Simply Chic - Event Design and Coordination

Why Hire a Wedding Coordinator?

June 30th, 2010

I came across this article by renowned event planner, Sasha Souza:
http://www.wedalert.com/content/articles/why_hire_coordinator.asp.

From my experience, there are three types of needs most couples fall into:
1) They need assistance from the beginning! A couple may not know where to begin, may be planning a wedding from out of town and don’t know local resources, or are too busy in career and/or life to put in the time and effort required. They may have a vision in mind but don’t know how to start execution or maybe just don’t have a vision at all. — As Sasha Souza said in the article, a Wedding Coordinator “will save you time and enable you to get the most for your money!” A Wedding Coordinator can perform all the research and present the best options to you.
2) They got the ball rolling but need more guidance! A couple may have the venues set and a clear vision in mind, but don’t have the proper resources to contact without going over their budget. They may need help in finding some vendors to help their dreams come true. They may also want someone to make sure they are doing all they need to do for preparation. — Sasha also stated that a Wedding Coordinator “guides and assists you in making informed decisions”. A Wedding Coordinator has the resources and relationships with other vendors.
3) They paved the way but…. Who’s going to run the rehearsal and wedding procession? Who’s going to set up the decor? Who will coordinate with the DJ & MC? Who will make sure all the vendors are there in time? Who will keep the reception program timeline? — These are a few tasks that a Wedding Coordinator handles on your big day. A Wedding Coordinator takes care of the work so you can have fun and celebrate.

When should I hire a Wedding Coordinator?
It depends which of the three described above you fall under. For type #1, start communication as soon as you decide the tentative date of your wedding and/or you realize you’ll need the assitance. In all cases, get in contact at least 4-6 months in advanced.

Why hire Simply Chic as my Wedding Coordinator?
- Our philosophy. Let your guests be guests, you be the celebrants, and we’ll handle all the fine details!
- Our commitment to education and training. April attends design courses while Ginet will graduate from the the University of San Diego and George Washington University’s Event Management Program at the end of the year. April and Ginet attended their first industry conference and tradeshow The Special Event Show and plan to continue to attend annually.
- Our professional affiliation. Ginet is a student member of the International Special Events Society.
- Our personalities. Ginet and April are approachable and easy-going, but still very professional. The best way to see this is to set an appointment for a consultation!

The most important thing to consider is value for the cost. We all know money is a key factor, but you should always keep in mind the value a wedding coordinator can provide. If you truly want to enjoy your day and not worry about the details, you’ll need someone there to make sure everything in the background runs smoothly. Your wedding coordinator should be someone you trust and confide in so that there’s be a mutual respect for each other and great communication. This will ensure the vision of your day will come alive exactly how you pictured it; thus, your wedding will be a success!

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A Sweet Adventure: A Year From Today

June 18th, 2010

A year from today is our wedding day. Yes, we’ve picked a date! June 18, 2011. The date has been picked for a while but I haven’t really announced it til now. So why this date? Well, mainly because it’s in the week my sister/Maid-of-Honor Marj has off from school. We NEED her to be around the festivities leading up to the big day. Plus, it’s close to our dating anniversary June 15. Also, our wedding will be in San Francisco! The city with the Golden Gate bridge, Rice-a-Roni, and the trolleys! My fiance Justin is from the Bay Area and we decided before we even got engaged that wherever we get married will be the opposite of where we live. Since we live in San Diego, we’re getting married up north. We, for the most part, have our venues picked out but that will be blogged about in a later post when everything is pretty much set. So please stay tuned! (And I promise there will be pictures in future posts!)

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Who: Karen & Christian | What: Engagement Photos

June 14th, 2010

I’ve known photographer Daniel Galang since my second year of college. At my first general body meeting of Kaibigang Pilipino at UCSD, Daniel was the first person to come up to me during an icebreaker game. We’ve become good friends since then, participating as officers in the organization as well as taking those great [sarcasm well intended] lower-division engineering requirement classes together! We’ve come a long way since then and definitely have a long way to go, but Daniel just gets better and better with each job! The wonderful Daniel sent me some photos of our clients Karen and Christian’s engagement session. These pictures are ah-maze-ing! Daniel not only caught how they want the look and feel of their wedding to be (very classy!), but more importantly, he made them look really good. I’m sure it wasn’t too hard to do that especially as Karen being a model on the side, but even Christian looked so GQ and modelesque. Preview some photos here then check out Daniel’s website: http://www.danielgalangphotography.com.

Courtesy of Daniel Galang Photography

Can’t pick a favorite? Neither can we. =)

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Fairytales Do Come True: The Prologue

June 8th, 2010

As Ginet mentioned in her previous post, since we’re both engaged, we are sharing our wedding planning experiences through our Simply Chic blog. However, we wanted to differentiate between the two of us writing, so we came up with clever names to title our posts.

How did I come up with Fairytales Do Come True? It’s pretty self-explanatory.

Our relationship has felt like a fairytale from the start. He is my brother’s friend from college, so we knew each other for awhile. It wasn’t until my brother’s wedding back in September did the sparks fly. We flirted.. he kissed me.. I kissed back.. and crazy to say, but we knew we were “it” from then on. We started dating shortly after the wedding and have been inseparable ever since. From the get-go, the time we spent together has been amazing: free museum day at balboa park, disneyland for my birthday, staying in and cooking dinner, watching movies, the countless trips we’ve taken, the list goes on..

But what takes the cake? His proposal.

We were in Fussen, Germany visiting Neuschwainstein’s castle. It’s the castle that Disney’s castle is modeled after. Since we started dating, he had wanted to bring me there because he knows of my love for Disneyland. I was cranky and hungry from the long hike to the castle all the while he was patiently waiting with the ring in his pocket to find the right time. We were hiking down from a bridge that overlooks the castle and came across a trail that ran along multiple waterfalls. There was a spot where the trees cleared and the sunlight was shining through. He stopped, asked me if I had great trip (in which I answered, “of course!” I mean, he had taken me all over Europe.. how could I not have a great trip!!?), and proceeded to tell me that he had something else to ask me…

As he sets his jacket down, he gets down on one knee, opens the ring box, and says “would you marry me?”. I’m blinded by the sparkle of the ring as it hits the sun and am left speechless. As he likes to say, ”a deer in headlights.” I managed to ask him 1) “are you for real?, 2) “where did you get the ring!!?”, and 3) “how much did this ring cost!!?” (The ring IS BEAUTIFUL and I always joke with him that he shouldn’t have shown me the ring while he was asking because I was just mesmorized by it.) I had him waiting on his knee for an answer way longer than I ever meant to. I finally answered Yes! and I spent the rest of the night bugging him about all the planning he had done to make this a successful surprise.

To this day, it still feels so surreal. I was lucky to find my prince charming and lucky that he has given me this romance that other girls dream of. Complete with a castle, waterfalls, and beautiful scenery. Just like a fairytale.

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Who: Karen and Christian | What: Save The Dates

June 2nd, 2010

This has been a long time coming.

Karen and Christian got engaged back in August of 2008 and as new of a company we were, they were one of our first couples who trusted in us to help them make their special day remarkable. We cannot thank them enough for giving us this opportunity to help them plan, design, and coordinate their special day.

We created their Save The Date magnets based off of a classic photobooth picture strip. I’m a bit biased, but I just LOVE how they turned out!

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