Do Your Homework!

I recently booked a very sweet couple from Georgia planning a destination wedding at Jacksonville Beach. Their story is so sad and we are still sorting out the mess. They booked their Destination Wedding through a local company that advertises as a “one-stop” shop. They were quoted a very unrealistic price to include planning and coordination services, flowers, cake and photography. They paid their deposit and have never heard from this company again. After many unanswered emails and unreturned phone calls they started checking out this company to find the company had many complaints with the Better Business Bureau for the same type of behavior.

I cannot stress it enough!! Make sure your wedding vendor, no matter what they do, is licensed and insured. Check their references. But most importantly, be smart. If the price they are quoting you is unrealistic for all the services they are providing, there probably is a good chance it is not an upfront deal!

Too many people are opening up these one stop shops. Beware!! One person cannot do everything and do it well!!  I am not talking about groups or companies that employ other vendors for package deals. Most of these are reputable groups and the companies are each independent of each other. They are just providing a package deal as a group to make your choices a little easier.

 But again, do your homework and check out your vendors before you send them any money or sign any contract!  It will save you a lot of heartache, stress and money in the end!

“Becoming a Wedding-ista, 1 Wedding down, a lifetime to go”

As I explained earlier, part of the intern process is writing a blog of their first experience with Southern Charm Wedding & Events, so now I would like to introduce to you another of our interns, Kristen Thomas:

“This is a lot harder than it looks”; that was my first thought as I looked at the agenda on

the afternoon of my first wedding with Southern Charm Events. I had NO idea there were

so many intricate details involved. My hats go off to all wedding coordinators across the

board, especially Tanya with Southern Charm Weddings and Events because she doesn’t

miss a detail! A good Wedding Coordinator knows what is happening every minute

of the day on that Wedding Day from the time the vendors will arrive to the time the

bridesmaids will bustle the bride’s dress. If any of those details are missing, it can make

for pure chaos. Thank God, my first wedding went off with out a hitch.

Myself and the other intern for the day had our work cut out for us. We set up the escort

card table, which by the way, definitely made me sharpen up on my alphabetical ordering

skills which I’m glad I paid attention in grammar school. Lol. We set up the center

pieces, put the decal on the dance floor and the doors, set out the favors, brought drinks to

the bridal party, pinned the corsages and boutonnieres on the bridal party, etc. Anything

you can think of, we did. I can honestly admit, I broke a sweat!!!

Once the wedding ceremony began and the beautiful bride walked down the aisle, certain

calmness came over me. It almost felt like I was part of the family because I was so

excited to see her walk down the aisle. I quickly snapped out of it when the ceremony

was over because now it was time to get the guests to the cocktail hour area and bridal

party to the location for pictures. Again, things ran pretty smoothly and the guests along

with the bridal were ready to party!



During the reception, on a few different occasions, some of the guests stopped me to

ask more about Southern Charm Events and to shower us with compliments about a job

well done. I even got a few, “Hey Kristen, High Five!” That definitely gave a sense of

fulfillment, and ultimately, that’s what it’s all about. You cannot and I repeat CANNOT

be a successful Wedding Coordinator unless your main goal is to please the client and

make their vision and dream come to fruition.

I think the universe cut me some slack for my first time around because everything went

really smoothly. I’m sure that my initiation will occur really soon and I will be subjected

to the wrath of Bridezilla. Either way, I’m excited and looking forward to my new life

that I like to call “Becoming a Wedding-ista”!

Why Hire a Wedding Planner? - From Someone Who Didn’t

As each of my interns start working weddings, I like to ask them to write a blog post about their experiences.  One of our newest interns, Tara Close, is also a recent bride.  After the last wedding, she and I were talking about all the behind the scene's work and would she had hired a wedding planner if she had it to all over again.  Here is Tara's take:

Ten months ago I was knee deep in all of the wedding planning stresses that often grace the doorstep of each “do-it-yourself” bride. My mother and I were taking on all of the odds and ends that make up a wedding ceremony and reception, tackling each hurdle as it came, hoping things would go smoothly on the big day. From picking vendors, ordering decorations, sending out invitations, and dealing with various venues, the list of things to do and my stress level just kept growing and growing. By the time the big day came around, the last thing either of us wanted to do was worry about the details that may fall through the cracks, but when you “do it yourself,” you just take that risk. Although no major problems happened that night, having someone there to relieve the small jobs my mom was in charge of throughout the day would have been a great relief. Your loved ones, especially the ones who play a huge part in your big day, shouldn’t have to “work” at your wedding. Not only were my parents hosting the biggest day of my life, but they were also busy making sure everything turned out the way we planned.




