District Weddings

Today our series Industry Expert Bride series continues with Jayne Nochumowitz from the Occasions Caterers team…I just know that her wedding is going to be beyond spectacular!!

Do you think being an industry insider made certain aspects of your wedding planning process more effortless or more difficult?

Some aspects of the planning process are certainly easier because I am an industry insider.  Of course I know who my caterer will be!    Usually when couples start planning their wedding, one of the first things they do is book a caterer and decide on a menu.  For me, that is the least of my worries- I can always worry about the food later.  I also have the advantage of being familiar with the rental companies and their equipment inventories.  Often brides are overwhelmed by all of the choices available to them when it comes to linens, china, glassware etc. but I am very familiar with what is available and I think I have a pretty clear idea of what I would like to do for my wedding.  The flip side to this is that I sometimes feel like I have seen it all, and the tricky part is to use my resources to pull together an event that feels unique and special.

Some parts of the planning process are just as new to me as they probably are to all the other girls getting married.  I did not realize how complicated dress shopping would be!  I certainly thought I would be able to find a dress after only visiting one or two boutiques, but what I quickly learned is that most of the stores only carry a small sample of the designer’s full collections.  In order to compare and contrast, I feel like I really needed to visit as many shops as possible!

What sorts of information were you privy to while planning your wedding that many of our readers would not be?

I definitely feel like my existing relationships with vendors in the industry have made this experience much more manageable.  For example, most brides wouldn’t know who to call if they wanted to hire busses to transport their guests from the hotel to the reception, or if they wanted to hire a valet company to park cars upon guests’ arrival, but I knew exactly who to contact.  All it took was one quick email and that part was taken care of!

I also think I had a better idea for how much everything would cost.  Most brides have no idea what a wedding costs, but because I plan other people’s weddings all the time I feel like I have the upper hand in knowing what things should cost.  I don’t need to spend all of my time bidding each part of the wedding out to three different vendors because I know what the price is going to be before they even tell me!

One tip that I always tell my brides is that a little lighting goes a long way.  Regardless of the venue, lighting always enhances the environment and gives the event a look that flowers alone cannot accomplish.

Did you find inspiration for your wedding from the events you have planned, or do you think being involved in so many weddings made you more clear of what you did not want for your own special day?

Planning other people’s weddings definitely has given me a more clear vision for what I would like in my own event.  I get so many unique and creative ideas from brides, and I am so excited to pull some of those ideas into my own event.  I am constantly making personal notes of all of the ideas that I have gathered from my own experiences so that when it comes time to pull all of the details for my own wedding together I will have a good source of inspiration.

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Thank you to Jayne for sharing her planning experience with us and I certainly hope that she tells us when she does create her menu – I can only imagine how divine it will be!