A wedding can be this overwhelming, stressful, and looming occasion if you don’t have a suitable team behind you! The right vendors and bridal party members will assist in bringing your Pinterest board wedding to life right before your eyes, helping make the big day one of joy and celebration while keeping the tears shed happy ones rather than produced by stress. It certainly helps if you are a bit more lax with the needs, and don’t sweat the small things too!
Now, as I am told, the typical groom does not have much input on the minute details of wedding planning, as was my experience with Garrett. The first of the three opinions my soon to be husband actually disclosed to me regarded our photographer. Craig Obrist was discovered during a visit to a venue location that happened to be hosting an open house for various wedding vendors the same day we opted to go for a tour. The reception room had been set up with tables and hosted two of each type of vendor, so we wandered around, touring the venue, tasting the catering, bopping to the music from the DJs, and waiting to see if we would be the lucky winners of any of the giveaways. In the far corner of the room set up in front of large windows with an impressive wooded view, we came across Craig’s and his wife’s table where we paused to thumb through their albums and watch their slideshow. I must admit, I was absolutely floored at the quality of these images and the personality of these two.
Throughout our conversation, I did not feel pressured to hire him or make any types of decisions. Rather than try to sell us his services, which honestly sold themselves, Craig asked about us, how we met, and what our interests were. Once he found out we enjoyed hiking, he told us about his favorite waterfall that wasn’t too far from us (one we are still working on visiting soon!) and recommended hiking to it. He was incredibly interested in our story of how we met, asking questions he actually listened to responses for, rather than pretending to be interested like some vendors we had come across a few times…It felt like a discussion with a friend rather than a vendor! Once we got back to the car, Garrett confidently informed me that he would not look at any other photographers, Craig was the one and that was the end of that! Not that I was in any disagreement by any means…I certainly didn’t want to look elsewhere either. Oh, and I won a bouquet!
Opinion number two emerged during yet another venue tour. Garrett and I visited many venues before we found the right one. Each venue was beautiful, and we certainly could have had a gorgeous wedding at any of them, but just like with your future husband/wife or don that perfect wedding dress, when you visit the right location, you know. We had exhausted most of the locations right around us, each missing something or being out of our budget, so I expanded my range. This is when a rustic yet chic barn popped up on my radar; EnChanning Occasions. Our theme, we had previously decided, was along the lines of enchanted forest, so we had already had visions dancing in our minds of a merging of the two styles of rustic woods and greenery with chic sparkle and twinkling lights, a combination we’d immediately find within this venue. The couple that owns this barn are incredibly pleasant and made us feel at home. As they showed us around and pointed out the various hidden gems within the barn, we could tell that they went above and beyond, pouring their love into this venue and constantly making new additions and improvements. Not only could you feel their love for their barn, but you could feel their love for their couples! Everything they did, they did for the benefit of the brides and grooms that would one day say their vows on their property. For example, they were in the process of building a new dock on the lake, adding a stunning new photo opportunity, and would later install a new stone fire pit (which would come in handy for us). As with Craig, upon climbing back into the vehicle, Garrett stated “I do not want to get married anywhere else. This is the place.” And so it was. Definitely no arguments from me! I was very thankful we were on the same page for so many different decisions and choices in the planning…
One decision that was made for us and I was hesitant about initially turned out to be one of the best decisions made for our wedding; the need for a day of planner/coordinator. EnChanning’s owner had informed us that we were required to have one, per their contract, and gave us their recommendation on who to use; Nate Deaton. Now, I’ve always kind of been a do it yourself type of gal, and I figured we could handle all of the day’s details on our own. Can’t be that hard! I mean, I’d done it before without one…so why should I need one now? BOY would I be wrong. Sure, we could have done it, but it would have been immensely more stressful, the day would not have been what we had dreamed, and many significant details could have been missed. Nate was an absolute jewel! He kept in touch with us throughout the entire planning process, making sure that we had everything covered. He came up with a flexible timeline, one that could be altered as needed by the photographer and videographer. Many suggestions were provided when requested and he was incredibly patient, kind, and just an absolute pleasure to be around. In the multiple times we met with him either in person or on video, I don’t think I saw him once without a big smile on his face! On top of that, he kept everything on schedule the day of, ushered us around on a golf cart, and made sure that my mom stopped being so hands on and enjoyed immersing herself in the day. I can confidently say that our wedding would not have been as smooth, seamless, and an overall hit if we didn’t have him on our team. I came in a skeptic, but I leave a firm believer that a day of coordinator, at the very least, should be on any bride’s list of must haves!
