The Real Deal: Starting Your Wedding Planning Journey

In this episode of Beyond Vows & Veils: The Luxury Wedding Planning Experience Podcast, Brittany Ellis breaks down everything newly engaged couples need to know to kick off their wedding planning journey with confidence. From savoring your engagement to setting a realistic budget, defining your wedding vision, and tackling common challenges, Brittany shares practical tips to make the process smoother and more enjoyable.

You'll learn how to establish priorities, choose key locations, and maintain clear communication with your partner and vendors. Plus, discover strategies for managing wedding fatigue and staying focused on what matters most—celebrating your love.

This episode is your essential guide to navigating the exciting (and emotional!) world of wedding planning. Don’t miss it!

✨ Takeaways: Celebrate your engagement, clarify your vision, and enjoy the journey together.

For more Beyond Vows & Veils or Eventrics Indian Weddings, follow along at:

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ABOUT EVENTRICS INDIAN WEDDINGS

Eventrics Indian Weddings is an award-winning team of experienced wedding planning and management experts, specializing in large-scale Indian Weddings & Fusion Weddings in Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, and destinations worldwide.

The Eventrics Indian Weddings team offers complete and partial planning services with a personal and hands-on approach. We believe each couple deserves a fully invested wedding planner to be engaged throughout the entire process to ensure no detail is missed or overlooked!

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Wedding Planning 101
• 1:12 Engagement Season Insights
• 3:20 Foundational Questions for Planning
• 8:21 Budgeting Basics for Weddings
• 12:13 Defining Your Wedding Vision
• 16:12 Navigating Challenges Together

Transcript

Brittany (00:01.1)
Welcome back y'all to Beyond Bows and Veils. Happy New Year and congratulations to all the newly engaged couples out there. So we are gonna start off this year with a lot of really great information. I've got some really great guests that are lined up. And as always, I'm here to be of service to you. This podcast, I hope, provides all of you with a little bit of extra guidance and support when it comes to navigating your planning journey.

There's a lot to it. And so I hope that I can provide any supportive resources. So let's dig in. If you are one of those couples that were

engaged during the holidays, that is something in the industry we call engagement season. So we are right now in our peak season. It is a very popular time here, especially in the state of Florida for weddings. Really end of the year flowing into the new year, the weather's great, except I know it's a little bit unusually cold right now. But essentially really it's a time of year where a lot of couples do usually get engaged towards the end of the year or the beginning of a new year. So whether your partner

partner just popped the question or you're planning your soon to be engagement celebrations. I'm here to help you to navigate this very new and exciting chapter for you both. So today we're going to break down the very first steps of wedding planning.

and tackle some of the most common challenges that couples face, sharing insights from previous episodes to help you get started and get off on the right foot. So as always, I'll kind of be setting the stage for some of the up and coming guest episodes and as well as diving deeper into some details. So anyway, let's get this episode underway.

Brittany (01:47.948)
So the first thing I want to talk about is, especially for all my newly engaged couples out there, is if you haven't already been that Pinterest bride and you're like sort of jotting down all of your initial notes.

I'd first like to take the time to make sure that you acknowledge your engagement because so many times I think couples get caught up in the planning journey right away and there's kind of like no rhyme or reason and thoughts are flying everywhere as opposed to maybe being a little bit more focused on some foundational questions. So first and foremost, where is this event going to take place? So that's usually one of the biggest questions that a lot of families struggle with, especially if the couples have families

from different parts of the world or you know, what have you. And so really trying to focus in on a couple key locations that you're thinking about hosting the event really will support you I think just in general in your organization of your planning journey. And it's totally normal by the way to be excited and not know where the heck you're gonna celebrate this because I have a lot of couples that are like, I'll get married anywhere in the United States as long as the weather temperature is

between 70 and 75 degrees on my wedding day. So then that really supports because you're essentially like, okay, well, if I know it's got to take place within the state range, then I sorted that process of elimination of like, what's the average temperature in this area? And then obviously trying to navigate it to the best of your abilities. But

With that being said, I do recommend that you have a little bit more of a game plan of where this event is gonna take place. And so another foundational question also might be, when do we wanna make this celebration happen? So it's incredibly difficult for you to focus in on where you're gonna get married if you don't really have a date range in mind. Because again, there could be seasonal events that take place in that town or that city. Just in general, like is it during the holidays? Is there travel involved for your guests? Like different components to take into consideration.

