FAQs
Want to know more about how we work and if we’re the best fit for you? Check out these frequently asked questions and/or set an appointment with us to get to know us better. We’d love to meet you!
How are we here for you?
Our promise to you is simple. We want your planning experience and event day to be smooth and fun. To do this, we focus on getting to know you and your goals for your event, whether it be a magical wedding day, fabulous birthday party or an exciting holiday party. From there, our service levels are broken down into simple and natural design and planning steps to keep everything on track and make sure no detail is overlooked. Once it’s all wrapped up and ready to go, our team executes the plans with your vendor team to make sure it all goes according to plan while you can stay present and enjoy the day.
Do you have a minimum budget you work with? Will you work within our budget?
We do not have a required minimum budget for our client’s events. What we look for from our clients are those who want more of a concierge experience. For example, when shopping for a pair of jeans, you might shop at Walmart, Target, Nordstrom, or Neiman Marcus. The difference of shopping at these places is the quality of the jeans but also the quality of the customer service. Our clients typically want the Nordstrom experience when it comes to planning their wedding, top customer service in helping them find exactly what they want at a great quality. Our clients often want the most “bang for their buck” but spend what they need to get what they want.
Our job is to be your guide in planning the perfect event, bringing you the options you need for the budget, style and personality that works for you. We will absolutely do our best to work within your budget. This is a discussion we have in our complimentary consultation to better establish what your needs are and set general expectations for what you might need to spend to accomplish your goals. We promise to be honest in our meeting about if we have the resources to accommodate your budget or if we might not be the best fit.
What services do you offer?
For planning events, we offer three different service levels. Here's a quick summary of these levels:
Elite Service
We handle everything from design, planning and event coordination. Our design process not only guarantees a beautiful and cohesively styled event, but it also saves our clients time as we handle many of the design team meetings for them, presenting all their options in one meeting instead of running from vendor to vendor to make design selections.
Full Service
We guide you every step of the way, making the planning process simple, organized and fun! We work with you from the very beginning, starting with creating your budget and finding your venue, to matching you with the perfect vendors to make it all happen. We’ll work through wrapping it all up and finalizing the details, then coordinating the big day to make sure it all happens as planned so you and your guests can enjoy every moment.
Wedding/Event Day Management
This service focuses on wrapping up the planning process and executing your wedding/event day. On event day, we work with your vendor team, serving as the project manager to make sure everything goes smoothly behind and in front of the curtain so to speak, so you and your guests get to enjoy every moment. We serve as the project manager, coordinating the vendor team and all the details to make sure everything goes as planned.
Contact us for a complimentary consultation to see what planning service might be best for you and your event. Please note, we do not offer hourly or personal assistant style day-of service. If you are looking for someone to simply check off your to-do list or set decor, we are happy to offer recommendations for companies that are fabulous at this.
How many weddings/events do you take on?
We typically do 30-40 events per year, but this completely depends on the complexity of the events. We evaluate not only our date availability, but the workload involved and what our team has the capacity for. We never have more than one event per week for a lead planner, so our focus is not split between events.
What do you mean by team planning or the capacity your team has?
One of the reasons our clients choose to work with us is because of our concept of team planning. We have more than one lead planner on staff and our entire team is aware of all the events we are working on. We have many systems in place to document where our clients are in the process, their decisions so far and what is happening with them. Because of this, if something should cause your lead planner to be unavailable during the planning process or on event day, our other team members are able to jump in and keep things moving smoothly with no hiccups or difficult transitions. Our clients love the feeling that they are covered no matter what and we have their backs!
What other services do you offer?
Paper
We LOVE paper, so we started offering stationery services to those we work with for planning and anyone else who needs these wonderful products. There are so many things to do with paper, from invitations and personal stationery to holiday cards and coasters! You can check out a complete list of what we offer here.
Signs
Signs are also a fun trend in the event industry, and we have those too! From mirrors to wood, to acrylic and posters, we can help with event signage or everyday signs for use in your home.
Welcome Bags
What better way to make your guests feel special than receiving a treat upon arrival to their hotel? We offer custom welcome bag options, including fun and tasty items from local McKinney vendors to show off our roots. Free delivery is included to hotels in McKinney!
What exactly do you do on wedding day? What do we not need to worry about?
First, we act as your project manager on wedding and event day, making sure the venue is ready, the vendors are checked in, the deliverables are correct, and everyone is on time. Second, we take care of the little details. You can count on us to make sure flowers get pinned, everyone gets down the aisle on time and in the correct order, as well as setting out all the little things like your guest book and that perfect photo of your grandmother on the memorial table. We’ll guide you through the day, from bustling your dress, to cueing everyone for their toasts, being there to help make things run smoothly and feel natural. At the end, we’ll help pack up all those little things you have and get them to the right person or in their car. We’ll make sure the vendors get packed up, checked out with the venue and everything is done on time.
Things we do not include are creating centerpieces or hanging things from the rafters. (We don’t do ladders.). While we will help with making sure everything is in the right place, we need help when moving furniture. (While we are strong women, we aren’t bodybuilders.). We will always discuss these things with you from the start and make sure you have the resources needed to accomplish these things, typically making sure you have the right vendors on board for what you need. If there’s ever any question, on your part or ours, we’ll make sure to talk it out and it gets taken care of!
Can you get us discounts?
While some of our wedding partners may offer the professional courtesy of a planner discount, which we absolutely pass on to you, we choose to work with vendors who offer fair prices for their quality of services and products up front. Because of this, we do not need to negotiate with our vendors on behalf of our clients. Our value is not based on discounts, but on the quality of our services, our experience in budgeting and the relationships we have with our vendor teams.
How do we stay organized?
Oh, the systems we have in place! First, all our wedding and event planning clients receive access to our online system. In this system, we track everything from budget, checklists, and guest lists to vendor contracts and floor plans. It’s all available 24/7 so you can check it anytime. We also tend to hold most of our meetings over Zoom. This allows everyone involved in the planning process to attend and stay in the loop, whether out town, out of state, or even out of the country. Even for our local clients, we find that if there’s no travel time involved, it makes it easier to work meetings around their schedules. Finally, we are excellent notetakers. In every meeting you’ll see we write down every detail and make sure that those items show up in vendor contracts and documentation, so nothing gets overlooked.