The third and final decision Garrett was adamant about was the wedding cake. In the interest of saving money, I had toyed around with the idea of doing cupcakes rather than a full cake. Not only are they more cost effective, they’re also easier to pass out and pack up, and there are so many fun ways to decorate their stands and serving area! This, however, would not do for him. So a full cake it was! I looked forward to going to a few bakeries and doing tastings, chatting to the baker and learning about their cakes, but unfortunately this was 2020 and tastings now consisted of to go boxes and on occasion a charge of $25-50. Not quite the experience I was hoping for…But hey, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!
After narrowing down the bakeries we wanted to try, I managed to find one not far from our house that also hosted in person tastings, so I set up a date. Unfortunately for him, but fortunate for my Matron of Honor, Garrett was out of town, so Nicole tagged along with me. Before you get too concerned, I was not committed gluten free at this point! The cake was divine and melted in my mouth. I think that my favorite part was that, unlike every other bakery we tried who gave us cupcakes with dollops of icing twice the size of the cake, this one gave us slices of cake with the same amount of icing as the final product would have. She even gave me some to bring home for Garrett to try! In the end, Simply Sweet Cakes won us over and we had our four tier, three flavor, nature and glitter themed cake on order! Everything just fell into place for us, really.
Now that Garrett has gotten all that was important to him, I shifted my focus to one other item that was very important to me; videography. My grandfather had not been able to travel for years, so I knew that he, my grandma, and my aunt and uncle would not be in attendance. In addition, there were several other family members or friends that would not be able to make it for one reason or another. With this fact in mind, I wanted to have the wedding videoed so that come Thanksgiving or Christmas I could sit down in my grandparents’ living room with them and show them the important parts. My mom and I had even started thinking of how to host a smaller reception in their town so that they could celebrate with us! A Videographer became one of my top priorities, so I set to Wedding Wire to find one. After browsing many different options and watching countless wedding videos from those vendors, I came across Legacy Multimedia GA, and I couldn’t be more thankful. This husband and wife team were quick to respond to any questions we had and were absolutely delightful. It wasn’t a hard decision to make once I came across their profile, discussed their services with them, and saw their work. This team was the one I wanted to film our day, and that is a decision I’d make over and over again. Not only did they work with us so well, but they worked so seamlessly with our photographers (which is incredibly important)! And, just like the rest of our vendors, they were absolutely delightful to be around.
The final big ticket vendor to locate was a caterer. I had always heard that guests will prioritize the food while the couples will prioritize the photography, so we really wanted to get this right. One of EnChanning’s and Nate’s preferred caterer vendors was Up In Smoke Catering, which I had assumed would simply be bar-b-cue. While there is nothing wrong with some good ole BBQ (unless the sauce is bad…), it wasn’t exactly the direction we wanted to go. Much to my surprise though, the owner, Kevin, informed me that he can make whatever want happen! So we discussed our options and narrowed them down to two: Low Country Boil with Cheese Grits and Cole Slaw, and Marinated Chicken with Grilled Veggies, Sweet Potato, and Caprese Salad. We set up a tasting and were absolutely blown away at how delicious his Low Country Boil was and how the Marinated Chicken just melted in your mouth! He was so accommodating, ensuring that all of the ingredients in his secret marinade were gluten free varieties for us and wiping up a menu that was perfect for us. He even went so far as to peel the shrimp and skewer the corn to decrease the messiness of the Low Country Boil! I gotta admit, we had a phenomenal team behind us!
The rest of the items were going to be DIY, so we had plenty of time to wrap up final details before the big day. With all of the big decisions made and deposits sent off, Garrett and I were well on our way to the wedding of our dreams, and we couldn’t be more excited!
