How hiring a wedding coach takes you from DIY to DIWOW...
You're organized, you're an excellent planner.
No one can grasp your needs, desires or style like YOU can!
Your family and friends can provide all the support you need on your special day, 
and we know the venues, the power situation, and vendors.

T h i s    i s   a   r e c i p e   f o r   s u c c e s s 

Allan didn't have the budget to wow his new wife for her birthday, like he did for his recent wedding.   So instead of hiring a planner, as he did for the big day {who was fabulous by the way!}, he called us and said "what can you do with my budget"? I need linens, chair covers, napkins, flowers, and design. Anne's YAKUDOSHI required lots of good fortune. 
Knowing that red is the color of good health, vitality and long life in Japanese culture, we used that as the base for this design. Family members offered gifts in the form of "good luck" favors for each guest
How can we turn your thoughts into triumph?
Call us to find out!

Option One
Hire a professional and rely on her to get it done!

Option Two
​Get the girls to do the dirty work or if your parents are paying,  they're more likely to have an investment to protect and can contact vendors to negotiate on your behalf

Option Three
This should he number ONE because it truly is the best plan.
Listen, intently to your vendors. 
Each one of them have a "business practice" or policy in place that makes them different from other vendors. Your request or plan should, therefore, also be unique. There is no simple answer for option three, except really try to understand what your vendor needs from you to serve you best. Once you know that, express what concerns and limitations you have. The vendor will appreciate your honestly and will be more willing to discuss options and perhaps even discounts.
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Realistically you will never be able to fully research, each vendor and must rely on reviews and advice. Despite your first impression and "good feelings", you may end up hiring one that you find particularly hard to deal with over time.
What do you do? Refer to the Chinese proverb  “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” 
Since you cannot go back in time, look closely at the terms and conditions portion of the contract you signed, typically there is a non refundable portion. Here is where you have to decide, is it worth being out $200-$1000 to preserve your sanity..or is the loss too large for you?
Don't put this off because as more time lapses you could enter into the cancellation period, where excessive fees come into play.
Like I always say...{don't shoot me} DO YOUR HOMEWORK. The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago...well we aren't planting a tree but we ARE planning a wedding. It is already too late to do more research, you are now in damage control. This may very well be the first financial crisis that you both can tackle together. Make a list of pros and cons. Decide together,  is the "loss" really a loss or a small fee for a valuable lesson.

Oh no, You've finally paid deposits for the venue, the caterers, your planner, . Some vendors are so specialized, offering items and services you just can't get from other vendors. What now?
    Knowing the area and familiarizing yourself with every vendor is more than overwhelming, it's stressful and unfamiliar. 
​    How do you discern who is right for you? Does it just come down to price? Don't mind the french but we've seen weddings take the unfortunate turn to a shit show because the couple just wanted to save a few hundred dollars. Is it really worth the savings? 
   An experienced, certified planner is not just a wise investment, it is most certainly your best investment...unless you have a rental company with a full time designer/planner at the reigns. We can help you DIY without the woes. Don't be fooled by "professionals" who re-create our looks but don't understand the venue rules, set up criteria or who haven't even taken the time to know your vision.

I am writing this as a result of receiving my FIRST one star review since opening our doors, It was like a knife in my chest! I read it over 10 times trying to make sense of the incident. We believe bad reviews are a teachable opportunity, so we take them seriously, but this was a total bash fest.

How do you know when a review is biased? The honest answer is, we never really will. The best advice I can give, is to do your homework. I know I say that ALL the time. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.

If you're like me, when deciding where to eat, see a show, find a place to crash... {especially when traveling} I look to yelp, the bbb, trip advisor and other sites dedicated to business reviews. For the most part, I look at the pictures and the first 3 or 4 reviews. If a review intrigues me, I dig in, so to speak, Narrowing down my choices to 3 or 4 helps me decide. Then all that's left is to experience it myself.

Testing the waters is not an option when it's your wedding. Reviews become our window into a company's soul. Having said that, reviews tell us three things, 1-who the consumer is, 2-who the business is and 3-what customers SAY they have experienced. It is your job to find out if the gripe is real, perceived or was handled satisfactorily.

I say... TRUST that you can find intel from reviews. Prepare your questions and contact the business. Express your concern over negative reviews and listen to what they have to say. Sometimes a business won't even know the review exists until you tell them about it. Like in my case. 

For the record I disputed that review and it was subsequently taken down by the blog it was submitted to. It was determined that the reviewer was never a customer of ours, nor did they have proof they ever contacted us. They also mentioned in their review how wonderful our competitor was and that everyone should go to them instead. OUCH!

We recently had an order for nearly all the styles of our luxury chair line, but in smaller amounts, wood tables that seemingly does not partner well with a more modern seating option, a clear tent, wood pavilion which attached to the tent, and many decor items that just didn't make sense from most perspectives. What seemed to be  a yin and yang of design, turned out to be a splendid display of mesmerizing eye candy.

Vintage and Lace Weddings, here in Kona, was able to "marry" {ha ha ha-pun intended} all of these hand picked items to create a very interesting style.

Don't be so quick to dismiss your adoration for Baroque because you've decided on a minimalistic affaire. A few well placed pieces will satisfy your Renaissance style, while keeping the overall experience simple and clean.

The reason you can't decide on a single style for EVERYTHING is because you are utterly and completely YOU! Don't apologize, you have your OWN style. How wonderful is it to harness that!

Your event designer should revel in the fact that she gets to create something so distinctive. It's one thing to find a style and create an event, it's completely euphoric to create a style out of the things you LOVE.

It's all the rage to be a wedding planner.
Beware the unskilled, unlicensed, uninsured "planner" who has a few successes under her belt. She may be seem confident or even trustworthy. 
Building an online presence is critical to the success of an event service provider.
But how far will some planners go to get the "EDGE" above the competition?
Here are some helpful tips when shopping for the right professionals...