Weddings are the celebration of a new beginning of two families. Family sizes vary – some families are tiny and some are extra-large; like mine. Apart from family, your guests will include people in all aspects of your life such as your close friends, professional friends and significant relationships. To ensure that you don’t miss anyone, you will have to list all your guest names in categories.

The Categories

Family	People who are related to you
Close Friends	People you interact with on a regular basis or are significant in your life
Professional Friends	Co-workers, clients-turned-friends, or other people who are important in your career
Significant Relationships	The people who remain significant in your life, such as your friends from childhood, college, or any group that you belong to

 

This exercise must be achieved where; you create your list and your partner creates his/her list. Also include significant others and children next to each name. When completed, you will merge the two lists to create one list. You can also have your parents do the exercise because they usually have their own invitee list. It might be a great idea to have them doing their exercise because you may just miss an aunt.

Now that you’ve thought of everyone you’d love to celebrate with you, you need to categorize your guests further in order of priority – A, B and C.

A represents close family and friends that must be at the ceremony.

B represents extended family, professional friends and other friends that you are planning to invite.

C represents guests that you would like to have at your wedding if your budget allows.

If you are still stuck and your guest list isn’t what you want it to look like; here’s a few questions to consider:

• How do you envision your day? I’m sure you remember seeing that in a previous blog post – but it keeps you focused. And that tip is helpful here in determining who makes the guest list. Do you want a small, intimate wedding or a huge celebration? See how it affects your guest list?
• Realistically, how many people are coming? Think of the people that has to be there. Don’t forget to include your parents’ list in there.
• Will you have a guest limit? Will you put a ceiling on the numbers?
• Other things to consider? Will you be including plus ones, children or not?

Hooray! Now you have your wedding list! This deserves a celebration…let’s have some wine! Cheers!

 

Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

There’s a first time for everything. And planning a wedding might be most couple’s first big event. But to pull off this event we need to have the money talk. I know you’d rather skip to popping the champagne and dancing but creating a budget is the most important part of planning a wedding.

I recommend that you think about the wedding you would like. If you need help with that, read our previous blog post here. After you’ve nailed that down, you and your partner should discuss how much you are comfortable spending. And keep your fingers crossed that your dream wedding and budget correlate.

It is difficult to determine how much your wedding is going to cost until you achieve the following:

Discuss

You and your partner should have a chat about how much you are willing and comfortable with spending on your wedding. Will you get financial contributions from family? If you know the amount a family member has committed to your day, include it in your budget. If you’re not sure whether family members are going to contribute, why not give it a try?

You should also discuss your guest count. Irrespective of the type of wedding or the location you choose to have your wedding, the guest count will have a huge impact on your wedding budget. Therefore, I think we need to get started on the guest list.

Non-negotiables?

Both you and your partner should list your priorities. Whether it’s a photographer, the decorator at your friend’s wedding, the caterer or any other detail you cannot negotiate on. Outlining those details keep you focused on your budget, your wedding style and ensuring that you get what’s most important to you. Both of you should draw up your own list of priorities. It’s a nice exercise to get him involved in the wedding planning while understanding what’s important to him.

Reality Check

We’ve established the vision of your wedding, the amount of money you are willing to spend, an estimated guest count. That’s good information for finding out if your dream wedding is possible. You can start by researching venues and caterers that can accommodate your guest count. If the quotations can fit within your budget – hooray! If it doesn’t; we will have to make some adjustments. You can probably increase your budget or sacrifice on certain details.

Step 1: Get Organised

Planning = Being Organised. If organisation is not one of your strong skills it will become one by the time you’ve finished planning your wedding lol. Whether you’re organised or not, I’d recommend that you purchase a binder or download a note-taking app, as it helps keep everything in one place. I prefer the binder because I love stationery, the feeling of turning pages and decorating my headings with my gel pens. But it’s your preference.

Step 2: Dream! Dream! Dream!

Planning a wedding is quite stressful so it’s ok to dream. Don’t feel pressured about the budget or all the nitty-gritty just yet.

Instead, think about how you envisioned your wedding day. Do you see:

• A Big Wedding (inviting everyone you know) or a Small Wedding (keeping it within your family and close friends)?
• Hosting Outdoors or Indoors?
• Keeping it Local (in your country) or Destination Wedding (away from home – hello St Lucia)?
• Classic, Modern, Cultural, Themed, Glam or Rustic?
• Fancy, Casual or in-between?

Make a note of those answers.

Step 3: Get Inspired

Check out magazines, blogs and social media to understand your likes and dislikes. Save all the pictures you like – you will soon notice a pattern and see what works well together.

