How to Stay on Top of Wedding Planning as a Busy Bride | Wedding Planning Tips

Many of our brides are very busy people. Between their jobs, wedding-related festivities, friends’ weddings, and life obligations in general, they find it incredibly difficult to find the time to dedicate to planning what is ultimately the biggest, most fabulous party you will ever throw. So we thought we would put together some tips for those brides who are working that 9-5 and need a little bit of help getting their heads together!

Create a wedding planning calendar with important deadlines noted.

We have found it can be helpful to create an entire calendar dedicated to all things wedding. Utilizing either GoogleCal (with wedding events in its own special color) or a paper planner with highlighted wedding appointments mark important appointments and deadlines. You should include details such as menu tastings, registry appointments and deadlines for things like ordering your wedding dress or vaccinations for honeymoons. This will help keep your mind at ease, knowing that you will not miss any important details.

Try to make multiple appointments in a day.

When our clients live out of town, we try to schedule as many appointments while they’re in town as possible. This may mean starting your day at our office for a paperie meeting, followed by a walk-through at the venue with the catering staff. It helps to try and be as efficient with your time as possible!

Hire professionals

Sometimes brides get excited about the idea of taking on projects with their loved ones in order to add a personal touch to their special day (and save some money!). However we have found that sometimes those labors of love end up causing a lot of stress on our clients. Do not try to do your hair and makeup yourself, or bake 12 dozen cupcakes for your guests’ dessert. DO hire a planner to help you oversee these details and recommend the appropriate vendors to bring these ideas to life.

Stay Organized

A tip that we use ourselves is that we keep separate binders for each of our clients’ weddings. Within these binders we keep vendor contact information, contracts, floorplan drafts, proposals from vendors, inspiration packets, and day of timeline information. That way everything you need to access is all in one place. We also keep each wedding separated in our email inbox and suggest brides do that as well! File away each of your wedding-related emails into separate categories.

Plan Ahead

The month before your wedding is going to be filled with last minute errands and tasks that need to be done. Beauty appointments, marriage licenses, honeymoon reservations, etc. So be sure to plan ahead and get a majority of the details for the wedding itself done way beforehand. No last minute decision making means a much more enjoyable celebration for all!

Lynnette + Dylan, West Lake Country Club Wedding | Augusta, GA

There are many things that we claim are our "favorite part about our job", this wedding contained most, if not all, of them. A bride with a unique design eye, an epic dance party, a sweet, supportive mother of the bride, clients who include cultural heritage moments throughout the day, a father of the bride who could not stop the waterworks, dramatic florals, perfect weather, and all of the love.

Lynnette and her mom came to us last year with some unique ideas. Think black wedding cake. No color except for the green of tropical palms. A dance band AND a Latin DJ. As soon as they laid their vision out on the table, we were all in! It sounded like too much fun!

Both the ceremony and seated dinner & dancing reception took place at West Lake Country Club, the perfect setting for this all-white and black affair. The cake was a traditional Puerto Rican brandy soaked-cake made by a family friend. Lynnette was envisioning a black wedding cake with some kind of white floral, and the pop of white anenomes were the perfect touch.

Keeping with a black and white palate, we did long estate tables covered in white linen with striking black chiavari chairs. The round tables were topped with a black linen and alternatively set with crystal chiavaris. We kept the florals fairly simple in terms of design, though quite dramatic in their effect. Single-element arrangements of hydrangea, tulips, and orchids were clustered with low votives on each of the rounds, however on the long estate tables we wanted to bring some drama and height to the room. The large palm fronds, phalaenopsis orchids, and tall taper candles added texture, pops of color, and ambiance to the ballroom.

The day was a team of all-star vendors. Ashley Seawell captured the beautiful images you will see below. The dance band, Shimmer, and Latin DJ, Juan Rodriguez, did a fantastic job keeping that dance party going until the wee hours of the morning. Thank you to the Bauzas and newly-married Caldwells for letting us be a part of your day. Your family was such a joy to be around and we had so much fun celebrating with you!

Event Design & Coordination: Greg Boulus Events | Floral Design & Paper Goods: Charleston Street | Photography: Ashley Seawell Photography | Venue & Catering: West Lake Country Club | Bridal Gown: Pronovais | Dance Band: Shimmer | DJ: Juan Rodriguez | Minister: Lynn Prather of Church of the Good Shepherd | Bridesmaids Dresses: Weddington Way | Hair & Make-up: The Lex Studio 

Mary Hull + Patrick, Augusta Country Club Spring Wedding | Augusta, GA

In the early spring of 2017 we sat down for our first meeting with Mary Hull & her mother, Carol, to start planning for Mary Hull & Patrick's February 2018 wedding day. Over the next year, we worked with them on crafting a one-of-a-kind seated dinner reception held at the Augusta Country Club for their closest friends and family. 

Carol (with past experience as a planner herself!) & Mary Hull (an art dealer!) both have an eye for design, which makes our jobs as event designers so much more fun! We knew that this wedding would be filled with thoughtful details starting from the ceremony held at Church of the Good Shepherd followed by cocktails, seated dinner, and dancing reception at the Club.

When it came time to create a floorplan for the seated dinner, we quickly decided that mixing round and estate tables was the surest way to create a different feeling in a venue that most of the guests in attendance had been to before. The vision included long tables covered in beautiful linens, topped with florals indicating the first signs of springs. Blooming branches, lush arrangements of various heights, heirloom silver accents, and custom monogrammed menus wrapped around linen hemstitch napkins would set the mood as soon as guests sat down to their seats.

Once dinner concluded, guests were escorted by the horns of the Sol Fusion band outside to the entertainment tent for the first dance between the newly-married Mr. and Mrs. Crawford. When guests were ready to take a reprieve from dancing they could mingle in the art lounge we created inside the Club, with art on loan from some of Mary Hull's very talented friends. Late night snacks of South Carolina BBQ sliders & chips as well as the Club's signature night cap, the velvet hammer, were quickly enjoyed by guests both on and off the dance floor!

We had some of our favorite vendors on our team for this one, including our favorite Ashley Seawell Photography, the delicious 5-tiered wedding cake was by our friend Lila Greene, hair and make-up by our Surrey Center neighbors Cucumber & Mint, and Sol Fusion band kept guests out on the dance floor all night long.

Scroll down to see the full list of vendors, and the beautiful images Ashley captured of this special day. We still feel so lucky to have been included in such a meaningful day for these two sweet families. Thank you to them for letting us be a part of it!

Event Design & Coordination: Greg Boulus Events | Floral Design & Paper Goods: Charleston Street | Photography: Ashley Seawell Photography | Ceremony Venue: Church of the Good Shepherd | Reception Venue & Catering: Augusta Country Club | Hair & Make-up: Cucumber & Mint | Bridal Gown: Oscar de la Renta via Joan Pillow Bridal | Bridesmaids Dresses: The Dessy Group |  Band: Sol Fusion | Trolley: Southstar Trolley | Cake Designer: Lila Greene |