Top 5 Preparations Before Meeting Your Wedding Designer

Creating a wedding that looks and feels like you is necessary for a successful event. If you are planning your wedding in Richmond Virginia, there are a wide range of locations, and your wedding venue has a significant impact on your overall event.

To make your design consultation more productive, there are a few things that you need to have done before the meeting. Wedding designers can better suggest focal points when you have these details confirmed ahead of time.

When you have a clear focus on the highlighted details, a designer can better guide you to the celebration you are dreaming of having. Let’s explore the top 5 things a design team needs for you to bring to your initial consultation.

1 - Decide on Your Venue

Richmond, Virginia wedding venues benefit from beautiful outdoor spaces that provide the most amazing views. Your chosen wedding venue becomes the stage on which your celebration will unfold.

Your venue is your foundation. Set the stage for your celebration and create the dream you want. Your Fairy Godmother can handle the rest. If you don’t have a Fairy Godmother to design your celebration, you should talk with Lenora of Glamorous Events.

A beautifully manicured lawn with lush green grass and gorgeous views of an old estate home inspires a casual yet upscale social event. An enchanted ballroom that inspires feelings of luxury and romance will glow as the light dances off each crystal in the room.

Selecting and confirming your venue before you meet with your design team helps guide your vision. The venue will account for almost half the budget. So knowing which areas to highlight and which to play down will help put your priorities in order.

2 - Know Your Wedding Date

When you select your venue, your wedding date will be confirmed as well. The date should be prominently featured in your contract. If there is no documentation from the venue that you have secured your date, then you have NOT secured your date.

This date will determine payment schedules that you must meet throughout the length of the contract. Careful consideration should be given to the date you choose. Some flowers are seasonal and can impact your budget if you select flowers that are out of season.

A spring arrangement of peonies will not be the same price in June as it is in August. Different flowers come from suppliers that may only provide local options. If you are wanting a sustainable wedding that is true to a Richmond, VA, working with a design team can give you the best experience.

Wedding designers are professionals who work in every season to design your event to speak to you. The team will know how and when to guide your floral decisions so that you can enjoy your wedding planning without decision fatigue.

3 - Have an Idea for Your Design

You have a date and a venue. Now it’s time to do some fun things - the decor! Before you start discussing taper versus pillar candles, you need an idea or a vision. The idea is like your theme; it is the one element that ties together everything else.

Your style will determine your design. Your wedding can be the perfect hint of pink if you use an ombre effect to introduce the colors naturally. Dreams also come true in a natural setting of greenery and trees that create a bohemian garden aesthetic. Your design will show you how you can make your celebration unique.

Make sure your theme and design idea fits the aesthetic of your venue. Trying to turn a barn venue into a castle ballroom will not make you as happy as getting a venue that allows you to express your creativity for your event.

4 - Know Your Budget

Your budget is the second largest factor of everything surrounding your wedding. Venues in Virginia follow industry averages at 45% - 50% of the budget so it is important to know how much you have in the overall budget since almost half of it will go to this major vendor category.

Your wedding design team wants you to know your budget because it affects every other category of professional vendor you can work with for your event. The average wedding budget in 2019 was about $29,000 in Virginia.

If you are coming into a meeting with your designer with an under average budget, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a great design; instead, you need your design team to be very open and real with how you use each dollar. Making magic happen with your vision, your idea, or just a chosen color is the secret weapon designers use for the best clients.

5 - Understand Your Guest Count

The guest count controls everything about your celebration. Large celebrations of 200+ people will have a higher price per person than an intimate celebration for 30 - 50 people. And knowing how many guests you plan to invite will also have a direct impact on your overall budget.

The budget is tied to the guest count. The average price per guest for a wedding in Virginia of 145 people is just over $200 per person. Talking with your designer about your budget and guest count will allow the team to better estimate your needs and design.

When working on the guest list, you also have to consider all single guests who would want to bring a plus one. If you have children at the reception, will they have an exclusive table? Can vendors eat in the reception hall, and will you need an extra table for them? Be as precise as possible and know that if you change the guest count, so does the floor plan and design.

If you don’t love doing design, that’s ok; there is a wedding team who can assist. A wedding design team can help you with all of it and make recommendations when you are stuck! Glamorous Events is here for you until the last flawless detail is put in place.