An honest + awesome blog by Kara – Our very Lovely Planner!

As we walk through the doors of a new set of 365 days, before I jump onto the 2018 train (which is actually already travelling pretty quickly) I really wanted to spend some time reflecting on the previous year. And what a year it was!  It was a huge transitional year for me and my family.  I left the corporate world and jumped head first into becoming a Dubai Wedding Planner! I went from organising huge live international 100,000 people stadium events to wedding planning  – I thought how hard can it be?? I mean its all event management, right? All the same thing right? WRONG!! So so wrong. What a roller-coaster and one of the steepest learning curves of my life and I don’t regret one second of it.  From working every day with my best mate (how can that be a bad thing) to finding and making new industry friends, visiting some of the most glamorous hotels in the world, meeting some of the most beautiful loved-up couples and most of all being entrusted with the huge responsibility of coordinating one of, if not THE, most special day of our clients lives. This huge honour was never lost on me and I took it / take it ridiculously seriously. Hours and hours, sometimes days and days of extra work (that wasn’t included in the package) were put into making sure our brides and grooms had THE BEST day of their lives.  It was a non-negotiable, it had to be PERFECT.
In my opinion its all about the detail, of course, the big picture has to be on point but it’s all the little things that can really make a difference. Unlike the corporate world where a decision and budget is based on facts and figures and supporting documentation, a wedding decision is based on an emotional connection. So often what we suggested was met with: “whoaaaaaaa OMG LOVE IT!” all to have a mother or sister come back in with “Nup not a fan”.  Everyone is right, no one is wrong because it’s a personal opinion but I wasn’t used to that…. And it took some time to realise that it wasn’t criticism but just people’s subjective preference. I figured out getting to really know and understand my bride and groom is so so so important and it can really help when moulding and shaping the wedding to ensure it’s personable and looks and feels just right. There is definitely a formula to weddings but the ingredients are completely different and unique with every bride and groom and that’s the beauty of it! Just like people, no wedding should ever be the same. Each story is different and I have loved helping our couples tell theirs.

And I’m pretty proud to report back that we seem to have nailed it so far!  Joelle is obviously an absolute magician.  Her creative vision and artistic flair and ability to make budgets stretch without compromising on quality is amaaaaaazing. She’s the best in the business and I’m so lucky to work beside her. But it doesn’t just stop with the décor and flower, centrepieces, string lights and seating plans. If you really want to have the perfect wedding it’s so important to approach it with a 360 mindset. You have to find the photographer / videographers that matches your style and personality, a venue that takes your breath away when you walk into the foyer, a 5 star sound system that gives you goosebumps when its time for your first dance, fantastic lights that give everyone that “glow”, the best Zaffa for the most memorable entry and the most entertaining DJ to play all your bestie’s requests.  Oh and did I mention how critical it is to have the most perfect “lovely” planner and stylist? 🙂 We love planning and we love L.O.V.E and we are always here to help. I will be getting some more blog time in the future woo hoo! so I will be back on your screens sometime really soon to share my planning tips and tricks!
Until then stay lovely! Mwah x