Hiring a wedding planner is something that many people don’t find necessary, because they simply think they can handle it all themselves. Why add to the growing list of expenses? But wedding planning should be at the top of your list when it comes to preparing for your big day. The reassurance that you have a team of people working to make your wedding the best day of your life, should be reason enough to put it into your plans. Who wouldn’t want someone to take some of the burden of planning such a huge event off of their shoulders. Why wouldn’t you want to have that great feeling of knowing that someone is working just as hard as you are on your wedding, and that they do this for a living. That’s right! The wedding planning company that you pick is a professional! Attention to detail, flawless execution, and multitasking are their specialties.



Most wedding’s don’t go off without a hitch, and I think that is a concept most brides don’t understand because we are all focused on the fact that our day will be “perfect,” whatever perfect is to that individual. Often times, the flowers and cake are late, it’s to windy outside making setup of an outdoor wedding a nightmare, the caterers aren’t ready to serve dinner on time, or you forgot the unity candle you are using in your ceremony, and realize just moments before you walk down the aisle. That’s when you need a team there who is looking out for you and your guests. Ensuring that your vendors are there on time, that you have all of the elements you need in your ceremony on sight and ready to go at a moments notice, and most importantly handling the problems that will always come up so that you don’t have to stress and worry, and work on your wedding day.



So the big question is, if I could go back and do it all again…. would I hire a wedding planner? Absolutely! If peace of mind is all a wedding planner could give me on my big day, it would be more than enough. Just to know that someone is paying attention to the details, working behind the scenes, and ensuring that my friends and family don’t have to lift a finger on my big day is reason enough!

ONE Perfect Couple Can Make For ONE Perfect Wedding

On November 12 2010 I had the pleasure of witnessing Andrea Lamberto become Mrs. David Kohen. People that know this couple can instantly see how perfect these two are for each other. Andrea and David picked a very classy venue and décor. You could easily see the couple’s good taste upon entering the reception site at Palm Valley Gardens. A top the tables sat a gorgeous array of hydrangeas adorned with baby pink and cream roses in tall cylinder vases. Curly willow branches filled the bottom of the vases. Shorter arrangements were placed to compliment on in between tables. The area breathed the feel of simple elegance.

After a few hours of setting up and perfecting everything, like we here at Southern Charm like to do, it was time for the long awaited walk down the aisle. The Bride, escorted by her father, walked down the brick path to a stunning wedding party and a gorgeous ceremony site under a giant old tree. Branches billowing in the wind, beautiful bridesmaids shinning in their platinum grey and blush dresses, and handsome groomsmen grinning from ear to ear awaited her arrival. It was hard to not smile while watching such a stunning Bride walk down to her perfect Groom.

After a wonderful ceremony the guest socialized and enjoyed a lovely cocktail hour. A delicious and taste filled spread was put on by Chef’s Garden and devoured almost instantly.
THEN THE PARTY BEGAN! Which to be perfectly honest, between the high energy, crowd pleasing DJ Kris Parnell from Footloose and David and Andrea’s “ready to get down” guest it was not hard getting this party started. You could tell these people were having the time of their life. I am quit sure it was the best wedding they had ever attended. After dancing the night away the Bride and Groom ran through a tunnel of brilliant sparklers to an awaiting Jaguar, provided by Bella Limo. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. David Kohen
Southern Charm wishes you a life of love and laughter and a happily ever after!

Through the Eyes of an Intern

I recently asked one of my interns, Kristi Riley, to write me an article about the last wedding she worked with us through her eyes.  This is how Kristi saw the day:

The last wedding that I interned with Southern Charm Events was anything but dull.  The wedding and reception took place at Palm Valley Gardens in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.  It was elegant and absolutely beautiful with deep red and silver colors in keeping with the Christmas theme.  There was rain in the forecast, however, it turned out to be a sunny and beautiful, warm winter day.  From the first moment we arrived on the wedding site we were hopping.  

The first hurdle of the day was the bride’s father.  He had fallen the night before the wedding and was taken to the emergency room with a very large gash in his leg.  Nobody was sure he would be able to walk his daughter down the aisle.  Luckily, he was able to pull it off….thank God for prescription drugs!