Brittany (03:50.256)
Another foundational question might be how many people are we inviting to this occasion? I know that tends to be a sticking point for a lot of families and so one of those things is again like fine tuning the process together on what are our sort of priorities which we'll get to in a minute and then obviously the the last foundational question which makes a big difference in terms of how many people you invite is how much are you willing to invest? So the one thing I think is really difficult as somebody who has been

a while ago in the driver's seat of having to make some difficult decisions and having to make sure that I was remaining in budget for my own planning journey. I will say that initially, you you want to be in that excited stage of like anything's possible. Like what if we just do it something small and in a destination location, but essentially having any concept of how much you want to spend is really critical because if you have a budget in mind of let's

I don't know $150,000, but you want to invite 400 people and then you want to you know provide them with like, know dinner on the Sangeet night or Welcome party and then on the day of the event you're providing them with like lunch and a dinner like really think about essentially like on average like how much does it cost for you to go out to dinner and grab some drinks so then think about how much that might be for your guest experience and then think about if that's really equating to what your budget overall is

So ultimately, I would just say like some maybe some prompts to maybe think about is have you envisioned more of an intimate gathering or more of a grand celebration? Or is there any specific times of year that are meaningful to both of you? So again, first thing is setting the scene coming up with some foundational questions I think is number one. After you've sort of navigated through that, then going back to budget I think is really important. So I think it's very important that you sort of set the scene for what

what realistic budget is and making sure that you're sticking to it. So, you know, I have shared in previous episodes and I'll continue to share insight and I feel like I'll be talking about budgeting till I'm blue in the face. But I think being intentional and mindful with your expenditures is very important because I have a lot of...

Brittany (06:11.48)
people that contact me and they're like just about ready to sign off on their venue contracting process. So again, they've already been in touch with this property or a property and we kind of get down to now they're looking at hiring a planner simultaneously while trying to close out their venue contracting process. And what happens is, is they haven't really done that initial step of the budgeting and setting expectations and like, what are your, you know, intentions for the overall weekend? What's the must-haves?

 what's the deal breakers, things like that. And so then when you have a planner get involved, or let's say I even get involved and I start looking at the contract and I start understanding timeline wise what their expectations are and there's a disconnect.

It's sort of like there's a lot of time energy effort wasted from the couple's perspective where I feel like a planner could have otherwise really supported by getting involved sooner. So again, I think one of the major priorities and prompts that you should be asking yourself before you pull the trigger on a venue, before you kind of go to that next step is how can you prioritize what matters most to you while staying in line with your budget? And then have you in general thought about how many guests you can comfortably

host within that price point.

because a lot of families, I mean, I've looked at a ton of client made Excel spreadsheets and at the end of the day, you just don't know what you don't know. And so when you're kind of allocating costs like venue, you know, X amount of dollars for food and beverage or, you know, photographer X amount, you know, some of the factors that you may not be having as often overlooked areas, like just in general taxes, service fees, gratuities, food and beverage minimums, travel accommodations for some of these individuals and folks

Brittany (07:59.208)
that are coming to support. So just those little nuance expenses really add up. And so again, like having someone that can support you from the front end, I think is really important. And then just in general, when you've set that budget being kind of clear also how you're going to divvy out expenses or how that's going to be shaped out in the beginning is really important.

So the third and more fun feature to the wedding planning, and again, for any of those newly engaged couples out there, is really defining your vision. I...

