On Trusting Your Wedding Vendors

The more weddings I plan (I’m in my 8th year as a wedding planner and designer and have planned large scale events for many years longer!), the more I know this to be true: the more you trust your wedding vendors to do their thing, the better it is for everyone. When couples and their families innately trust their thoughtfully chosen and carefully selected wedding vendors, magic will surely happen! That trust needs to be built and cultivated along the way, as trust simply does not happen in a split moment. For an event as monumental as a wedding day, it’s a very, very big deal for couples and families to invest in vendors that they feel are excellent fits for their wedding, and I don’t know a single wedding vendor or creative partner who doesn’t take that trust incredibly seriously. After all, wedding vendors’ businesses are built upon trust and integrity, and business ownership isn’t for the faint of heart. Wedding vendors put so much heart, care, intention, time, money, blood/sweat/tears, and love into their small businesses and also into serving their clients well.

As a wedding planner and designer, artistry is such an important facet of who I am, what my work encompasses, and what I bring to the table. I’m speaking for myself here (though I imagine many creatives feel similarly), but I know that I do my very best, most creative, and most unique work when my couples trust me to do my thing and do it well for them. I am a designer, stylist, and artist with my own aesthetic and design style, and I think I’m pretty darn good at what I do and what I provide. I have a signature style, of course, but as an artist and a designer, I’m also able to create and design a wedding that has my influence and eye in the vision and stylistic decisions yet one that ultimately represents and epitomizes the preferences, style, and hearts of my clients for their wedding. At the end of the day, my goal is to make sure my couples are unbelievably thrilled with the result, both in terms of the look and feel of the wedding day – and also in the seamless execution of their wedding. It is their wedding day, after all, and nothing makes me happier than seeing brides, grooms, and their families who are left in awe of their wedding! Their wedding should absolutely be a reflection of who they are and tell their love story. The best feeling, to put it succinctly, is when a wedding guest or loved one can say, “Wow, this wedding is SO [insert couple’s names!] and reflects them perfectly, and I bet Stephanie Shaul Events planned and designed it!”

It is definitely a balancing act to express myself artistically and creatively, create a cohesive and seamless vision, work within the parameters of time and budget, ensure every single logistical detail is perfect, run a successful and profitable business (since this is what the foundation of a business is about!), all the while taking my couples’ style and design preferences and opinions into account. It’s incredibly important for me to connect with my couples on a deep level and build the trust between us that allows me the freedom to guide them well – and both plan and design from my heart, for them. I am with my couples from the start of the wedding planning process to the very end of their wedding day, so we spend a whole lot of time with one another! I am guiding them every step of the way with my expertise, my wisdom, excitement for their wedding and marriage, my heart, and my artistry, both with the logistics and also with the design, vendors, and budget. I consider myself their advocate throughout the wedding planning process. I am there to serve them wholeheartedly. I have their very best interests in my heart and on my mind throughout every decision, and they trust me to do my job with integrity and a whole lot of faith in me. It is a privilege! When my clients deeply trust me, I feel like I am able to do my very best work, pull together a dream vendor team, stick to the budget, design a wedding that looks and feels like them and what they want, create something that’s cohesive and intentional from start to finish, and also allows for the most unforgettable, joyful, magical wedding planning experience and wedding day.

From the beginning, though, it’s so very important for engaged couples to select vendors that they feel innately comfortable with and fully confident in: and then to trust your vendors. It’s so helpful to express how you want your wedding day to feel, since that ultimately influences so many of the decisions along the way and creates a much clearer vision for how you want your wedding day to unfold. Let us serve you with what we do best and what we’re an expert in. We’ve done this a hundred times, if not more. We love our clients, and we love what we do – and we’re very, very good at it. Allow your vendors to take the stress and burdens of wedding planning off of your shoulders so that we can work our magic for you. At the end of the day, I want every bride, groom, family member, and friend to be fully present at your wedding. What a gift this is! I want you to feel like a guest at your own wedding, to relish in and savor every special moment along the way, to feel as much joy and love as possible; to celebrate without abandon, and to have a deeply fulfilling, meaningful, and unforgettable wedding day surrounded by your loved ones as you start your marriage. We want you to experience all of this so fully, and it is pure magic when it happens! Trust me.