Do you want to host a relaxing wedding weekend, a memorable celebration that allows space and time for connection and joy? Here’s how to manifest a meaningful wedding weekend:
1. Bring The Right Attitude
A relaxing wedding weekend all begins with you. Your attitude sets the tone for you, your guests, and your vendors. A relaxed mindset will ensure a relaxed approach to all elements and events during your wedding weekend.
2. Trust Your Planner
Hiring a professional wedding planner to lead you and your vendor team through your wedding weekend is necessary (Link to why here). Hiring a planner independent of the venue you contract to serve your interests directly is necessary. Hiring a planner that you communicate well with, who understands your vision, budget and priorities, and that you have good chemistry with will be incredibly beneficial and allow you to reach your ultimate goal for the experience.
Once you have found your planner, it is also key to follow their expertise and trust them every step of the way. Trust that they will care for you, your family, guests, and other vendors. Trust that they will manage all the details for your wedding weekend. They have your best interest in mind, and they will take care of you every step of the way. Trusting your planner will help you to have a relaxing wedding weekend from the moment you arrive to the moment you depart.
We always require our couples to hire a trusted planner from our Vendor Directory. These planners have all worked at the venue for past celebrations and are familiar with our offerings, regulations, and expectations. We are certain they will take care of every aspect of your wedding weekend and will leave you to enjoy all the events planned during your wedding weekend.
3. A Professional Vendor Team
A key step toward success is the selection of a professional vendor team. Experienced, professional vendors will autonomously manage details under the direction of your planner.
Choose from a list of trusted professionals on our Preferred Vendor Guide. We have had exceptional experience with all listed vendors at French’s Point. We are confident they will work with you and us to ensure a smooth and seamless wedding weekend.
When clients choose vendors that their planner is unfamiliar with or has never been to or worked at their venue, there is a steep learning curve that will require more effort and time from your venue, planner, and other vendors in the months leading up to your wedding weekend. The inexperienced and unfamiliar increases the chance of error. Vendors familiar with your planner and venue have a familiarity with each other and developed expectations that make the planning process so much simpler and more positive.
Therefore, at French’s Point, we always require the key vendors (Planner, Caterer, and Bar Service Provider) to be hired off of our Preferred Vendor Directory, and all other vendors we highly encourage to also come from our trusted vendor list as well, or at a minimum, from your Planner suggested list of providers.
4. Connect With Your Team in Advance
Create the opportunity to communicate your expectations with your vendor team clearly. Whether you meet with your vendors over FaceTime/Zoom or plan an in-person meeting for tastings, alterations, or design selections, you will feel relaxed and understood during your wedding weekend. These meetings will help guide your vendors, meaning you are well cared for during your wedding weekend.
Your vendors will work with you months in advance to work out all the details of your events during your wedding weekend. If you work with trusted, professional vendors, they will think of all the tiny details to finalize, so you won’t have to. Make time for your team of vendors in the months leading up to your celebration instead of the weeks and days before. This will make you feel at ease and give you time for any last-minute details that can come up in the days leading up to your wedding weekend. This will help you and your vendors have a relaxed wedding weekend.
5. DIY Do’s and Don’ts
DIY elements for your wedding weekend are not conducive to a relaxed and enjoyable weekend wedding. We never encourage our couples to DIY anything for their celebrations or ask friends /family to provide elements for their wedding. This is simply because it means work for you as the hosts. This is contrary to a relaxing weekend. If you don’t hand over a detail of your weekend to an entrusted vendor or professional, you are left to manage the detail yourself or spend ample time communicating your desires to family members. This can cause stress and time that we know you would rather spend with loved ones you hadn’t seen in a while during your destination wedding weekend at the estate.
If you decide there is an element or two that you would like to DIY for your celebration because you enjoy it, they should be in areas you have expertise in and can be done before you arrive for your weekend wedding. If you are an avid calligrapher or have bee hives and want to offer honey as a personal favor, go for it! If you can’t imagine celebrating without your grandmother’s molasses cookies in the welcome bags, enlist her help.
If you feel strongly that you want to have a personal hand in curating the weekend, we recommend choosing one or two projects to take on or delegate to loved ones and leaving the others up to the professionals. We do not suggest having friends and family gift you elements of your celebration typically provided by professional vendors, such as photography and flowers. You (or your planner) must manage these elements more tightly. This can bring stress and ultimately leave you less relaxed throughout your wedding weekend.
6. Set Expectations For Your Guests In Advance
Communicate clearly with your guests from the moment you send your save-the-dates. Establish and share a detailed wedding website with all the details (Travel, lodging, packing list, weekend Itinerary, child/pet policy, regional exploration guide). Your guests will feel considered, cared for, and taken care of if you anticipate their needs, communicate with them in advance. As a result, you will feel relaxed leading up to your wedding weekend.
So make sure to keep the communication streams moving and communicate with all your vendors & attendees in advance!
7. Allow Unscheduled Time In Your Wedding Weekend Itinerary
Our favorite parts of every wedding weekend are the unplanned moments. When guests and couples take a moment to go outside, look around, explore the venue, put their feet up, and relax with their guests, they can be fully present in what can be a very busy weekend. If you take time to relax, your guests will too. If you plan every moment of your day out, you will always think about where you must be next and never truly rest in the moment. Planning one or two events in a day and lots of downtime provides a great balance. That unscheduled time in your wedding weekend itinerary is when the magic happens, and memories are made.
8. Plan Your Honeymoon in Advance
Again, the theme of advance planning is key to hosting a successful wedding weekend. But one more final detail you want to ensure is in place long before your wedding is your honeymoon. Planning your honeymoon with a professional travel agent will help you plan your packing list and outfits, get your passports, and arrange transportation. Going from your wedding weekend being taken care of by your planner to the airport where you will be taken care of by your agent will help your mind be at ease during your wedding weekend and remain relaxed on your wedding day.