One of the groomsmen had lost weight since the last time he had tried on his tux.  We had to pin him up to prevent any accidents.  The grooms vest was too big….luckily Tanya has a HUGE emergency kit.  This kit has everything imaginable! It has Pepto, antacids, safety pins, panty hose, make up remover and everything you can think of.  About 10 minutes before the bride was to walk down the aisle, one of the bridesmaids ripped her dress.  Of course, Tanya had a sewing kit and was able to sew her in her dress (which stayed in one piece all night.) 

After the groomsmen and the bridesmaids walked out, it was time for the flower girl.  The little 4 year old girl had a very long walk from the house to the garden by herself.  Once she realized that everyone was looking at her she got embarrassed and decided that it would be best to cover her eyes.  With her eyes covered, she could not see the pond beside her that she fell right in to.  Other than being wet, she was fine.  The wedding went on and was a success.  

During the reception, the bartender came up to Tanya and told her we were running out of beer.  With an open bar and a drinking crowd, this did not make the bride’s dad happy.  I made a run to the liquor store and stocked up just in time.  Nobody even knew that there was almost a bar disaster.  

As the band started up and everyone danced and greeted the bride and groom, we helped the catering staff clear tables; we loaded gifts in the appropriate cars, passed out bubbles and cookies, and stayed BUSY! I heard so many people tell Tanya what an amazing job she did.  It was so much fun and so much work at the same time.

I Got a Ring – Now What Do I Do?

Congratulations! So you got the ring and are now engaged? What do you do first? Where do you start? How much does a wedding cost? Do I have to pick my date first? These are some of the most common questions of newly engaged couples.


The very first thing you should do is sit down and create a budget. This is a very easily done task that many folks skip or wait until later to do. By doing it first you know exactly what you can spend and where you can spend it. Once you have a budget in place it is a lot easier to find your venue and start working on an available date.

Many people are afraid of doing a budget but in reality you will save money by preparing a budget and sticking to it. A Professional Wedding Planner can assist you with preparing a budget that is both realistic and workable. We have many years of experience knowing what wedding items cost and where you can get the most “bang for your buck.” If you are unsure of the amounts to allow for items or where to place the most emphasis, contact a local Wedding Planner and ask if they do budget preparation. Our company offers a budget preparation meeting wherein we allow up to 2 hours of our time for $100.00. We provide the budget forms and assist the newly engaged couple with this daunting task. If the couple decides to hire us to plan their wedding they receive a $100.00 credit toward any package. How can you go wrong?

You should always have a little extra built into your budget for unforeseen events or items. The cost of items can vary depending on many factors such as the costs of gasoline. Vendors will charge more if gasoline is at a premium price, while venues may give you a break on their minimums if the economy has been bad for them. In addition to relieving a lot of stress down the line a budget will make both you and your family happy in the long run. There are always factors to look at when preparing a Wedding Budget, therefore getting some professional help in preparing it is your best option. But whether you seek out a Professional Wedding Planner or DIY, prepare a budget before you start looking at dresses, venues, or anything wedding. You will be much better prepared for the adventure you are about to undertake.

Seating Charts, Escort Cards and Placecards, oh my!

Everyone’s heard the saying, “Opposites attract,” When it comes to couples that’s often true; however when it comes to wedding guests, that’ not necessarily so.

Choosing the seating arrangements at a reception can be one of the more frustrating aspects of planning a wedding. Both the Bride and Groom want their friends to mingle at the wedding, but they also want to ensure their friends and family get to spend some quality time with the people they already know and whom they might not have seen in awhile. When assigning seats for your guests, follow these tips to help lessen some of the stress:

1. Keep age and interests in mind. Couples should try to keep people of similar ages and interests seated together. For example, your parents’ elderly neighbors should not be seated at the same table as your former college roommates. Instead, consider what guests might have in common and seat them accordingly. If there are people who simply do not get along from a family riff, do seat them far apart.

2. Consider location when seating elderly guests. Elderly guests should be seated away from the stage or the DJ’s speakers, and preferable in close proximity to the restrooms. Be careful not to seat elderly guest next to an air conditioning vent or the door. Try to make things as weasy6 as possible for them.

3. Seat coworkers together. If you inviting coworkers to the wedding, seat them together. Chances are your coworkers do not know many of your family and would be more comfortable with their other coworkers. So seat them with people they know so they’ll have a better time.

4. Seat children with their parents. If your guests are going to be bringing their children, seat them with their mother or father, especially if they are very young. There is a little wiggle room here though, if there will be a larger number of children in attendance, you can set up a children’s table where they can all sit together. Provide activities such as crayons, coloring books and special age appropriate favors for them. They’ll probably have more fun at such a table.