Planning a wedding as a wedding vendor
Story and photos by Jennifer Quinn of JennQuinn Creative
The first question I get whenever I mention I am planning my wedding is “who is photographing a photographer’s wedding?”
Luckily, that’s an easy one. The best part about learning photography and working weddings is that I have met so many amazing vendors. Building relationships with these people is what is going to make any event, especially a wedding, stand out.
Once my fiance and I were ready to start planning the wedding, we sat down and started a list. The list included people we wanted to invite, ideas we had for decorations, vendors we knew we wanted, down to the ideas for colors. We nailed down our location so we could start the rentals, and then the research began. Finding the best place to get tables, chairs, to tent or not to tent, creating extensive pinterest boards and everything else a wedding could need.
Knowing so many vendors helps to speed up the process of hiring the perfect people for each part of the day. I also knew I didn't have to stress about my vision being exact when I spoke with them. Having an idea, date and location is enough to get the process started and the trust I have with my vendors helps me to know they will do a great job. They have offered up ideas that I have fallen in love with and I have been able to follow their work through the years, making it easy for me to point out things I am interested in.
Our vision for the day is coming together quickly, knowing that the big parts are nailed down. We are planning to have our wedding on the family farm and that opens up a lot of opportunities but is a different challenge to picking a wedding venue. We can use the outdoor space for the ceremony, but it means we need to rent chairs and find ways to decorate. The reception will be in a large equipment barn, presenting another unique challenge. This type of wedding will be extra special to me and my fiance but it certainly isn’t easier than picking a designated wedding venue. In order to have a lot of the same things a wedding venue would provide, we had to have a reasonable budget. This isn’t your stereotypical backyard wedding.
I am able to use my artistic eye to put fun colors together and imagine the decorations in the ceremony space and reception space. Being a wedding vendor myself has exposed me to so many wedding trends, making it even more fun to create something that feels unique and will stand out. I also have the opportunity to see what things can often go wrong or don’t pan out the way people expect them too. Like how getting ready never sticks to the schedule. Always build in some buffer time.
Having a hand in the wedding industry makes it harder for me to let go of control of the day. I will want to hang every light, place each napkin and light all of the candles. In order to combat that, we found that having a day of coordinator has already erased some of that stress. I trust her to handle any questions that pop up and direct people when setting up so my family and I can enjoy the getting ready process. I have chosen a florist that has always done amazing work and uses their eye to place each piece with artistic flair. Another thing to mark off the stress list. We have met with our cake baker and catering, tasted the mains for the day and have no concerns about the food tasting good.
All in all, doing research, working with good people, and not over-thinking decisions has been the key to planning this wedding without too much stress. I am having a good time putting this day together and I hope Chesapeake Bay Wedding readers get that chance as well.
Oh, and to answer the original question, her name is Faith, of Venus Queen Photography in New Jersey.
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