I’ve pretty much avoided going live for quite sometime, so what better opportunity than this to jump in to the IG Live world than this? There was no way I was missing the chance to connect with our followers and introduce ourselves in as real a way as we can during a pandemic to let you know that we’re here to help figure this hot mess out with regard to your wedding plans.

We received so many great questions from so many of you but we only had 30 minutes so I decided to address those unanswered questions, and recap on the questions we covered on the live feed here.

What About Menswear?

The same rules apply for tuxedos and suits that did for wedding dresses. You absolutely need to stay in touch with your retailer or designer to know if there are any delays related to this hardship. I highly recommend using smaller privately owned menswear boutiques in general, but especially for your wedding. In our experience, the big-box retailers almost never get it right. Our favorite is My Groom’s Room by Sartori Amici in Miami, FL. Owner, Sebastian Garcia, and his team are my go-to menswear shop because I can rely on them to be completely transparent while delivering a top-notch experience and look to our clients. When it comes to your wedding, it’s often best to shop small.

What About Makeup Trials?

Hair and Makeup trials are generally super important, however if you’re still set on getting married this year, please understand that it’s nearly impossible to execute 100% safe makeup application because makeup artists can’t be expected to purchase a whole new kit for each face. During your trial your artist can wear a mask, but they will need to resolve that they will have to waste more makeup than they typically would in an attempt to create your custom look by dishing out more product onto a sterile disposable tray as they avoid contaminating their kits. Imagine, some looks require 4-6 different shades of shadow, etc. to create the level of glam they’re known for. I reached out to our friend, Selena Aguilera, owner and lead makeup artist at, I Do Bridal Glam, to share her thoughts on performing this service in the near future. She was very straight forward in her response, “hire a professional, and secure them ASAP for your wedding day. By the time a trial is possible, the artist you want may already be booked for your wedding day. Send us photos without makeup, filters or weird angles and we can go from there”

Event Insurance?

Can you get event insurance after you’ve booked a vendor? ABSOLUTELY! It’s important that you review the policy with your agent to understand what is and isn’t covered. I recommend securing event insurance no later than 60 days before your wedding to cover issues that may arise prior to your wedding day. Event liability insurance can be purchased closer to the event date, sometimes just days before. Read more on Event Insurance.

What About “Adults Only” in the Invitation?

Couples are always looking for a way to express the things they need their guests to adhere to without being insulting or in poor taste and we get it! One of them is asking their guests to take a night off from parenting to have fun with the adults which can be extremely touchy for some cultures or individual families for their own reasons. However, the presence of children may not work for every wedding environment depending on the location and formality. Either way, I leave this type of sensitive wordplay to our fantastic team of stationers who never let us down. Check out the creative way our friends at On Paper expressed this request to the guests on a suite they created for one of our clients.

Humor is always the best way to make it clear that you want an adults-only celebration. I recommend reiterating that sentiment on your wedding website along with a lighthearted recommendation if you intend on having on-site or nearby childcare available. If a venue is on the water, that’s a reason that I believe shouldn’t require too much explanation but if it does, the wedding website is the place to drop those details off.

Where can we get the Drink Bombs?

Yes, I heard you loud and clear! My Drink Bomb was quite the hit during our IG live and for good reason, they’re fabulous! If you’re ready to try them for yourself or you would like to send someone a cute quarantine happy hour gift use the code: SHARI10 for 10% Off your purchase!

When is The Bridal Bazaar?

Great question! This luxury bridal experience will be back at Viscaya Museum and Gardens in November as long as we can safely gather by then. Sign up for our email newsletter to stay in the loop, and don’t worry, we send a max of two emails per month (if that).

Wishing you and your families good mental and physical health during all this craziness. If you have any additional questions, leave them in the comments or reach out directly, we’re happy to help.

Featured Image Credit: Tessa Maxine Photography

Lindsey and Russell’s travel inspired celebration was everything we could have hoped for. Not to mention the fact that this is the first wedding I’ve ever participated in (as a planner or guest) where the couple hired friends (including us) and every friendor (friend-vendor) came through and performed like they were at the olympics!

Our friend Toshi flew in to slay with her talented makeup skills from Chicago, IL, Cat and Mike Lemus flew in from Denver, CO to capture it all so beautifully and Maria Alejandra and I flew from Fort Lauderdale, FL to be the little style ferries that sprinkle all the pretty we could muster on this gorgeous wedding!

