Radiant Weddings

Sit down with us for a Scotch as we discuss practical steps for hiring your wedding vendors! We've found that much of the wedding planning advice that is found out in the wild doesn't provide actionable steps for successfully processing through vendor options and coming to the point of knowing who you want to hire. Here we start with sourcing your initial list of vendors, how to cull the list down, and questions to ask as you interview your top picks.

Step #1: Compile list of vendors servicing your wedding region.
You can create this list from Google searches, The Knot searches, or any vendors that you've already hired. Make a list of 15-20 vendors to start.

Step #2: Cull your list. Go through each vendor's website, checking out visual representation of their work. Check out their reviews and look for any red flags regarding communication or customer service. Don't check pricing! Remove any vendors who you aren't excited about. Your goal is to trim each category down to 3-5 vendors.

Step #3: Email your top contenders. Introduce your story briefly and ask the vendor about their availability for your wedding date (or season if your date isn't chosen yet). Provide the vendor with a few times that you have available for a phone call with the best number to reach you. This step also gives you the chance to further filter vendors based on the speed and clarity of their response.

Step #4: Talk with any remaining vendors on the phone. This conversation mainly will be serving the purpose of acquainting you with the vendor and assessing how comfortable you feel with them. At the end of the conversation talk about pricing and how to fit the budget pieces together.

Step #5: Confirm with your vendor choices that you are indeed hiring them and take the necessary steps to sign the contract and pay the deposit. Courtesy tip: send a quick email to the other vendors who you won't be hiring to thank them for their time and inform them that you're passing on their services.

Extra tips:
Hire your highest priority wedding vendors first to prioritize allocating your budget to areas that you're most willing to spend. Check with your venue before hiring further vendors to ensure that you aren't looking at vendors who are not allowed to work on premises.

Have fun with this process!

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Ria Hy (Wedding Planner)
Website - www.radiantevents.net
Facebook - Radiant Events
Instagram - @radiantevents_flx

Joe Hy (Photographer)
Website - www.joehy.com
Facebook - Joe Hy Photography
Instagram - @joehyphotography

Wedding trends come and go, with a few that have the staying power of becoming a “tradition.” We compiled a list of wedding traditions & trends that we’re happy to see are on their way out or that we’d love to see on their way out. In no particular order, they are:

1. Receiving Lines

Why don’t we love receiving lines? Simply put, they don’t provide you a valuable use of your precious time on the wedding day. A better option is to provide yourself with ample cocktail hour/reception time to greet your guests and mingle.

1. Dollar Dances

Tacky. Besides the fact that this would need to be adjusted for inflation, doing any game on your wedding day to “ask” for money is tacky.

1. Garter & Bouquet Tosses

As a culture, we’re starting to admit the cringe factor that is involved with this tradition. Whether you cringe because you think it’s sexist or you cringe just because it’s outright awkward, let’s let this one go.

1. Send offs and other activities that require the participation of all wedding guests.

The difficulty of coordinating all of your guests into an organized activity is a stress that you can easily remove from your wedding day. Along with this point, most weddings are missing some guests already by the end of the night which can mean an anticlimactic send off.

1. Sparklers & alcohol

Somewhat on the same note as send offs, planning a sparkler send off is problematic, especially because the guests have been drinking. It’s not only difficult to coordinate, it’s also risky.

1. Best man first looks

A little because it’s cringy, a little because it could indeed be a disappointment for the groom.

1. Cheesy signage

I take issue with signage that errs on the “cutesy” side rather than the elegant side. Personal opinion :).

1. Cake smashes

Not the best way to begin a happy marriage. Preserve that makeup right up to the end of the night and savor the cake instead.

1. Advice to run from marriage
2. “Yes dear” comments

These last two are basically in the same category. Negative comments about marriage are not life giving in any context, but they are especially inappropriate at a wedding. Culturally, we’ve allowed ourselves to promote a lot of negativity about the partnership & commitment of marriage. It’s time to start making life giving, encouraging comments about marriage again!

Budgets are a popular and important topic in wedding planning but too often I see them become the deciding factor for the majority of wedding decisions. This leads to couples choosing vendors that really aren't a great fit for them and frustration when "cheap" choices don't deliver. Many times a so called cheap choice will prove to be more expensive when they don't come through and need to be replaced.

Minimalism in wedding planning is both a style as well as being very intentional about every dollar that you spend. You will ensure that the vendors and the design decisions that you make are what you really want instead of just looking at the dollar amount that you're spending. When you choose minimalism, you remove the obligation to spend on elements of a typical wedding day that aren't important to you. For example, you may choose to eliminate the wedding cake if you really aren't into cake. Minimalism emphasizes the individual quality of your choices. Being "cheap" means that you're spreading your money thin instead of giving it focus on your priorities.

As a style, minimalism focuses on clean lines and uncluttered spaces. For more inspiration go here.
Find us at Radiant Events and Joe Hy Photography

In light of current events of the quarantine due to Covid-19, we are discussing the other options of getting married besides having a large gathering of your friends and family. An elopement is typically a ceremony where only the two of you are present with the officiant and witnesses. Another option is an intimate ceremony with immediate family and maybe a few close friends. These options both can be made just as special and beautiful as a full wedding with a crowd.

A full wedding where you celebrate with those you love is a wonderful event but it isn't necessary to beginning your marriage. Your marriage is the moment where you officially commit your lives to each other in the presence of someone licensed to perform a marriage. A wedding is a celebration of your marriage. An elopement is an excellent option for not delaying the marriage until you are logistically and financially able to have a wedding. You can even choose to include your loved ones by live streaming the moment for them to see remotely.

If you were to plan an elopement, where would you choose to elope?

Find us at Radiant Events and Joe Hy Photography

How to handle opinionated family and friends and how to avoid stress on your wedding day and throughout the planning process.

What wedding topics would you like to hear discussed? Contact us through our sites.
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