When I first started my career, I really wasn't too much into the design realm, to be totally honest with you. I was very much a type A and still remain a very type A meticulous Excel spreadsheet, like to see the big picture, puzzle piece it together, make sure all the players, vendors that are involved shine and do their best work on site for the actual event day. And as I've gone now, I want to say 13 years personally and specialized

in South Asian weddings. I've learned a lot along the way. I've picked up on a lot of information. I've seen what makes sense, both logistically and from a production standpoint. And then just also in general, like who are some supportive partners in being able to make some of those visions come to life? And so I think that through my journey, I've really now in the office with my team, been able to be a little bit more intentional when it comes to helping my clients to define their vision up

front.

Brittany (09:35.04)
Let me be a little bit more organized with that thought. What I'm sharing is defining your vision and working with your planner or each other to mood board, story board it out, in my opinion, makes for the conversations that you're going to down the road have with whomever is going to be designing your event that much more fruitful. So in previous podcasts, I spoke to people like Johnny from the Floral Way or Dinesh

Munshaw with Customizing Creativity. And we kind of really emphasize, you know, making sure that the vision of the event really tells a story or what the couple's story is for their function. so defining your vision and having some visualizations to go with that as you're going into these discussions with venues or vendors, I think is really helpful. Because overall, if nobody has any concept of knowing what your style is or your vibe is for the party, it doesn't really help your planner

or I think each other to really identify what you're looking for when you're choosing your vendor team. So, you know, some of the things that you might want to consider asking is, you know, what elements are absolutely a non-negotiable for you when it comes to the overall aesthetic and look of your function. If you're a bride that is like, no matter what, I want to be outside.

you know, well, number one, can't control the weather. you know, to a certain extent, I get it. You want be outside. But let's say worst case scenario, if there was inclement weather that came through, what is the indoor backup? What are the capabilities of being able to transform the space and you walk down the aisle and still feel like...

this is definitely the event that I wanted and this is definitely the look that I still wanted. And other prompts to think about is have you thought about how much you want your guests to feel when they come to your occasion? Is this something where we're trying to level up and showcase something that nobody's seen before? Or are we trying to really emphasize more about that hospitality, comfort, warm and inviting environment? Are you wanting this epic party that nobody would forget about? Or is the food presentation

Brittany (11:43.52)
to be like number one and that needs to just be like the shining star for the occasion. So understanding like what your vision is and I have some couples are like well I want it all and I get it of course you can certainly still have it all but breaking it down from just in general like evoking feelings, color palette, know general like how you would want to lay out the space if it's indoor, outdoors you want more of a historic vibe that may be hard to accomplish in a you know more modern ballroom

setting, right? So it's just understanding kind of what you're looking for in the beginning, I think will really support you and ultimately navigating the whole journey. And one of the other things just to like segue into is just some common challenges and maybe how to address them. So a lot of times I'll have couples kind of go through this wave of emotions. So you're up on obviously cloud nine, you just got engaged, you told your family, you guys are pumped. You might be even at night like looking at each others

laptops like what do think of this place what do think of this place and you're in that like really fun energetic state of just being newly engaged which is amazing and you should you should totally enjoy that and be there and have that time and then what happens is I see that couples often get wedding fatigue very early in the process and the reason why is because we're going through or at least in my office we're going through so much at onboarding that is very

tedious at times and meticulous to set us up for success in all the months leading to the event date so that in all the months that we have to plan together, they're intentional, they're more fruitful conversations with vendors, they're more respectful of the timeframe in which you have to plan for the occasion. So again, budget Excel spreadsheets, negotiating venue contracts and concessions and all that great stuff is not the most fun part of the planning.

And unfortunately, it has to take place in the beginning of the planning. So what happens is I have a couple who's like excited and everything else. And then we go into that stage and I know most of them will experience wedding fatigue because they're like, if this is what wedding planning is like the whole time, like, please, like, I'm good. Like, I don't want to do this anymore, which I can completely...