Just a little sneak peek by Studio Lemus…

…And “Party Like a Valente” They Did…

I can’t wait to see it all and when I do, believe me, I’ll be sharing. I’m so grateful to have had to opportunity to give my obsessive-compulsive-planner-behavior a break so I could toast and dance it up like a guest – Direct orders from the Bride! I’m also so grateful to the team at Danversport for their amazing hospitality, we can’t wait to go back!

Don’t get me started on their families… AMAZING people!! However, I’ll get into all that when I have the real deal wedding gallery to “Ooh” and “Ahh” at because, honestly, we had the BEST time celebrating the new Mr. and Mrs. Valente. – Lindsey just texted and asked if we can do it again next weekend! – My Response: “I’m in”

Photography by Studio Lemus

#PartyLikeAValente

At this hotel property in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, you’re not far from the beach, restaurants, and entertainment. Perfect for destination weddings and corporate events and so much more!

Take a peek at my iPhoneography during my recent visit:

The Private Event Spaces:

The lighting fixtures alone are the perfect compliment to any event design. The floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Victoria Park neighborhood just east of the property and outdoor spaces on the north side set for a perfect flow and ambiance. I’m so sorry I didn’t take photos of the exterior space, but I’m happy to take you on a site visit so you can fall in love like I did!

Aside from the romantic side of it, you’re attaining contracts from multiple businesses, all with legal and liability responsibilities to maintain. A planner is your buffer and almost like your unofficial insurance plan to make sure your wedding celebration is worth the investment and doesn’t turn into a cautionary tail.

Take It Easy:

For those with Type A personalities and/or tight budgets we have to work extra hard to set and maintain the right expectations. No matter the personality type or the budget, using the wrong order of operations when booking vendors can result in a lot of unnecessary stress and lots of money wasted. Take it easy and put a wedding planner to work.

If a wedding planner doesn’t fit into your budget, assess how much longer you need to save to throw a wedding planning ninja into the mix BEFORE you get started. You should just be focused on the fun things, like tasting cake and toasting it up with your bridesmaids. Then get ready to be the couple enjoying the process rather than the ones who are so thrilled when it’s over.

Knowing Your Budget

On our contact form, we put a range that gives an idea of the correlation between wedding size and budget because often times the general public has no idea. Many couples provide us with an arbitrary number that makes their vision impossible to achieve based on their number of guests. You have to know, that if you’ve been scrolling through Pinterest and Instagram – or more specifically, following us (@pink__wasabi) on Instagram, you need to budget for at least $400-$500 per person.

Once you have your budget set, share that information with your planner so we can put all the puzzle pieces together that hit that number and if we can help it, not a dollar further without your approval. Wedding planners know how much your budget will stretch in the best and/or worst of circumstances.

“Includes a Planner”

Understand that when you see or hear the words, “includes a planner” or includes “coordination” as part of the services provided by a venue or catering company, you are talking to a Venue or Catering Salesperson who’s doing their very best to make their sales goal. You are essentially a customer, not a client. That salesperson relationship is mostly transactional, whereas, with a planner, the relationship is far more intimate.

Most people who expect their experience to mirror that of Jennifer Lopez as “Mary Fiore” and “Fran Donolly” from The Wedding Planner are terribly disappointed and left feeling confused, frustrated and abandoned when they aren’t receiving anything that resembles that level of care and service from a venue coordinator or catering salesperson masquerading as a Planner or Coordinator. Handing you a list of preferred vendors and raving about their favorites does not amount to wedding planning.

Venues, caterers and everyone in between should have a list of their favorite planners and designers to provide you when you’re securing their location or service. They should be ready with their perfect recommendations for you or allow you to interview planners and designers from their list. Not send you on what I promise you will feel like a wild goose chase trying to manage every detail of your styling, design, and production.

Wedding planners should not be viewed as a luxury but a necessity for pulling off a memorable event that’s mostly stress-free. Juggling the logistics, design, styling in addition to dealing with redundant questions from family members, wedding party and other guests will have you wishing you never bothered.

I don’t want to toot our own horn but we’re worth our weight in gold. Not to mention, most vendors are happier with working with a planner because they can have that transactional relationship with us, coddling you is often a burden for most event vendors. Not for lack of care, but the volume of events produced in regions like, South Florida, NYC, and Los Angeles make it difficult for vendors to give you those warm and fuzzy wedding feels when they have events in production almost 24/7. Planners allow you to maintain the “warm and fuzzies” as much as humanly possible.

The “included planner” is generally a myth, don’t bother with it. Ask your venue if there are any additional fees associated with finding your perfect fit, then assess your decision based on their response. Some of our clients have paid additional venue fees to work with us, and if you ask them today, they stand firmly in the importance of that investment. We work for you, not the venue, or any other entity, just you.

