If you’re from the Madison area I bet you’ve heard about the ladies over at Cherry Blossom Events, Sarah & Andrea. If this is the first time hearing about them please do yourself a favor and get yourself acquainted with their work. It’s no surprise their creative vision has been featured on some of today’s most popular wedding magazines such as Wisconsin Bride Magazine, Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake, and Ruffled. Sarah & Andrea were kind enough to meet with me and share a bit about their approach and how they carefully curate beautiful love stories.
Grab a cup of coffee, relax, and get to know the creatives behind Cherry Blossom Events.
How and why did you get started in wedding planning?
We had been planning weddings and parties for family and friends (and ourselves) 😉 on the side, and when we started having families of our own we decided to take a leap of faith and really make it a career. We created our business plan and set out our first year and 3 and 5 year goals and dug right in! Now this is our 8th wedding season and we have produced over 225 weddings.
What services do you offer?
We offer Complete and Full Planning as well as Day of Coordination. In the Complete or Full Planning package we work with you on overall budget, design , and vendor recommendations. We pride ourselves on making the right vendor recommendation based on who is a great budget and style fit for our client, and we love thinking outside the box when it comes to event design and creating a wedding personalized to the couple. The Day of Coordination package is for the bride who is looking to do all of the planning on her own and then we will come into play 2-3 months before the wedding to assist in finalizing details and help with what may have fallen through the cracks. We also coordinate the wedding day from set-up to tear-down.
When working with couples how do you establish a connection and make sure your visions align?
We have always said we approach wedding planning as a collaborative approach – – for us its all about getting to know the couple and finding out what makes them who they are. We want the wedding to be a true reflection of their personal style and love story and unique to any other wedding.
With all the behind the scenes work that goes into wedding planning such as coordinating with various vendors, knowing venue restrictions, crafting a timeline, etc., do you have an idea how many hours you save your average couple?
There isn’t an average per say – we know that if we are assisting with all vendors and design and all aspects of the wedding such as a complete planning package we are usually starting with the couple about a year out (sometimes more) – – but with that being said we also have put together a complete wedding in under 4 months so really it depends on the time of year and when they are looking to get married, anything is possible! 🙂
When hiring a wedding planner, what can a couple focus more of their time and energy on?
That is truly the main benefit to hiring a wedding planner – is that it allows the bride and groom to focus on the day itself and all of the emotions that come with that. Where the wedding planner is coordinating all logistics and making sure nothing is overlooked.
What piece of advice would you like to share with couples before they start planning their wedding?
There are no rules. That’s what we always tell our couples. Your wedding should be a true reflection of who you are and authentic to your lives and your new life together. Always remember there is no “right” answer – we really try to help you navigate through the process.
What encouragement do you give couples afraid of not having full control over all the logistics?
Focusing on thinking of it as a collaborative approach and that you have someone there who has learned trial by fire through other weddings of things that work and don’t work is truly how you should look at your planner – as a awesome tool and wealth of knowledge.
When couples try to plan their own wedding, what are some of the biggest challenges they may face?
The biggest challenges will always arise from too many opinions. 🙂 It tends to be that most couples have a distinct vision for what they want, but maybe parents or other family members have different ideas. We try to help be an advocate for what the bride is looking for in the end all while coming up with comprises that don’t compromise the brides vision.
Is there a venue in Wisconsin you’ve always wanted to work with?
Hmmmm…..there isn’t a Wisconsin wedding venue we’ve always wanted to work at but more so we’d love to have a destination wedding in the tropics 🙂 Preferably in the winter months of WI. 🙂
Anything else you’d like to share?
Just a reminder to have fun! Planning your wedding is a fun process and you will have fun doing that if you always remind yourself of that and lean on your planner when things seem stressful, they can be a helping hand!
