As part of the launch of our new Bridal Edit, Ashleigh Li, the founder of the event planning business Pink Palms, has pulled together her top tips for planning the perfect wedding. Over to Ashleigh...
Setting a Clear Budget
Get really really clear on your budget & have a conversation about how much you’re both willing to spend. Quite often our clients are flexible with their wedding budgets but there’s a certain amount they just don’t want to go above and it’s super helpful to be clear on this, it’ll help guide your decisions later on down the line.
Image provided by Rachel Takes Pictures - Findon Place
The Guest List
Guest numbers hugely influence your budget as catering is one of the biggest ticket items. Deciding how many people you’ll invite helps you search for venues that can accommodate your numbers. The guest list will take a bit of curating, but make sure each guest is meaningful and special to your day so you can spend your money wisely.
Image provided by Elena Popa - Botley Hill Barn Shoot
Colour Schemes & Themes
When it comes to designing – have a real good look at your home and your wardrobe, even nail colours you choose at the salon over and over again and analyse what it is you’re drawn to. Do you like lots of bold, contrasting, clashing colour together? Or do you prefer soft pastels - like Chelsea Peers' beautiful sage PJ's - that layer on top and complement each other? You might even be a monochrome Queen. You wedding should feel like YOU, there’s nothing better than your guests walking into your wedding before you’re even there and they just feel like it’s so on brand for you.
What to Wear
Dressing adults is HARD. Isn’t it weird that when you’re a bride you choose what other adults in your wedding party wear?! We recommend sharing your wedding colours and allowing your wedding party to choose for themselves with some guidance/suggestions from you. We love a mismatching look, as you can tell if someone feels uncomfortable and mismatching allows your besties to choose something they feel great in. Choose matching outfits to get ready in instead and get super fun photos of you all together during the wedding morning! Chelsea Peers has some beautiful Bridal PJs - perfect for the bride and her entire party such as their floral printed sets and satin cowl neck cami sets.
Timings & Priorities
Make time for fun shots with your girls when you’re getting ready – whether it’s with champagne or balloons, those photos where you’re all creasing up laughing don’t really happen any other time of day! There's nothing better than getting the perfect bridal party photo in your PJ's - these Bridal Bee Print PJ's are our favs!
Photography Advice
A little advice about group shots… don’t have too many! Most family & group shots happen in your cocktail hour and each shot can take around 10 minutes to organise – Dad’s at the bar already, someone was late and parked their car out front & it’s now right in the photo background and we don’t know whose car it is… you name it, it’s happened. Give your photographer a super streamlined group shot list & you’ll be thankful, or you miss your entire cocktail hour chasing people down!
Having Enough Time
Tell your wedding party to be ready an hour before they actually need to be. When are girls ever ready on time? Never, right? Don’t let them add to the stress by running late – let’s factor in they’ll be late and leave plenty of time to get the super important photos of you in your dress with them. Getting ready photos are always so much fun, we love matching Bridal PJ's for the entire party!
Working With a Planner
Our top tip – work with a planner! We actually save you money in the long run, because we’ll guide you away from wasting your money on things that we know don’t work, we’ll review quotes for you and we’ll make sure your day is exactly what you wanted it to be. It’s impossible to go from project manager to guest of honour without causing major stress for yourself – and that’s where a planner really adds so much value, we allow you to really soak in the most important day of your life knowing we’re there steering the ship for you.
Pink Palms is a London based event planning and design studio specialising in modern weddings across the UK & Europe. We bring your event vision to life through colourful design, creating an unforgettable experience by combining design theory and Pink Palms magic! For more, follow us @pinkpalmsevents & check out our website www.pinkpalms.co.uk