The year started much like other years—setting business goals, laying out plans, achieving milestones, and overcoming challenges. Wedding professionals put stakes in the ground and began to develop plans to meet and exceed their professional and personal goals. However, that was January and February, March arrived with a bang and hit us all like a bulldozer. Instead of tackling the goals laid out in the beginning of the year, professionals across multiple industries began adopting terms like “pivoting” and started to define what that meant for them and their business. We all quickly had to adjust and acclimate to these new set of circumstances.
For wedding professionals, it meant redefining what was traditionally envisioned for wedding celebrations. Instead of offering lavish and large weddings where numerous loved ones, family, and friends are welcomed together, we all had to rethink our priorities of what a wedding celebration would look like now versus in the future. As wedding planners, we help our clients navigate between choosing to postpone or not to postpone. Those two options have both pros and cons associated with them, and as we walk through these scenarios, planners have the unique opportunity to present the related questions and considerations to help our clients come to their best possible resolution.
Subsequently, due to the current events, there's been a revitalization to the elopement style wedding celebration. This genre of events is unique in nature as it allows brides and grooms to enjoy the decadences of a larger wedding while still remaining very intimate. Creative elements such as fine art stationery, artfully created wedding cakes, and organic, free-formed floral designs can still be enjoyed throughout the wedding day. Newlyweds can also opt for a king’s style table where they're seated with all who they hold most dear while conversing and laughing over delectable foods and savory wines.
Therefore, many couples are having to decide what an elegantly quaint elopement or intimately elaborate wedding means for them and their long-established wedding vision. As wedding planners provide their input, clients consider an elopement style option to celebrate their union. Questions and/or considerations event planners can present to couples who are exploring this alternative are:
- What matters most to them individually and as a couple?
- How much value and importance is placed on having a large wedding bustling with people?
- Is this wedding vision something they've always dreamt of having?
- If opting for a smaller wedding, how will the decision to have a smaller celebration sit with them in years to come?
- Would it be something that they would be thankful for or would it be something that may come with regrets?
- What does a smaller more intimate wedding look like for them personally?
- What attributes/words come to their mind as they envision an elopement style wedding?
- Are these favorable words and characteristics?
- Have they considered doing both? For example, have the ceremony now and a large, lavish wedding later.
By helping couples navigate between the pros and cons of a traditional wedding versus an elopement style wedding, planners become a pivotal resource in assisting them in reaching their best possible solution: one that's been well thought through and tackled from multiple angles. Ultimately, clients will most appreciate the planning expertise throughout these unconventional and challenging times.
Pro Tip: You may find yourself in a similar situation in the near future helping couples navigate between a traditional wedding versus an elopement wedding. And with Style Guide templates, you can streamline your process by getting the design conversation started quickly, and off on the right foot, with all the same flexibility and collaborative experience with your team, your vendor partners, and your clients.
Want to see more from Jennifer? Check out her website novalee-events.com!
Hero photo courtesy Ariel Miles Photography
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