My Dream Wedding:

    In my event planning course at MTSU, I had the opportunity to plan my dream wedding in detail. We covered venues, vendors, decor, timelines, bugets, and much more! This was one of my favorite projects. I was able to visit the Wyndham Historic Hotel in Downtown Nashville, TN to help assess the site, interview the wedding/catering cordinators, and visualize the details of the dream wedding. It was a great experience to actually work on the site! This project not only helped me visualize my own wedding, it has helped me in planning other couples' weddings. I have been able to take what I have learned, experienced, and put together in my Wedding Portfoilio and help couples plan their own dream wedding!

Event Planning Final Paper:

Melissa Thomas

Event Planning

November 14, 2007

My Dream Wedding

            Here comes the bride again. That is exactly what I thought to myself this past summer. I went to ten weddings this past summer, and I became very familiar with the traditional weddings. They all seemed to run together at times. I began to critique every wedding I attended: “How could I make this better?”, “I wonder why they chose this color theme?”, “Is this really the best wedding for them?”. It began to drive me crazy!

I want to take this time to plan the wedding of my dreams. If I had the time, resources, and finances needed to pull it off, this is what my dream wedding would look like. It would take place on a Saturday in the month of March. I chose this time because it is on the weekend so people can get off work easier, and it is right before springtime. The month of March is perfect for this wedding. It does not conflict with any major holidays, the weather is beginning to warm up, and tulips and strawberries are in season (I will tell you about this idea later). My objective is for this wedding to stand out from all of the rest, and to be remembered by its originality.

Target Audience

I would love to have about 200 guests attend my wedding. It would mainly consist of family and close friends between the bride & groom, and I would not want to have many children attend the wedding. I feel like it can be very distracting during a wedding ceremony when children are crying or running up and down the aisles. I want my wedding day to be an intimate time where I can absorb everything that is going on around me. I do not want to remember how many times I heard a screaming child during the ceremony. I would love to get married in Nashville, TN. I grew up in the middle Tennessee area, and my family is in Kentucky and Knoxville, TN. I believe that Nashville is a great meeting place for the guests. It will give my guests a chance to see my hometown, and experience Nashville’s true beauty.

Venue Location

Since, I would like my guests to see Nashville for its true beauty. I would like to have my wedding in the heart of downtown Nashville at the historic Union Station-A Wyndham Historic Hotel. It was built in 1898 standing two hundred and twenty feet tall, and it was known for its railroad transportation and unique architectural style. It is located directly off of Broadway, and has a great view of the city from the wedding location.

They have a gorgeous four-story lobby known as the Louisville & Nashville Room where the ceremony would take place. This room can hold approximately 180 people, and I could also open it up into the Montfort/Lewis Room, which holds an additional sixty people. The Montfort/Lewis Room is perfect for setting up the buffet, cake & gift table, and has a gorgeous view of downtown Nashville. While talking with Mary Ann Harley, the catering sales manager of the hotel, she said that while everyone is getting their food, they could transform the ceremony site into the reception area in a matter of minutes. This was a concern for me at first because I did not know if I could fit everyone into the hotel.

The parking was another thing that I did not want my guests to be concerned about. At the Wyndham Historic Hotel, they offer valet parking as a part of your rental fee. This was a great addition to the beautiful venue. Along with all of this, they provide catering, assist with all of the set-up and clean up, and make sure the lobby is cleared for the ceremony.  This location would cost approximately $5000-$7000 (not including food) depending on how much you wanted to do with the site. The Wyndham Historic Hotel is absolutely beautiful, and it would be perfect for a wedding ceremony & reception.

Themes & Décor

At the Wyndham Historic Hotel in downtown Nashville, most of the décor would be in the architectural beauty of the hotel itself. But, every wedding needs a theme and this venue is very flexible when it comes to décor. There are many different ways I could take this wedding.

