How long have you been a wedding planner? Tell us a little bit about Clementine Custom Events.
I have been planning weddings for 18 years! Before I opened Clementine Custom Events I worked at a large catering and event planning company for 7 years. I started Clementine in 2009 by myself and I worked really hard planning, producing and helping to create about 50 weddings in my first 2 years of business. As the business grew I began bringing on Senior Event Consultants to join me in growing Clementine. Currently we’re a team of 8 Senior Event Consultants and we all have different backgrounds which really helps to diversify our experience portfolio. We don’t specialize in a singular style of event, we’re extremely flexible and creative to help our clients put together the wedding they envision!
Why should a bride or groom consider hiring a planner?
Hiring a planner is one of the best gifts you can give yourself during your engagement. We feel that having a planner helps to make the entire planning process a smooth and enjoyable experience. We’re able to really focus on your style, budget and venue to help you stay on track in order to achieve the look, feel and flow of your big day. We are not emotionally invested into your event (the way that you, your family and friends are) so we are able to see things much more clearly and it helps to make the right decisions.
What should a client expect a planner to do for them?
We will streamline the entire planning process for you so that you’re still making all the decisions but it’s being guided by a professional. We’ll help you come up with ideas you hadn’t considered. We will make sure to keep you on track and help you to avoid making any logistical errors. We will introduce you to the vendors we know will be the perfect fit for you based on your own personality, budget and style. We will help you to communicate with your vendors to ensure we’re all working together as a team and that every detail is accounted for. On the wedding day, we are there to make sure everything is going to plan and if there are any issues, we’re there to problem solve and keep things moving. We will make sure that everything is taken care of and that we’re staying on schedule so that you and your loved ones can fully enjoy yourselves.
What is the difference between a ‘day of’ or ‘full on’ planner?
We have a lot of couples that will choose Full Event Planning, which is all the bells and whistles. We will get involved very early on into the planning process. We will work together for the entire engagement and we will partner with all your individual vendors. We will have a lot of meetings and brainstorming sessions where we are very hands-on for example the catering tastings, invitations meetings and floral samples. We will help you to ensure that everything is matching up beautifully between the venue, the floral design, the menu and the stationary. We will think through every single detail and all the logistics for the big day.
Day of Coordination (DOC) is when the couple has planned the entire wedding themselves. About a month before the big day, we swoop in to learn all the details. We will start asking questions to make sure you’ve thought of everything. We will help you with the timeline and floor plans to ensure everything is logistically sound. We will make sure we fully understand everything you have planned so that we can manage your day seamlessly. Regardless of Full Planning or Day of Coordination, we will absolutely be there on the wedding day.
What do you feel are the three most important things to think about when planning your wedding?
There are so many elements involved when planning a wedding. Our tried and true advice is as follows. 1) Trust yourself. Be true to who you are as a couple and you can’t go wrong. We’re big advocates on creating a wedding that works for YOU…..we don’t much care for what your cousin did, or what your friend did or what is plastered all over the internet. We want to hear from YOU and then we’ll guide you to make sure it’s stylish and enhances your venue. 2) Speaking of venues, you must respect your chosen venue. Do not try and make your venue into something it isn’t….. we can enhance the venue with lighting, flowers, fabric and hanging installations all day long, but the biggest need to respect is the flow and function of the space itself so the floor plans are KEY to a successful event. 3) The most important key factor to keep in mind while planning your wedding is to trust your event professionals, we have your best interest at heart and we’ve planned hundreds of events so we know what will work and what won’t work, we are here to guide you, trust us! If the trust is there, you will have the most enjoyable experience and you’ll feel confident and relaxed the entire planning process and on your big day!