DIY weddings are the ones where professional planning and coordination would be the most helpful, and they are usually the ones where you are the least able to afford them. Trust me, I know. See, I thought I was a cool, laid-back DIY bride who wasnât overly concerned about things going to plan. Or even having a plan. But it turns that for every DIY wedding miracleâlike when you forget flowers but your best friendâs fiancĂŠ turns out to have worked as a florist and makes magic with grocery store flowersâthere are at least three minor traumas that can make it difficult to enjoy or fondly remember your wedding. If youâre wondering, mine involved providing all the place settings (not a good idea), the fewest number of acceptable inches between tables, and what to do when 20 percent of your guests get stuck in traffic and are an hour late (still donât know the answer to that one).
Yâall, affordable, professional helpâparticularly the kind that understands DIY weddings donât always match up to the traditional checklists and timelinesâis worth it. Itâs also a service thatâs been more or less nonexistent until now, which is why I am over the moon to introduce APW reader, professional wedding coordinator, and DIY wedding specialist Caitlin Frauton of DIY Wedding Mentor and her new wedding planning program, Feel the Wedding Day Love. Feel the Wedding Love is an affordable step-by-step online wedding planning program that shows you exactly how to pull all the details together (well in advance) and create a wedding day plan that will result in you getting to actually relax (yassss) and enjoy the day.
Caitlinâs DIY wedding story was not unlike my own, except that she came away from her wedding with a passion for supporting DIY couples in her home of Vermont, and a system that she teaches to couples across the country:
I know what itâs like to plan a wedding using a combo of APW and Google Search. Our wedding was beautiful. It was meaningful. It was homegrown and heartfelt. But, Iâll tell you, it wasnât easy, and it wasnât as relaxed (as I know now) as it could have been, which is why I have spent the last three years helping couples pull their online planning into airtight wedding day plans. And because my passion is for relaxed and meaningful weddings, you never have to explain to me why youâve decided to use a food truck caterer and are DIY-ing your flowers and rocking an iPod. I totally get it and can help you simplify those things so they are as easy and enjoyable as possible for you and your guests.
When it comes to weddings, I believe in three things that I think most APWers probably do, too:
1. Getting married and throwing an awesomely fun wedding to celebrate is a basic right no matter your budget, sex, race, religion, or creed (so thereâs no need to have a big fancy budget to have an amazing wedding).
2. Weddings are one of the very few times (and maybe the only time) you will have all the people you and your partner love in one place (so itâs important that you enjoy it as much as humanly possible).
3. Though the details can be fun and are necessary to consider at times, they should never get in the way of whatâs most important about your wedding dayâLOVE.My goal with Feel the Wedding Day Love isnât to teach people how to become wedding coordinators (unless they really want to), but to show them how to think like a wedding coordinator so they can apply that perspective to their own wedding, and when they end the program, have an awesome wedding day plan that makes them totally psyched for their wedding day.
WHY AN ONLINE WEDDING PROGRAM:
You already know thereâs a lot of free information about planning a wedding on the Internet. But relying on that info alone requires knowing what questions to ask in the first place. (See: distance between tables and what to do about late guests.) Caitlin likes to say wedding planning is like building a big beautiful brick house: The big decisions are the bricks, and the logistical details are filling in the mortar that holds the whole vision together. The second part is nuanced, different for every wedding, and takes experience in knowing what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to organize it all in a way that makes everyoneâs lives easier. And thatâs exactly where Feeling the Wedding Day Love comes in. Hereâs how itâs different from other online wedding planning resources (and totally complementary to APW):
- Thereâs a real live person to provide personalized help and answer questions about your specific wedding, and thereâs plenty of community for support. (No more blank stares from those friends that want to help but donât really understand what itâs like to plan a DIY wedding.) Depending on the option you select, the program includes live wedding planning calls, email access to Caitlin for wedding planning questions, a private FB community, and if you want, a wedding planning buddy to team up with for an extra set of eyes on your plan. Plus, thereâs even an option to include one-on-one coaching calls.
- Youâll get Caitlinâs exact wedding planning checklists, templates, and spreadsheets that she uses for every wedding. No need to reinvent the wedding planning wheel or jigsaw things into place. Just use the materials sheâs already created, add your info, and send them off to your vendors and helpers.
- Feel the Wedding Day Love is a step-by-step system that focuses on pulling all the details together and organizing them in a way that ensures you have an airtight wedding day plan without anything falling through the cracks. Caitlin walks you through every step of the process of completing an actual Wedding Day Plan packet that you can give to your chosen point person and vendors. (Sheâll tell you exactly what to do with it, too, so no worries about that either.)
WHATâs INCLUDED:
Access to the step-by-step program to create your Wedding Day Plan starting February 13th:
Access to the Wedding Planning Resource Library, which has resources covering every stage of planning, including setting goals for your wedding, finding a venue, how to buy alcohol cheat sheets, a budget spreadsheet with the most common items people buy when planning a DIY wedding, seating charts, what to include on your wedding website, how to plan a rehearsal dinner, and getting people to RSVP:
PLUS:
⢠Access to seven past wedding planning webinars, with topics ranging from making and buying affordable decor to tips and tricks for having your wedding at a DIY venue.
⢠Wedding ceremony and rehearsal templates.
WHAT IT COSTS:
There are three different packages of Feel the Wedding Day Love available, with varying levels of hands-on support from Caitlin:
If youâre having a DIY wedding, chances are you have the kind of budget that doesnât leave room for a professional planner or coordinatorâor even this program. I feel you. But let me share a tiny slice of perspective from the other side: While I could never in a million years have found the $1,875 to $2,175 that coordinators like Caitlin charge IRL, if I had to do it over again, I would happily scrape together a few hundred for some expert guidance and professional hand-holding. Itâs kind of like an insurance policyâafter spending so much money and time pulling together this big event, it makes sense to invest a little bit more in confirming youâve dotted the iâs and crossed the tâs so you can sit back and actually enjoy your own wedding.
And Feel the Wedding Day Love has a 100% Happiness Guarantee, so if you use the system and do not feel like your wedding is happier because of it, youâll be provided a complete refund. But I have a feeling youâll be as pleased as APW reader Ciarra, who used it to help plan her own orchard/wine bar weddingâŚ
So if youâre drowning in a hodgepodge of advice youâve put together from books and the Internet or are second-guessing winging it without a plan, Feel the Wedding Day Love may be the answer to your prayers. Enrollment closes on February 12th at 11:59 PST, and the course officially starts on February 13th, but youâll have lifetime access, so you can sign up no matter where you are in the wedding planning process. (The course is the perfect thing to work through if youâre in a wedding planning lull, feeling like you should be doing something but wondering what to do next.) Head on over to the Feel the Wedding Day Love website for more details or sign up for a free starter kit, The Wedding Day Kit. Because, seriously, DIY doesnât have to mean do-it-all-alone-in-a-vacuum-and-never-ask-for-helpâtrust me, your wedding day self will thank you.
APW Readers get $20 off with code APW20, now through February 12, 2017 at 11:59 PST
