Wedding Planning Tasks You No Longer Need to Do In-Person
There's no denying, wedding planning (for the most part) has gotten more difficult over the past few years, thanks to the global pandemic. But, these trying times have forced wedding professionals to get creative and adapt to fit the needs of modern couples, and we're happy to say that some of these advancements are here to stay and actually make planning a whole lot easier than it used to be. The biggest development has come in the form of virtual tours and meetings as well as vendors that are shipping goods and samples directly to you. So while you may still need to make all the decisions yourself, you can now do most of it from the comfort of your own home. Be Inspired PR interviewed a variety of wedding pros to find out just what can be done virtually these days...and you'd be surprised!
1. SET YOUR DREAM WEDDING VISION WITH THE HELP OF ONLINE INSPIRATION
“I highly suggest creating a mood board with your goal wedding style that you have in mind. Create a collage of everything you like and would love to put an accent on during your wedding day. For example, when designing my next piece for the Sarah Alouache Bridal collection, I always start by putting together the vibe or the setting I envision my design in. A mood board will undoubtedly set the tone and help visualize your ideas altogether. We know that a photo is worth a thousand words, so imagine the power of a mood board. This can save you so much time while planning!” - Sarah Alouache, Creative Director, Designer & Founder of Sarah Alouache Bridal
2. SEARCH FOR THE VENUE OF YOUR DREAMS
“Throw on your yoga pants, grab your laptop, and scope out a comprehensive list of wedding venues on websites like Here Comes The Guide! Find venues by area, budget, guest count, or style—from rustic barns to non-traditional industrial spaces and even woodsy retreats. See prices, get deals, and view gorgeous photos plus wedding videos that basically offer a virtual tour of the event space. Then, book a site visit right there from the comfort of your couch.” - Jenna Miller, Creative Director of Here Comes The Guide
3. FIND MENSWEAR FOR YOUR GROOM AND GROOMSMEN
“When you’re planning a wedding, it seems like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done. Luckily, you can do a lot of planning online and save yourself the time of driving around and racing to in-person appointments. When it comes to wedding attire for your groom and groomsmen, there are great options to do everything from the comfort of home. Design the looks for you and your wedding party and manage everyone online, order free swatches to color match, get a free home try-on for the wedding couple, and get everything delivered to everyone in plenty of time before your big day. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today…online!” - Matt Ramirez, SVP of Marketing, Generation Tux
4. GO ON A VIRTUAL SITE VISIT
“Now more than ever, wedding venues are offering one-on-one virtual site tours via FaceTime, Skype, or Duo. You can virtually "walk" through the event spaces with the venue's on-site coordinator, talk through what your wedding could look like at their location, ask questions, and address concerns as they come up in real-time. Whether you're wedding planning during the pandemic or simply wanting to view venues in a far-flung location, what better way to find your ideal event space from home than with a live virtual site tour?” - Jenna Miller, Creative Director of Here Comes The Guide
5. SELECT YOUR WEDDING DAY ATTIRE
“Over the last decade we've continued to see an upward swing in online shopping, and this includes wedding gown shopping, tuxedo rentals, and bridesmaid dresses. And certainly in the last couple of years, thanks to the pandemic, we're seeing more and more consumers enjoying the conveniences and quick turnaround times shopping online offers. Today a couple can dress themselves and their entire bridal party without ever stepping into a physical store and the options online are endless. According to Digital Commerce 360, online wedding retailers generated over $40B in revenues in 2018!” - Maya Holihan, CEO, and Founder, EWedded
6. MEET YOUR VENDORS VIA ZOOM
“One thing that social distancing taught us is that a lot can be done from home or remote locations! I've enjoyed hosting consultations and planning meetings with busy brides and grooms over Zoom. This allows them to take a break from work and hop on a call, schedule meetings while traveling, or still keep planning while ill. If you need flexibility in meeting with vendors, ask for virtual options–there is a lot that can be done online now!” - Taylor Brione Ballard, CWP, Experiences By Taylor Brione
7. COMPLETE YOUR POST-TOUR PAPERWORK
“The days of couples having to sign and read 12+ page contracts on the spot after touring a venue are gone. Whether it's a simple document sharing tool or a full two-sided event planning system like Weven where clients can message, share documents and coordinate their event, more venues are giving their clients a chance to review and digest remotely after tours.” - Sam McElhinney, CEO, Weven
