As soon as you get engaged and start planning your wedding, lots of people start telling you what you should do.
I don’t know what to tell you about your ceremony or your menu or your guest list but I am here to help you create a Happily Ever After Party to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Whether you want to gather with your favorite people at elegant long tables, sit on quilts picnic style on the grass, or something else entirely, I’ve got All The Things to rent for your tables: vintage dishes, glassware, and silverware, linens, candles, and even florals if you wish. Whatever suits you two, your style, your vibe, I’m here to help you celebrate in a way that’s meaningful, beautiful, and kind to the earth.
Here are my top 3 things you should never do when planning your wedding celebration.
1. Never expect your friends and family to set up
or (even worse!) clean up for you afterwards.
You don’t want your besties/mom/favorite aunt running around on the Day Of when they should be relaxing and soaking up the sweetness of the day with you!
And you definitely don’t want to kill the happy party vibe by telling everyone at the end of the evening, “Okay, it’s time to clean up now”, right? Ugh.
You and your guests deserve to relax and enjoy your celebration from start to finish. Just this once, hire people (like me!) to do that for you! My team and I would love to set up for you, tiptoe away to let you celebrate, and then come back later to take it all down and away. No washing dishes for you!
2. Never choose to have plastic cups or water bottles on your tables just because they’re “so convenient” or you’re scared of gorgeous glassware.
Trust me, glass (especially crystal!) is very strong and holds up beautifully.
If I’m not worried about you breaking my goblets, why should you be?
Not only are plastic water bottles ugly on your beautiful tables, but they’re literally a disaster for the planet. Americans alone purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year and these bottles cause environmental problems from beginning to end.
Beginning: Their production requires massive amounts of oil and, ironically, water. According to some estimates, the production of a single plastic water bottle requires as much as three times the amount of water contained inside the bottle. It also can adversely affect local water resources as it often requires the extraction of large amounts of groundwater.
Middle: Transportation of the water bottles uses even more fossil fuels and produces carbon emissions. Gross.
End: They’re a major source of ocean pollution as they break down into microplastics which are ingested by marine organisms with serious consequences for the food chain, including humans! Only about 12% of plastic water bottles are recycled in the U.S. and even the process for recycling them causes harm to the environment as it requires the use of toxic chemicals.
As you can see, this is a big problem. But the good news is there’s an easy solution: Just stop using them!
And here’s how I can help: To solve the logistics of providing water for your guests, I’m happy to loan you (for free!) a selection of gorgeous glass water bottles to put out on your tables. You can choose bottles from my collection that will go with your table design so it will enhance the ambience of your event and allow your guests to refill their water glasses at their leisure.
Wedding math: upscale design + extra hospitality x zero cost = Win Win!
Bonus: If you’d also like to have a separate water station, I’m happy to provide you with a large glass water dispenser and extra water glasses, too.
(Note: this offer is for all my clients, not just those who are getting married.)
Okay, last but definitely not least…
3. Never let anyone pressure you into making decisions
that don’t align with your values.
Whether that’s someone wanting you to serve certain types of food and drinks, include traditions you don’t agree with, or offer silly single use plastic items as party favors, you don’t have to do it!
If you don’t want to serve meat or alcohol at your event, then don’t. Even the most enthusiastic carnivores in your circle will live one day without meat and there are countless delicious options for non-alcoholic drinks to be found that will delight everyone at your party.
If you don’t want to take your partner’s last name/wait to see each other until your ceremony/have a religious ceremony/whatever, then don’t. Your wedding is the beginning of an important chapter in building your life together and you want to make sure that it’s an authentic reflection of your values and your relationship, not some checklist of things that other people think is important.
People who know, love, and respect you will support your decisions. And, if they don’t? Well, that’s a subject for another day.
If you can manage to never do these 3 things, your wedding will be more peaceful, sustainable, and authentic to you and your love.
And remember, I’m over here always cheering you on!