Bonus:

Your wedding planning company will also manage the coordination of your wedding day so everything is seamless. So you truly get to enjoy your engagement AND your wedding day. You will wish you could have a wedding every year if you do it right!

Ooh and remember book your planner THEN your venue!

Photography by Aurora Photography

I think it’s important to clear some of these misconceptions up. Throughout the years of working weddings assisting photographers and other planners to now going off on my own working for myself, I’ve observed and experienced the lack of understanding about the industry as a whole. A huge gray area is in relation to our various roles and services, and its mostly our fault (I’ll elaborate at a later date). The role planners, designers and coordinators are hired to fulfill often remain unclear for the client and even more for the guests who assume that any person in charge is actually responsible for every aspect of the events that take place throughout their day. That’s never the case when a couple takes on the role of wedding planner and/or designer.

When a planner is hired for “Day-of” Coordination, we aren’t actually planning your wedding, we’re merely coordinating the day that you planned with the vendors that you booked so you don’t have to work on your big day. Month of Coordination is often referred to as “day of” but in all actuality, in the industry we’re trying to get people accustomed to “Month of” because we aren’t just working on the day of. We’re piecing together all the different elements and vendors that you scheduled to be executed on your wedding day in addition to making venue visits and trying to help our clients manage any and last minute tasks (even the ones that aren’t listed as our responsibility).

If you’re a highly organized person, have impeccable taste, have lots of extra time on your hands and just LOVE event planning… Month of Coordination may seem perfect for you. Just keep in mind that this requires great communication between the couple and the coordinator. If the couple leaves out any information or forgets something that may seem to be of minor importance, it can set off a chain reaction of fires that may need to be put out on the day of. That chain reaction takes time away from your coordinator’s ability to handle the numerous tasks that need to be executed on your behalf by completely throwing your timeline off.

Side Note

I will say from personal experience, if you want to be WOW’d by your wedding, allow a stylist or designer to work with you and/or your planner to create that visual experience for you. Your planner can link you up to the right people to give you a wedding day our of your wildest dreams. *Raises hand* I’m totally happy to work with you even if I’m not your planner to help style the day – talk to your planner first though!

Cautionary Tales

Often times couples that choose coordination also involve their friends and family by asking them to take on professional roles in their wedding and it almost always backfires. Like the DJ that never worked a wedding before, skipped the rehearsal, never did a sound check, didn’t bother to look at my timeline and didn’t bring a microphone or extension cords. He just wanted to be a guest and didn’t know how to say no. That choice completely hijacked not only our timeline but made for countless awkward moments and unexpected costs that could have been avoided had they taken my recommendations.

Catering is a huge role that can go really off the rails when couples go with a friend or family member rather than choose a reputable company with lots of wedding experience. Even worst was the couple that claimed to have their own company be the caterers with “experience doing weddings,” their own company was two hours late, yes, TWO HOURS LATE. Prior to that, they had no idea how much staff they needed to hire. I had to spend the week before their wedding, amidst high season and Art Basel in Miami, scrambling to staff their wedding. So much for that wedding experience they were talking about. Needless to say, this entire wedding was a cautionary tale as to why, if you’re not a wedding planner, you probably shouldn’t be planning your own wedding without at least taking our recommendations.

Another example of how friends and family taking on professional roles in your wedding can backfire: we had the most organized bride ever, but she was overwhelmed by juggling her fast paced full-time job and wedding planning. When I was confirming the wedding details she was providing, she said she had table numbers and seating assignment signage. She was so busy she never got around to placing the order until the Thursday before her Sunday wedding. The only time I had left to pick up her signage was the morning of the wedding – not enough time to add or fix anything. One sign of the four signs was a seating assignment sign, and it was gorgeous! Only problem, there was no corresponding table numbers for the guests to identify the actual table they were to be seated at. I needed to send my assistant to a convenience store to buy card stock and markers to make table numbers.

We try our best during the days and weeks prior to your wedding day to coordinate everything you’ve arranged so it will actually make sense in real time on your big day. When you’re scheduling hair and makeup, your getting ready location, transportation, etc. it all needs to coordinate with the timeline your photographer has for your photos. If the timing of any of those items is off, that could completely throw off the day. Unfortunately, if your coordinator tries to make adjustments and those vendors have already scheduled other clients on your wedding day, you could be SOL. You’re guaranteed to be frustrated and looking for someone to blame. Let us be your best friend when preparing for your wedding so we can stay on the same page at all times ensuring that you’re 100% happy about everything having to do with your wedding day.