Step 4: Decide on Formality

The formality is basically how fancy or casual you want your wedding. You must consider your style and that of your partner’s. Whether you prefer a brunch reception, cocktail party or formal dinner, it is important in all aspects of your wedding. Your formality determines – your stationery, venue, wedding time, guests’ attire, budget, tone, right down to your guests’ favours.

Step 5: Establish Your Style

This step keeps you focused. To establish your style, zoom in on your answers in Step 2. Instead of having a generic theme like a Modern wedding; you need to be more specific like Modern Chic. Your theme can be inspired by so many things; from a movie you and your partner enjoy or your favourite sport. The possibilities are endless! So, get creative with your ideas.

Step 6: Colours

Similar to your wedding formality, your colours are linked to all the elements in your wedding. A tip for choosing your colours is to start with a main colour and an accent colour, or complementary colours. Adding neutral or metallic accents will complete your colour scheme. There are some factors that need to be considered when picking colours but that will be covered in a future blog post.

 

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels

Before we go right in…let me just say Congratulations on Your Engagement! I can imagine how you feel right now. The love of your life just asked you to be his lifelong partner and you’re filled with emotion! Excitement mainly but a tad bit of anxiety.  It’s ok to have these mixed feelings because it is a lot to take in – moving from in a relationship to engaged, wedding planning, bride-to-be and then bride in the blink of an eye. Whoa! That’s quite a bit! But, don’t worry – TLC Events’ blog will be your guide as you plan your St Lucian destination wedding. The top 5 things to do when engaged are explained below.

1. Bask in your engagement

Your first instinct after you’ve said ‘Yes’ might be to post on all your social media platforms. I understand, it’s great news and you want to tell everyone about it. But remember; this moment is priceless. And you should savour this moment. It’s a new stage in your life that the two of you should enjoy together. Celebrate this milestone in a way that reflects both you and your partner. It could be popping some champagne, going out for dinner, having a picnic. Anything that you both will enjoy is enough! Just bask in your engagement as long as you want.

2. The Announcement

Not social media just yet! You need to follow the chain of command lol. Let your parents know first. Then, the rest of the family, close friends of the family and friends. You don’t really want your parents or Aunty Linda to find out while scrolling down Facebook. Once the important people in your circle are covered, then you can make the announcement on social media.

3. Get your ring sized and insured

Your fiancé has put in a lot of time and effort to pick your engagement ring. He’s been browsing many websites and visiting jewellery stores in search of the perfect engagement ring. While he got the perfect ring, the fit isn’t as perfect. If this sounds a bit like your story – you shouldn’t worry. You can simply return to the jewellery store and get your ring resized.

You should also consider insuring your ring because you might not be able to replace it if it gets lost or stolen. And even though you can replace it; in the event it gets lost or stolen, it’s the sentimental value that is going to matter to you. If the loss of your ring is unbearable, we’d recommend getting your little rock insured.

4. Have a timeline in mind

You can get married whenever you like; whether it’s a year from your engagement or two years away. However, you should have a date in mind because it gives your wedding planning some form of structure.

 

Featured Image by Jasmine Wallace Carter from Pexels

I’m Toyan Lord Charlemagne, co-owner of TLC Events. And if you’re wondering, TLC is my initials which is one of the many reasons that contributed to the name of the business. TLC also represents one of our event services – Rentals of Tables, Linen and Chairs!

I’ve been part of TLC Events from my childhood therefore, I have countless experiences and stories of growing up in a Floral and Events family business. TLC Events was started by my Mum in 1994; as a single parent and so I’ve always been her little personal assistant.

Since I was very curious and a little chatterbox, my mother would keep me occupied by harvesting flowers to create bridal bouquets, table centrepieces and other floral designs. I loved my flower harvesting runs because it was an excuse to go out and be on the flower farm.

Another part I loved was setting up for weddings and events. I would get really excited because I got to see different locations for weddings and events in St Lucia and meet other vendors like photographers. As I got older, I was able to help out on-site by doing full table setup while Mum worked on the backdrop. Or, I work on Chair decoration while she works on the Floral Arch. So, we’re always a team.

As TLC Events grew, more members joined our team who we love dearly. They’re professionally trained to help execute a memorable event. Like I’ve been part of TLC Events from the start, they have been part of TLC Events quite a bit that they are considered family. They have been part of the process of TLC Events providing a full-service design for weddings, corporate events, yachts, milestone celebrations, social events and galas.

Having styled for so many events including destination weddings, celebrity weddings and corporate events in St Lucia, I felt the need to share my knowledge on planning weddings and events in St Lucia through a blog. This blog will provide information for destination brides and clients wishing to host a private or corporate event in St Lucia. Events that the TLC Events team style on the island will also be featured.

Keep an eye out for our weekly blog posts

Happy Styling!

Blog posts coming soon. Be sure to check back for the latest.