WHAT DOES TIL DEATH EVENTS DO?
So you’re engaged, you want to start planning your wedding and you’ve thought about hiring a wedding planner, but what exactly does a wedding planner or bespoke stylist do? And what’s the difference between styling and planning?
These are the most common questions we are asked when we meet new couples at a fair or event. Even meeting a couple for the first time, they often have a lot of questions when it comes to what exactly it is that we can do and what we can offer to them.
PLANNING
Unlike styling, you probably have a pretty general idea about Planning, but what about the process? To take the confusion out of the planning process, we’ve put together a point by point breakdown to simplify this for you:
- Under both Styling and Planning, we always kick things off with a one on one meeting, phone call or zoom (whatever fits into your schedule!) to get to know each other. During this meeting we’ll discuss all sorts of things such as where you’re at with your planning so far, what you’re hoping to get some help with and a very honest discussion about your budget. We’ll also cover things like how you guys met, what will you be wearing and will your dogs be joining us for the big day!
- Once you’ve established what service is best suited to you, we take over your supplier management and reach out to everyone you’ve already hired. We’ll also begin sourcing the best suppliers for you and your fiancé, taking into account location, style and budget.
- During the entire process, you’ll have access to our online planning platform which is used to store all of your invoices, payment dates, floorplan & links to any external forms sent by other suppliers (basically everything you need to keep track of your planning!). This includes alerting you via email as your invoices come due during the lead up. We can even create a monthly payment plan for you so you’re not hit with a big bill a month out from the wedding.
- As the big day approaches, we’ll get together for a final meeting to go over your schedule as well as any last minute details. This may or may not include your venue coordinator, depending on your venue. We’ll discuss details such as who’s doing speeches, what songs to play when and how the entire evening will play out.
- Once we have a general idea of how the day/night will be running, we’ll put together a comprehensive runsheet with a full list of contacts for the day as well as a minute by minute schedule. Don’t worry, we can wing it on the night if needed but this gives our coordinator the best guide possible to ensure everything runs on track and you can get to the part where everyone is dancing as soon as possible.
- When the day finally arrives, we’ll be on call from the arrival of the first supplier until the end of the formalities (speeches, first dance etc). We’ll work alongside your MC and ensure that everything goes to plan, move things around after the ceremony and be your general PA for the day. This leaves you to be completely in the moment and enjoy every second of your event.
STYLING
You’ve probably heard the term “stylist” for what feels like the millionth time since you got engaged but what do we actually do?
The thing about you and your fiancé or your business if you’re a corporate client is that you’re completely unique and unlike any other person or couple or business model. We feel that just like you, your event should be unique as well, so rather than sell you the same old cookie cutter styling package, we build your event from the ground up.
So what does that even mean and how does it all happen? We’ve put together the following stages to hopefully explain what Styling is and if it could be suited to you:
- Just like planning, we’ll get together for a one on one to discuss who you are and what you’re thinking at this stage for the general feel and aesthetic of your event. If you’re a busy bee who wants to get the ball rolling, we might hold off meeting until the first round of styling is finished so we can also go through everything when we meet.
- The entire point to hiring a bespoke stylist is for someone to bring everything you’re thinking into fruition. For us this means getting into your mind’s eye so we can bring your vision to life.
- Once we’ve chatted about who you are, your favourite flowers and everything else in between, we’ll have you send over a gallery of inspo images you’ve been saving. These could come from anywhere including your favourite painting or a chair you saw on Instagram.
- We’ll also incorporate a site visit if we’re yet to work at your venue so we can see the space in real life. Photos can be very deceptive so we need to ensure anything we design going forward will work in the venue. There may also be venue requirements in place if you’re wanting a large installation or lighting installed.
- Ok, so we have a big pile of inspiration, we’ve been to the venue and we’re ready to style. We will have also been adding our own inspo to your gallery as we find things online and can now create an initial mood board and concept for you. There is no limit to variations during this initial stage, if it doesn’t quite feel right, we can just start all over again until it does. The most important thing to keep in your mind during these initial stages is not to take anything too literally. We are simply trying to establish a “mood”, so if our concept includes a specific chair or flower, this was probably there as a mood or colour reference and not necessarily incorporated as a plan of action.
- Now that you’ve approved the initial concept we can finally get literal. This means a full styling proposal including section by section styling, floorplan options and a price guide. Once you’re happy with what we’ve put together, we can source our suppliers to bring it all to life.
- Unlike a lot of other stylists, we don’t limit who we work with. Instead, we match you with suppliers who are the best suit to YOU! We know exactly who’s who in the industry so we aim to work with suppliers we already know are amazing and who are a true reflection of your styling. If you’ve been following someone on Instagram for a while however and just have to have them, it’s your event, we’ll work alongside them to ensure we’re all on the same page.
- Now that you’ve picked your suppliers, which we’ll keep a detailed record of, we’ll tag along to any meetings you have to avoid any on the day confusion. Just like planning, we’ll also alert you to any invoices coming due and keep track of your spending.
- Prior to the big day, we’ll put together a detailed final floorplan and breakdown of styling items to make sure no stone is left unturned. Our team will then execute all styling setup on the day and pack up at the end of the event. This leaves you to focus on what matters and not thinking about whether or not the space is looking it’s best.
- Just like planning, you’ll have access to our online planning platform so you can keep track of anything related to your wedding styling as well as store all of your invoices as well book in suppliers.
Our Planning and Styling services can be booked as dual or stand-alone services. Our most popular options being “Full Wedding Management” and a dual booking of “Partial Planning & Limited Styling”. Both options leave you free to focus on the elements you want to work with and leaving the rest up to us.
Danielle – Director at Til Death Events
PHOTO CREDITS: Lover Of Mine & Stories by Ash