Just be a Bride and/or Groom

The moral of most of this story is that hindsight is 20/20. No matter the outcome of your wedding day, everyone that plans it themselves usually looks back wishing they just hired a planner so they could just enjoy being a bride. Whichever partner is super enthusiastic about having the wedding should be the one working with the planner. Trust your chosen person and enjoy the process!

On average, most weddings in South Florida with great food, service, venue, decor, photo/video, lighting and all the necessary details couples unknowingly don’t factor into their budget are starting at $400-$500pp. 

That all can vary tremendously based on the cost of your venue and many other variables. Decisions like, the day of the week, high vs. low season, a banquet hall like with food included or a more unique or exclusive venue with outside catering, the quality of professionals you’re hiring, all need to be considered. Overall, your taste-level will be the determining factor on how high your budget needs to go for your expectations to be met or exceeded. The more discerning your taste, the more you can expect to spend.

When couples start to sound frustrated about wedding planning the shocking discovery of how much each service or product actually costs usually the culprit. Depending on the region you’re choosing to tie the knot, $100/plate with white polyester linen, standard white table settings, are just the beginning. All the pretty tableware, linens, and furniture are upgrades and that table still needs a gorgeous centerpiece. We haven’t even talked ceremony decor and your bouquets, boutonnières, stationery and signage. Do you want a little decor and a linen on the tables for cocktail hour? You probably do, so it’s best to factor all of those possibilities in rather than being surprised and overwhelmed towards the end.

Side Note:

Something to note that many couples overlook is how important the food & beverage and DJ/MC really are. I think most wedding guests would agree, they would rather have delicious BBQ, or food stations that represent their culture(s) for their meal than luke warm, overdone, plated faux-fancy banquet hall food. Don’t waste money trying to make things look fancy when they aren’t.

The DJ/MC are responsible for managing the flow of your wedding day and keeping your guests entertained, if you want to have a friend DJ, please hire an MC and make sure the proper equipment is rented. Trust me on this, if you spurge on anything let it be delicious food, drinks and a talented professional DJ with the ability to MC. It’s totally okay to hire an MC that works independently with the entertainers of your choice.

Also, expect a higher price tag for cities like LA and NYC and lower for  metro areas like Dallas or Milwaukee with a lower cost of living.

If you’re with the person you plan on marrying, start saving before the proposal. Commit to a realistic number that allows you and your guests to have a memorable experience. There’s no point in setting a hardline budget that is unrealistic to the region your marrying in and the type of wedding you want to have. And don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Budget Rule of Thumb: In general the overall cost for the weddings we plan and style is approximately $500pp – All in. 

If those numbers scare you, the best advice we can give is to reevaluate your guest list and make sure the people that make the cut are the ones that mean the most to you as a couple. Remember, everyone doesn’t have to be invited to every party. We understand when some couples feel like the guest list is non-negotiable. In those instances, we can figure out how to simplify the overall look to match your budget. Minimalist Chic is a whole vibe that we can explore for your design.

We totally welcome your questions below:

As we’re patiently awaiting the professional images from Brandi Toole, I thought I’d share some of the fun we were having behind the scenes while planning Giselle and Jeryn’s destination wedding here at The Addison in Boca Raton. All photos are from my iPhone.

During Giselle’s first visit we visited all the local hotels in Boca to secure their room block and do a walkthrough of the venue. Often with destination wedding clients, we don’t have many (if any) opportunities to connect in person, so Giselle’s ability to visit was a treat!

Second visit was to Coral Gables, with Giselle and her beautiful Mom, to one of my favorite bridal boutique’s. I knew Chic Parisien would be the right place to find the perfect wedding dress for our Princess Leia.

When she said, “Yes!”

Details, details…

There’s so much preliminary planning of a ton of decor and custom wedding details that I needed to have ready for our couple upon arrival, most of which isn’t photographed. We executed very detail, down to the wax stamps, custom stationery, guest book and stellar rose gold jewelry for the bride and bridal party. Since most of our couples are busy with their careers, we make sure they don’t have the stress of thinking about all the beautiful details that make weddings styled by us so very unique and special.

When my house becomes wedding central…

Giselle and Jeryn arrived from LA the week of their wedding ready to pack welcome bags and prepare for their big day. This was the prefect evening for Maria Alejandra of Flower Fanatic to pay us a visit with the GORGEOUS decor she sourced for their centerpieces and for us to assess the moon structure I’d been storing in anticipation of May the 4th. When it’s a crazy event week I like to hunker down at home and work through the night if need be. Even my sweet pup, Mariah Carey got in on the action!

