Elegante ‘Piccolo’ is my signature lighter wedding planning service, small and dainty by name but not by nature. Just ask Jonathan and Katie, whose wedding I planned in a month and a half within the autumn. This manner of working with me is ideal if you will have got part-way through the planning but need some expert help to bring every part together. Jonathan and Katie opted for this service plus some additional planning support after deciding to have the Jewish wedding celebration they were denied through Covid, and realising they were scuffling with the best way to turn their quirky, blank-canvas wedding venue right into a space suitable for a standard chuppah and an unforgettable party. Without further ado, here it’s: the best way to plan a marriage in 6 weeks.
Katie and Jonathan were one in every of many couples who opted for a small, civil wedding within the UK in the course of the pandemic, but at all times desired to have a good time with their family and friends in a Jewish celebration. Nevertheless, they realised their priorities had modified and so they not wanted the hotel ballroom wedding they’d originally planned. They booked The Engine Rooms Event Space within the London suburbs to make it easy for guests to get there, a cool and contemporary venue that’s part-vintage automobile showroom and part-blank canvas. They desired to get married on a Saturday so people were able to essentially benefit from the party. For those of you who’re accustomed to traditional Jewish weddings, most happen on a Sunday because the sabbath happens each week until sunset on Saturday. All these reasons combined meant that the structure and flow of the marriage day was going to be very different from a ‘traditional’ celebration!
I got here on board because Jonathan and Katie had booked the wonderful Totem to bring the party they were on the lookout for, but they were struggling to determine the best way to curate and design the marriage they wanted. Planning a non-traditional event in a brief timeframe requires just as much thought, meticulous attention to detail and production as a classic-format wedding day. Sometimes the timeline and ‘flow’ are much more complex, as guests don’t intuitively know the journey through the day. Brett of Totem really helpful me to assist them with this, as we’ve got an ideal working relationship and he knows my approach to events. My suggestion was endorsed by the fabulous Adam Nathan who they’d also booked to supply food stations and bowl food. The best way to plan a marriage in 6 weeks? Usher in the experts!
I worked with this unique venue and my couple’s vision for an off-the-cuff party atmosphere, making a floorplan that incorporated each of the event spaces and made each area feel as if it flowed into the subsequent. At first glance the venue spaces feel quite cool and harsh, so an enormous a part of my role was to usher in suppliers to melt it and provides it a dusky, modern wedding feeling. I also sourced a photobooth to maintain guests entertained, and a beautiful photographer to capture all of it. We also had a production team to make the space feel curated and designed with staging, lighting and dance floor. Production is a vital a part of any immersive experience, regardless of the dimensions.
Jonathan and Katie used the courtyard space for his or her chuppah, keeping the design quite easy with a floral chuppah cover and numerous candlelight. All of the religious elements that were essential to them were included within the ceremony and, after their recessional, guests were invited to walk through the chuppah into the party room. There was no formal seating or dinner tables, but loads of thoughtfully placed sofas and lounge furniture, poseur tables and occasional tables to ask guests to assemble and feel comfortable. Waiters greeted them with drinks and the band, Totem, was already on stage waiting for them. The floorplan of this space was planned and thought through in the identical way we might with any formal dinner!
Some of the eye-catching elements of the space was the palm tree printed bar, which we used as the premise of the design. The colors of the soft pink and sea foam green sofas, white and gold tables and foliage and candles dressing each area of the space really helped tie every part together, making an otherwise masculine-feeling space very welcoming. While guests were having fun with this space, the chuppah was cleared and a few tables and chairs were introduced within the courtyard. Despite the informal nature of the day, the flow and structure was still rigorously thought through.
As with most Jewish weddings, after the post-ceremony drinks and canapes the couple had a grand entrance and the room erupted into Israeli dancing. There was only one speech by Jonathan, after which food stations were opened and the party began! Katie and Jonathan had the marriage celebration they’d been dreaming about, a mix of tradition and informality.
When asked about the best way to plan a marriage in 6 weeks, my advice can be this: although your lead time is shorter, don’t treat the complexity and detail of the day any in a different way than you’ll an enormous wedding planned over a full 12 months. For those who are daunted by the prospect of pulling every part together in a brief timeframe and have already got nearly all of your suppliers booked, but want some expert support in the shape of wedding planning consultancy…my Elegante Piccolo service was designed for you. Don’t be intimidated by the burden of all of it…put money into expert support, and nobody will ever know your event hasn’t been months within the planning.
With special because of the wonderful team who contributed to Jonathan and Katie’s special occasion:
