Final article on shades of purple

Last week I did 2 articles that reminded me of how I have in the past worked with different shades of purple. I'll finalize today's article with 2 different past weddings. What they share in common is royal purple. One of my very favorite past brides had royal purple, burnt orange and aqua blue as her colors. Her 2 maids wore the colors well on their dresses and she chose burnt orange clutch bags instead of floral bouquets for the maids. Only the bride carried her floral bouquet.

Even with the reception, her three colors combined just fine. The thing about both brides on my article today, they knew what they wanted right from the start and were flexible enough to adjust and do away with what didn't.

I've mentioned 2 brides and only described one so far. The latter did royal purple and cream or off white. They were both easy to deal with brides and unique in their own ways. Not to drift much, I'll get back to bride number 2. Her colors blended easily. For her wedding flowers, lilac roses carried the day and working with a vintage car for the bride was my highlight. It was well kept. This being the second time I'm dealing with vintage cars for a bridal carriage.

I loved working with both of them as out of trust, they let us handle a lot for their big day. Its good that I can reflect back to both of them and be grateful to have worked with them.

Shades of purple.......2

Flashback to 2 years ago in 2013. A childhood friend gets in touch. She wants me to work on her wedding. She has never been shy about colors. I loved how unique she wanted to make everything for her wedding including her dress. While the dress idea had to be reverted to traditional one due to unforeseen and avoidable circumstances, her concepts didn't change. She wanted to play with color.

She loved gold, purple and green and we were to incorporate the shades of this colors into her wedding. I was scared at first but thrilled to work on a vision that would slowly make sense to me along the way. From the bridesmaids to the best maid to the flower girls, she chose different shades of colors that she was comfortable with.


Pictures courtesy of Tony Wainaina Photography

Its surprised a few people who expected 2 or less colors and not a splash of colors. One thing that I really loved about her is she wanted to be different. The original concept might have changed but the idea remained the same. I was grateful to have found green roses and shades of purple for her flowers. Even with the drapes and fabrics, the concept was maintained and she was a happy bride at the end of the day.

Shades of purple

Its been very fast 8 days for me. I thought I would do this sooner but scheduling time doesn't come easy. I read lots of tweets last week on a local bloggers award that was going on: it reminded me that I'm partially one and need to get back on track. If there is one thing to be said about wedding industry, the local market keeps changing so much.

There was a time I could predict right what the local trend was but not anymore. I will however endeavor this week and next to look into the different combination of purple color themes I've worked with.

Today, I would like to look at eggplant and lilac. The time I worked with the 2 color combination 2 years ago, I wasn't skeptical at all at the beginning, but I loved how they combined.

It brought to my attention something interesting though. The deep purple flowers that most vendors refer to is very different shades from what you get in fabrics. I sometimes  have a hard time convincing certain brides that some colors have different shades based on the fabric type we use locally, and also on flowers. Its never an easy discussion with some.

 I loved working on this 2 colors, and I wouldn't mind a twist to it with another bride.

Green wedding

Its been a while since I got to blogging on this page. More than a month. I've had loads of paperwork and organization work to adjust to. Now that the balance is achieved I thought why not write something about green weddings today.

Irrespective of why one chooses a green wedding, its a beauty to work with. A green wedding can appeal due to various reasons. Some brides are
attracted to lush green gardens, for outdoor weddings. It makes them select the venue. Most of my floral arrangement have some greenery in them. Whether the foliage or lime green flowers due the arrangement involved.

Then there is the different shades of green that a bride can settle for as her color theme. This she can choose to work with on the bridesmaids dresses and the fabric drape of the wedding. One other way to have a green wedding, is by using materials that are eco-friendly to the environment in different aspects of the wedding.

Photos: Tony Wainaina Photography

I'm glad to have worked with all aspects of a green wedding. Its interesting to see how you can easily translate it on a wedding. I once worked with a bride who wanted lime green as one of the many colors she was working with and wanted me to stay as far as possible from white flowers. I found that quite odd but I was open to the idea and I loves the outcome.

So,on today's blog I thought I could share some green weddings whether in color of flowers or weddings theme or drapes of brides I have worked with in the past. The ones I have selected  I did their weddings between one to four years ago.

With myself slowly warming up to green and how versatile it is, I cant wait to see if i get a different opportunity to work with a completely different green or just the same  greens but in a different way. Either way, working with different shades of green has been interesting.

Polka dot themed wedding.

This is the second of my twelve articles on real weddings I plan to blog about. Time flies so fast. This particular wedding happened a year ago precisely in February. The planning though started way in advance. I must say, sometimes there are couples we start planning together but its usually just that: planning without committing deposits to anything.