Stay Tuned for the full love story…

The Forth was with Us:

This day was absolutely written in the stars. The groom’s surname (yes, his last name is “Mays”) and the availability of May the 4th combined with his love of the Star Wars movie franchise was just too perfect to be written off as coincidental. So when Giselle shared that information with me as a far fetched request from her hubby-to-be, my little hamster wheel started spinning. How do we incorporate Star Wars into a blush and gold wedding without being cheesy? Then I had a stellar idea (get it?) and saw an opportunity to literally marry the two unlikely ideas with the Spanish style architecture of their venue with my Flower Fanatic. With a lot of trust in our process, this beautiful LA couple hosted 200 of their family and friends from all over the country at The Addison in Boca Raton, FL for a night of love, delicious food and lots of dancing as planned and styled by yours truly ??‍  #MaysThe4th

Meet the Mays

Stay tuned for the long story, I’ll keep it just shy of 100. In the meantime… jump on Instagram to see what else we have up our sleeves and check out the image below for all the vendors who helped make this day all the way magical. Start with the stationery… this wedding style story starts with the stationer, On Paper… then we went straight to the moon from there!

Jessica and Wager Sharpe III wanted a day full of butterflies for everything beautiful and transformative that they represent. Their day was the perfect way to start my year. Jessica and I worked together, enjoying coffee dates and many a late night text session, to plan their wedding day. It was an honor to be a part of this special time in their lives and share in the fun with them. I’m just sad that we don’t get to do this together every year!

Our couple chose navy and wine for their wedding colors with coordinating details throughout. The invitations were made by the Bride’s sister, along with coordinating vow books by 24th Avenue Designs. The florals throughout were all inspired by our Bride’s love for butterflies, their wedding colors along with hints of dusty rose.

I hope you enjoy seeing the genuine love and closeness between our couple, their handsome little boy, family and friends. From little butterfly flower girls to butterfly details throughout the reception to our bride’s beautiful gown. Take in all the whimsical feels and top it off with a butterfly release as photographed by Aurora Photography.

Vendors

Photographer: Aurora Photography Miami
Wedding Planner and Stylist: Pink Wasabi
Florals: Flower Fanatic Miami
Invitations: @_tae222
Hair: Kelly Brown
Makeup: Daniel Pazos Makeup
Videographer: Estrella Productions
Vow books: 24th Ave Designs
Cake Designer: Sideways Confections
Furniture Rentals: Events on the Loose 
Desserts: Crepemakers 
DJ & Lighting: Gannon Events
Table Settings: Different Look Rentals
Linens: Over the Top Rental Linens
Venue: Embassy Suites by Hilton Deerfield Beach

This beautiful historic venue was the perfect setting for me to play with some of my favorite colors from New York’s Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2019 collections. We partnered with some of our favorite vendors, near and far, to create some wedding inspiration for couples with a flare for bright, crisp hues, luxury details topped off with a mix of Mediterranean exteriors and medieval interiors.

Every detail from the gorgeous custom stationery created by On Paper, the always stunning florals by my flower queen, the crisp and vibrant tableware, über glamorous furniture rentals from The Lounge Design AND THAT CAKE… were all the magic necessary to marry the bold hues of our color story in with quirky yet elegant setting of the Miami Beach Woman’s Club.

Our couple, Laura and Daniel Palacios happened to miss out on wedding photos when they first said their “I dos” 7 years ago, so you could only imagine my excitement when we found out! There’s nothing I love more than real true love, and when you still have that after 7 years of marriage and 2 beautiful children… it’s obviously time to celebrate with a proper wedding photoshoot! (BTW, those are my rules that I totally just made up.)

Anyhoo, enjoy this styled marital goodness as photographed by our talented friend, Tessa Maxine and stay tuned for the videography by The Cardonas:

Superstar Vendors

Photographer: Tessa Maxine Photography
Venue: Miami Beach Woman’s Club
Event Planner & Stylist: Pink Wasabi
Videographer: The Cardonas
Floral Design: Flower Fanatic Miami
Furniture Rentals: The Lounge Design Miami
Cake Designer: The Starfish Cottage
Hair & Makeup: Alina K Castillo
Stationery: On Paper
Bridal Boutique: A & Bé Miami
Menswear: My Groom’s Room
Tabletop Rentals: Different Look Rentals
Linen Rentals: Over The Top Rental Linens
Models Laura and Daniel Palacios

Color Inspiration