take care of my unique pregnancy.  I became a mother on April 1st, 2011 and have been enjoying the experience of raising triplets ever since.  As mentioned before, I decided to exclusively return to the wedding industry on accordance to God's will and inspired by Proverbs 31:10-31, the story of the Virtuous Wife.

Why You Need a Wedding Planner

It used to be that wedding planners were only for the wealthy and famous, but with the typical wedding becoming more and more elaborate and with more couples paying for their own weddings while working a full time job, the necessity for wedding planners has boomed. Not only are planners helping to pull all the details together, they can also be a valuable resource for finding the right vendor for the right price....Many times, vendors will even give the brides a discount, just for using a wedding planner.
Don't take my word for it. Recently, I stumbled across this article:

Leslie Ramos & Jason Carmona
The key to Leslie and Jason’s flawless Texas wedding is simple—hiring a day-of wedding planner to ensure every detail went just right on their big day. While the couple planned the majority of the wedding, hiring Buon Affare Events relieved unnecessary stress during the wedding. “Rachel [our wedding planner] was the key to our wedding being a success. She ensured that the day flowed perfectly and that all issues were handled without it interrupting our evening. If anything went wrong, we certainly didn’t notice!” says the couple.

To share their vegan ethics with guests, Leslie and Jason not only perfected their reception menu, featuring pear-walnut empanadas and green apple and jicama stew, but also handed out Farm Sanctuary glasses to guests as favors, igniting many powerful conversations about the sanctuary and veganism after the celebration.

As unforgettable as the ceremony was, Leslie and Jason say they’ll never forget their honeymoon, sponsored by family and friends, which included a music tour of the UK, as well as a food tour of Amsterdam. “To this day and forever, we still find ourselves daydreaming of our three-week European honeymoon,” say Leslie and Jason.

The couple were an ordinary, everyday couple, that were busy with their careers and didn't have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on a wedding planner, but decided to have somebody in charge so that they and their family could enjoy the celebration.
*Article written by By Melissa Feineman for Vegan Weddings,http://www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=2252&catId=6

Wedding Planner 2.0

  Here I am, a mother of 19 month old triplets, thinking that I left weddings in my past to start a new life as a stay at home mother.  So why am I returning?  As a mother we always look for ways to become the best we can be at the most important job there is. That thinking led me to a group called MOPs (mothers of preschoolers).  At MOPs  the kids go and play while the moms listen to a guest speaker among other things.
  At one meeting we listen to this phenomenal speaker talk about budget and our role as wives and mothers. She mentioned something that hit a chord to me....It is every women's job to contribute in her own way to the budget.  Now that might mean different things to different women depending on what you can offer.  You can do it by saving at the grocery store, clipping coupons, our making bows to sell on Etsy.  Its about finding what you can do to contribute no matter how large or small your contribution is.  Well, I don't have time to clip coupons and I'm just not crafty enough to sell on Etsy, so I thought of what I could do....Wedding planning!
  Here's my plan; I'm simplifying wedding planning...No advertising, no wedding shows, no website, only 'month of services', and only one wedding a month.  So, what does that mean for my brides.  First of all, they only find me by word of mouth or they stumble upon this blog.  It also means that my brides get an amazing deal. Having my services set-up this way allows me to charge at the most $750.
  Here's what goes into the $750:
- One initial consultation (no obligation and completely free of charge)
- Eight hours on the day of the wedding (with one assistant)
- One hour rehearsal
- One two hour venue meeting
- Construction of Wedding Day Agenda
- Construction of floor plan
- Construction of set-up checklist
- Use of wedding emergency kit
  Looks good?  So how can you get a hold of me.  You can email me at austinweddingbudgetplanner@gmail.com or you can call me at 512-657-7209.  Hoping to hear from you soon!