Brittany (14:05.526)
empathize with and understand that that process is not enjoyable. But you know, just some of the things is maybe ask yourself just from your relationship perspective, like how can we stay on track without feeling overwhelmed by our options? And are we prepared for conversations about blending traditions or managing family input? What I mean by that is, you know, remember that this occasion is to celebrate your union. So always have that in

the forefront, right? So as challenges come up, as you're feeling wedding fatigue, if you're hitting a roadblock with family conversations, like make sure that you kind of have a game plan just between the two of you of how you're going to handle some of these things together. And so I have couples had all sorts of different game plans that they have formed. But essentially, I think one of the most resounding ones that has been really supportive is choosing the ultimate decision maker.

So understanding that even if it's you and both sets of parents and siblings are involved, mean, sometimes I get on Zoom calls and like, it's the board of directors, everyone's here, we're chatting through, but ultimately understanding like who is going to make that final call if it's between X, you know, this option and this option. Is it the couple?

Is it the parents? Is it one individual parent? Because ultimately you are going to hit roadblocks and challenges such as the perfect venue that you want is not available for the dates that you want.

So are we wanting to start from scratch and look at all different properties? Are we wanting to go to our tier two venues for consideration? Or are we willing as a family to open up more date availability? I know sometimes that involves like the priest and other, you know, conversations, but is that a road that we want to go down? And so understanding like when these roadblocks happen, like how are we going to best serve each other and always turning towards each other and like, how can we not feel overwhelmed and how can we tackle these things together? So

Brittany (16:12.432)
I think that in general addressing decision-making fatigue and how to break down tasks into manageable steps is something that your planner is here to support you with. So I know whenever I'm working with a couple, especially couples who are...

crazy busy, They're in their schooling, they're studying, they're, I don't know, in their internship programs, whatever it might be, they don't have a ton of time to offer. And so essentially it's making sure that your planner is also being held accountable to make the most use of your time and all the months leading to the event date, being aware of blackout dates for you that you're not available or not gonna be able to chat so that they can either front-end planning or delay certain items until you're ready.

And then just in general, I would refer to any other previous episodes just in common challenges of like, we have some podcast episodes about navigating expectations. And I think that would be really supportive for anybody who's also starting this journey outright. lastly, I'd just like to, know, sorry Mercedes, let me make a note here. We are at 17 minutes. I just need to make a little edit.

Okay.

Brittany (17:33.998)
So again, just to recap what we've kind of chatted about today, because I know it's a lot of information. So first and foremost, make sure that you're asking yourself those foundational questions. So where is this event going to take place? How and when do we want to celebrate this? How many guests do we think are going to be invited? And ultimately, how much are we wanting to invest in this occasion? And then in general, just some prompts to keep in mind is making sure that you're clear about what

our priorities for you and what are deal breakers for you going into this journey. And lastly, just I feel as starting a marriage together and starting this amazing union of families together, making sure that you're really clear about when you run into roadblocks, who is going to be that ultimate decision maker and making sure that you kind of attune with each other on how you can stay on track without feeling overwhelmed.

So I hope that this episode was supportive for you. I'm really again, excited for some guest speakers that we have that are gonna be speaking to everything from developing hair and makeup schedules to creating unique wedding menus to different bridal expos and if they're really supportive or what's the pros and cons. And ultimately, I'm always looking to talk to people that are on the ground, grinding it out there in the wedding industry that can support you with offering their insights.

and support so don't be sure not to miss some of our up and coming episodes. as always I want to encourage my listeners to submit any questions for my guest or you can even submit some questions to us via social media. If you have like a really cool podcast topic that you feel like would be helpful to elaborate on, we're here for it. So if you're feeling a little bit more grounded and ready to take those first steps, that's exactly what I sort of hoped for. So remember that wedding planning is a journey. So while it can feel

overwhelming, It's also one of the most exciting times in your life. So lean on your partner, take it one step at a time, and don't forget to enjoy the process. Stay tuned for our next episode and don't forget to subscribe to our channel. It means so much to us. Until next time, I'll see you then.