 They were different in a lot of levels.  They wanted something unique that represented them. During the planning process, it was easy to tell that polka dots wasn't just an idea that came up but she wore a lot of outfits that in whole or in parts kept to this theme. Having this pattern combined with aqua blue was a perfect fit.

 Cake was done by valentine cake house

Interesting bit about this wedding, the theme stuck out throughout. The wedding cake, the drapes used on the tents, the signing table, bridal car and the list continues. All in all, every aspect of the wedding tied in together.

It was initially a challenge finding polka drapes for the wedding but the fact that they committed early enough, it gave me enough time to look for all the rolls of materials that we would use for tie backs. Finding 2 different textures of polka dots for the tie backs and tent drapes. It all worked out: I'm glad. In the end, everything worked out just fine. I liked the fact that she chose a different color all together for the wedding invitations. That meant just a handful of guests wore polka dots and aqua blue. Those who weren't aware of the wedding colors but got it right with their outfit selection.

In the end of it, I loved working with this couple. They were organized, they knew what they wanted and starting early enough was good not just for me but also them.

African Themed Wedding : Flashback

This year, I've decided to do something different in my blogging. In addition to my usual articles, I thought it would be nice to talk about 12 different themed weddings I have done overtime and why they stood out for me and probably if there is anything I could do different.

My first article would be on an African themed wedding that I did 2 years ago in the month of February. I guess this was one wedding that had to confirm whether I was really up to the challenge of something really different and gratefully, I was.

Right from the start, I knew I was dealing with a different kind of bride who knew exactly what she wanted. From the usual fresh flower arrangements on the cars to using dried flowers for the arrangement. The commonly called "uteo" in African language, was a great option to use in bringing the arrangement together on the bridal car.

The bridal bouquet and her maids too were dried floral arrangement instead of fresh flowers. The use of pots and animal prints fabrics added more to the overall African themed wedding. I guess at the end of the day, I loved the way all the pieces came together and the earthy colors connected the theme. Wouldn't change anything about it if I was to do it all over again.

2014 in review.

Time does fly very fast. Sometime this year, it will be the start of my 8th year in my wedding planning business.  As far as being in the wedding industry, its already been more than a decade: 11 years to be precise. I have learnt a lot and grown in this business in ways I never expected. I've learned how to handle the planning pressure better (yes, planners do have pressure to meet the wedding deadline and make sure everything runs smoothly and as per clients expectations.)

Last year was a great year for my business but along with success, it brought a number of challenges and changes that I very much need to make. Like I said, my blog today will focus on my lessons of 2014 despite the fact that there is much I have learned in all these years.

1: Its important to have a contract with clients right from the start especially when they are your friends. When respect is maintained in doing business with friends, then it saves a lot of headaches later when misunderstanding arises and in most often than not ,they DO arise.

2: Many brides have in mind to start planning their wedding early but this is usually done verbally. To everyone else concerned, their plans are great and the wedding is well in progress but the sad bit is they identify their vendors early, negotiate everything and fear taking the step to pay a deposit or sometimes hesitate due to financial constraints. I've learned to be weary of them and I've learned that 2 free appointments with such is  enough before I opt out or patiently wait as I commit to others as they make up their minds whether to work with me or not.

3: I love to think out of the box when it comes to planning so do afew clients that I met last year but not everyone is willing to pay the price to be different. When one talks of being on a tight budget but has grandiose ideas and want out of the box ideas, I'm weary of such brides.

4: Brides are different one after the other and not well communicated ideas can prove to be a costly idea. I've learned to communicate even the smallest changes. It caused me a financial setback to assume on myself changes that I considered really minor. Fortunately, social media has made it really easy to request adjustments. I'm so grateful for Whattsapp. I can have my text request send to the bride and have instant response.

5: Even an easy going bride can have a personality change when pressure sets in. This is why I handle the pressure and constant change when necessary. Something can always go wrong so its  important to be ready for any eventuality.

6: While its important to have a client timeline, mine too is important with all my staff. Knowing what's expected at every stage is important. As they say, time is money.

 7: I've always allowed my clients to make changes at the last minute or even drag on a decision until the last minute. Experience with that hasn't been the best teacher. Unnecessary changes have led to compromises on my work. I will tread carefully on this in 2015.

8: Not all brides who I talk to will work with me or even afford my services. I'm at peace with that finally. Good work lead to referrals or even brides who are just price shopping. Well you win some and loose some