Why I sometimes need to shut up

Beth Helmstetter, one of my favorite planners in the industry & my dear Angela wrote a great post on
'How to reduce stress from planning' and I thought I would also pitch in my two cents.

As a planner, it's a blessing & a curse that I have an opinion about everything. I spend countless hours making my clients' weddings oh-so beautiful within the budget that I often loose sight of telling my brides to 'enjoy' & make it about just the two of you, not about the details or what will be captured on camera. Sure, this is the reason why brides hire me in the first place to tell them honestly which direction they're headed, where they should go & what will look better and fitting but I sometimes just need to shut up & respect their decision. Yes, I said it. I need to shut up.

The fact of the matter is, unless there's something out of the ordinary and spectacular in the wedding that I haven't already seen in the blog world, I don't get impressed too easily. With all these 'inspiration to reality' photoshoots with great inspirational wedding blogs by planners and wedding professionals, it's hard not to look at the details and define a great wedding by just looking at the photos. It's so wrong for us to judge/define a great wedding based on who their photographer is, which venue they decide to go with & what kind of rentals & florists they use when weddings are all about celebrating their first chapter of husband & wife to be. At the end of the day, who cares if the couple decides not to use chiavari chairs as long as they solely vowed in front of all their guests.

I've seen brides make a choice and then get confused and doubt their decisions when they see something prettier & better on a blog. They're not able to fully embrace what they have and envy after all the pretty things around the blog world. Too much of prettiness is not always good. They can either make you doubt your own decisions and not fully embrace and appreciate your own wedding & your budget. Do keep in mind that your decision is the right one for you and not everything out there fits every wedding. And also note that there will always be something more beautiful & better in years to come. The vintage trend right now will soon go away & who knows when chocolate brown as a complimentary color will come back? :)

Lisa of Anderson Green Events wrote a great post and I couldn't agree more!
"If you keep changing your mind about choices or decisions - you've lost the confidence in that idea. You've lost the confidence to believe that that idea is appropriate for your wedding.... Use the important ideas / thoughts / feelings to guide you in your decision making process. Then, use your budget as a guide so that you don't overspend, lose your confidence and then panic. Then stick to your guns."

My piece of advice for soon-to-be brides who are spending countless hours online for inspirations: Limit what you see online & don't listen to everybody. There's no way you can please everyone-not even your planner. :)

Who cares if your wedding photos are not published in a magazine?
Who cares if your photos don't float around in the blog world? Our main goal for having a wedding is not about that.

You can refer back to my post I wrote almost 2 years ago about 're-defining' a perfect wedding and let's once again, 're-define' what it means to have a perfect wedding by focusing on our couples & their sincere love for each other which is the main reason why they're getting married.

Susie & Henry Tie The Knot

No matter what the trend is lately, wedding is about you and your husband-to-be and it should be a reflection of who you are & what you love.

I met Susie at the Fairmont about 4-5 months ago before her big day and the moment I saw her, I was mesmerized by her grace and beauty. Henry is one lucky man because I could stare at Susie all day! Susie's love for anything clean, simple yet elegant was apparent in her love for the calla lilies & all things white. And I'm so glad Allison of Flower Allie understood our vision and she totally delivered exactly what Susie had in mind on the day.

I'm sure all the vendors that worked with Susie would agree that she was the most detail oriented bride. Ever! At one point during the planning phase, I honestly doubted if she really needed me. LOL :) She was the one sending me revisions to our timeline and following up with all the vendors. Nevertheless, she wrote me the sweetest review on Project Wedding and I was so honored to be able to witness two beautiful families joining together as one.

It makes every planner's job that much easier when the couple get to relax and enjoy the hard work that been put into their special day. There was a sense of peace and calmness in Susie's eyes, no sight of frustration or worry. Here are some STUNNING images from Marisa Holmes.

LOVE LOVE the bouquet! Fluffy white & blush pink peonies with sweet peas, fluffy goodness!

You ladies are rockin those shoes! Also loving the dresses & the necklace from J Crew

Guys looking quite dapper themselves!

Isn't she just FLAWLESS?

Now onto some details..

The reception ballroom was clean, elegant & all white! Just as Susie imagined it to be! Thanks to Flower Allie for going above & beyond.



Susie ordered DDR's cookies and we set up milk shooters at the end of the evening which were gone in 30 min. :)

The Chong sisters couldn't be more beautiful.. I'm a bit jealous over here.. :)

Susie & Henry,
I know you had several other planners/coordinators lined up for your wedding and I felt quite honored to be chosen among them! :)
You are both so blessed with support and love from your fabulous families and friends and thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of it. I was always met with genuine smiles and gratitude and so happy that you were able to truly enjoy the day.
Can't wait to hear what God has in store for you two and looking forward to hearing all the updates!

Bella & Kevin Tie The Knot (Sneak Peek)

While I am dying over here to see the pro shots of Bella & Kevin's wedding, here are some sneak peek taken by Kristine Shin who created all the floral arrangements. Hope you come back real soon because their 'Needle & Thread' inspired wedding was executed with total sweet, fun & shabby-chic perfection!

Please tell me that their cake topper is the cutest thing on earth. You're gonna go crazy when you actually see the couple's pictures because it's an exact replica!

A TON of details to follow soon..