Thank you for your submissions! Lauren received so many great questions from brides to be! This will be an ongoing thing, so please continue to send them our way! Now, onto the first part of questions!
Q: What should no wedding be without?
Lauren: Uplighting. Fabulous uplighting really sets an average wedding apart from a grande wedding. Lighting transforms a space like nothing else.
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to a newly engaged couple to prepare them for wedding planning, what would it be?
A: Set a budget. Wedding planning will be THAT much easier if you have a pre-determined budget. Your wedding planner will let you know what should be spent in each category, and ensure that you don't go over, but you as a couple should come up with a number, even if it's a range. Couples who have an idea of how much they are willing to spend are less likely to have huge arguments along the way.
Q: What made you want to become a wedding planner?
A: It's so rewarding. Planning the perfect event not only involves a ton of attention to detail and countless hours planning, but it also involves spending money, and a lot of it. There are limited times in one's life where a person needs to shell out this much cash for one thing {car, house, college, wedding, etc}. I get the need to want the most for your money, and at the same time I get the need for quality. I love helping brides. The need for the day to go well, the need for perfection, the need to see what you picture play out, I love it. And, I love helping brides achieve it.
I love bringing visions to life. To see what starts with coming up with ideas alongside brides, to bringing them out on paper, to then seeing the vision live, right in front of you day of is one of the best feelings ever. I love seeing happy couples. It's THE most special day of their lives, and I helped make it beautiful and stress-free. What could be better?
Q: Why weddings and not other events?
A: Corporate-type events are fun, and as long as you're in budget you have a lot of free reign, but they're not personal. I love working with brides and weddings because it's such a personal event. And yes, planning a corporate event is SO different than planning a wedding or social event. Just because you've been successful planning one, doesn't mean you'll be good planning the other.
Q's For Lauren: Part I
6/10/2011
Lauren Paige Associates
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring wedding planners?
A: It's not nearly as glamorous as it looks on TV or in magazines. You have to have a special type of personality and a real passion for the job to be a planner. It's a no judging zone. The word bridezilla doesn't exist in a planners vocabulary. The brides vision of the day becomes your vision. You're working for her and need to make it happen and her happy. Planning is a lot of work. Day of is especially a lot of work, you're talking 14+ hour days. My advice is to intern at a planning agency before making a commitment to the field. If this is something you're prepared for, and you're ready to go into the planning world full force, have fun with it! You get to meet so many amazing people and if you love your job you're going to do an amazing job!