8. FIND YOUR WEDDING FLORALS
“Most floral companies have various bouquets and florals on their website for you to look through. A bonus that some floral companies have been doing is that they allow you to communicate with a designer through a portal on their website to customize the perfect wedding bouquet or decorations for your big day.” - Lisette Gatliff, Lisette OC Photography
9. HAVE YOUR VENDOR CONSULTATIONS
“In my opinion, consults with any vendor can be facilitated virtually. Aside from your tasting and any meetings you attend to preview your tablescape for a mockup, you can keep all of the planning on the digital side of things. Utilizing a program like RockPaperCoin as a digital binder to keep all of your contracts will eliminate the need to keep paper copies on hand to pass to your vendor team. Having a planning team that utilizes software like Timeline Genius will make your timeline building and the ability for your vendors to weigh in with collaborative feedback a breeze.” - Ashley Lachney, Owner of Alston Mayger Events
10. HAVE YOUR CAKE TASTING
“Brides are rarely doing cake tastings in person anymore! What happens is the samples of cake and frosting are picked up from the bakery and couples taste together in the comfort of their own home. Then, a zoom call is held with the cake designer to discuss flavor combinations, likes and dislikes, as well as design ideas. The baker then typically will send over a sketch via email after the call with pricing options and all is sorted out electronically, resulting in delicious and beautiful wedding cakes!” - Valarie Falvey, Kirkbrides Wedding Planning & Design
11. MAKE VENDOR PAYMENTS
“No more trudging to the post office or meeting your venue every few months to drop off a check or cash. Due to the pandemic, more venues than ever are accepting online payments whether it’s via credit card or ACH (bank transfer). Weven venues each give their couples a personalized online planning portal where they can make those payments, track budget and discover vendors, all in one place.” - Sam McElhinney, CEO, Weven
12. TRACK YOUR RSVPS
“There are so many planning tasks you can do virtually! For example, meeting with your planner, your florist, or even your officiant. A lot of meetings can be done via video to help in the planning process and avoid the extra time it takes to drive and meet up. Wedding websites now offer services like sending out invitations and RSVP tracking for the couple. The possibilities are endless!” - Kari Dirksen, CEO + Lead Planner, Feathered Arrow Events
13. TAKE CARE OF ANY MEETING WHERE YOU DON’T HAVE TO TOUCH OR TASTE ANYTHING
“While there are still many wedding planning tasks that will require you to be in person, there are some that we have found can be done just as well via zoom! Any meeting that does not require you to "touch or taste" is something that can definitely be held virtually, such as your first or final meetings with your photo or video team or with your wedding day entertainment. A virtual meeting can work really well for you to get an idea of the vendor's personality or review the final details leading up to your big day. As a wedding planner in a destination location, many of our clients cannot be here to meet in person, so we have welcomed the virtual meetings with open arms!” - Jamie Bohlin, Cape Cod Celebrations
14. BUILD YOUR VENDOR DREAM TEAM
“This is where WedBrilliant shines! We're here to help couples kick off their planning by finding fantastic wedding pros and vendors they want to work with. To save time and effort, brides and grooms can post all their wedding needs on WedBrilliant.com, and wedding vendors around the country will submit customized bids if they can help those couples out. WedBrilliant helps couples narrow down the field, hone realistic budgets for things like catering, a DJ, a beautiful venue, and an attentive planner, and then actually start checking off wedding "to-do's!" - Melissa Wilmot, Founder & CEO, WedBrilliant
We partnered with Be Inspired PR to bring you these exciting new advancements in wedding planning. As always, thanks for supporting our sponsors!
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- Groom & His Men: Generation Tux
- Guest Contributor: Cape Cod Celebrations
- Guest Contributor: Alston Mayger Events
- Guest Contributor: Lisette OC Photography
- Guest Contributor: EWedded
- Guest Contributor: Sarah Alouache Bridal
- Guest Contributor: Here Comes The Guide
- Guest Contributor: Experiences By Taylor Brione
- Guest Contributor: Weven
- Guest Contributor: Kirkbrides Wedding Planning & Design
- Guest Contributor: Feathered Arrow Events
- Guest Contributor: WedBrilliant
- Wedding Photographers: Cheers Babe Photo
- Wedding Photographers: Hannah Brooke Photography
- Wedding Photographers: Vanessa Hicks Photography
- Wedding Photographers: Aster and Olive
- Wedding PR Company: Be Inspired PR