            Fairy Tale-Cinderella. To create a fairy tale theme, I could use iridescent lighting, sheer fabrics, and crystal. The color theme could be a soft pink and periwinkle blue. The Louisville Nashville Room at the hotel could be draped with white sheer fabric from the high vaulted ceilings. I could bring in crystal chandeliers, stemware, and vases to reflect positioned iridescent lighting. By strategically placing soft pink and blue lighting throughout the room, it would create a fairy tale feel. I could have all of the vendors dress to theme as well. For example, two escorts could welcome the guests at the door wearing light blue suits and white tall hats to introduce the theme. I could send out invitations with pictures of glass slippers, and even ride off in a horse and carriage into downtown Nashville.

            Winter Wedding. At the beginning of March, it can still be a little cold outside. A winter wedding could still take place. At the hotel, they have a huge stone fireplace in the center of the Louisville Nashville Room. This could be used as the focal point in the room by having the ceremony take place in front of the rustic burning fireplace. I could have navy blue as a main color, and accent with ivory fur. The bridesmaids could carry fur hand muffs instead of bouquets. Fur could be used, by pulling it into the table and centerpieces. The use of fire would be used throughout the hotel to create a since of warmth.

            Bloom into Spring. The use of bright spring colors could be combined with natural lighting. The Louisville Nashville Room has an abundance of windows and skylights. During the middle of the afternoon, the sun comes pouring light into the room. Fresh daisies could fill glass vases, ribbons could line the ceremony aisle, and I could even pass out flower seeds as party favors to welcome the new spring. Tea length dresses, and sandals could be pulled out of hiding from winter, and spring could truly begin to bloom at this wedding. I could even have the guest release butterflies as we leave the historic hotel, and drive off in an old white convertible.

            Rustic Romantic Charm. This would combine winter and spring together. Since March can go either way, it would be a great compromise. It would use a lot of candlelight, antique style, and rustic charm to pull it all together. I imagine having black, ivory, and champagne as my main colors, and accenting it with a vibrant red. This would create a romantic feel for the wedding. For example, the bridesmaids could wear a black tea length skirt with a champagne strapless top and black lace overlay. The red could be used as a vibrant accent by having them carry down one single red tulip, creating a “color pop” sensation. The tables could be decorated in ivory and champagne lace overlays with ivory French tulips draping from tall glass vases. The red could be brought into the decor by filling the vases with fresh strawberries.

The key to creating this romantic rustic charm would be the lighting, and the color scheme would be very neutral using red to liven things up. By using the red as a simple accent color, it brings interest, romance, and a bold spring color into the wedding theme. This is by far my favorite idea for theme & décor because I believe it accentuates the natural beauty in the historic hotel. It also is very unique with the red accent usage and rustic romantic charm.

Food & Beverages

Since A Wyndham Historic Hotel does provide catering on site, I would use them to cater the reception. I would use a buffet style dinner package. It includes a choice of 2 soups or salads or one of each, a choice of 2 entrees, fresh baked bread display with flavored whipped butter, Chef’s choice of dessert display, water, ice tea and coffee service. This cost $45 per person. This is fairly expensive, but this does include the cost of someone doing the work for you. I would like to include glasses of strawberries & champagne to carry on the rustic romantic theme and décor. This means there would an additional cost for serving alcohol on the premises. And finally, I would like to have my cake catered by The Bake Shoppe (all of this information is included in this packet).

Vendors

I have already discussed what vendors I would use for catering and the cake. When it comes to photography, I would like to use Ace Photography. I have met the owner when I worked at a bridal show in Nashville and I absolutely fell in love with her work. I also used to work at David’s Bridal, and I heard very good things about Ace’s Photography. It would cost around $2500 for a complete package, which is about average for a good photography package.

I would probably end up buying my bridal attire from David’s Bridal because I already know most of the staff, and I could save some money in this area. For flowers I would want to work with Enchanted Florists in Nashville. I do not know exactly how many flowers I would need quite yet, but I would want to include bridal party flowers, centerpieces, and altar arrangements. According to U.S. Event Guide, a bride usually spends 10% of her budget on flowers alone.

Invitations would be supplied from Fashion Atelier. The owner, Tatyana Merryman, has spoken with me frequently about what her company has to offer. They work with each bride to custom make their invitations to truly make them one-of-a-kind. 

When it comes to entertainment, I would love to have a jazz band play. I have looked at a few local bands, and the one that I have been most impressed with is Marino Music. They offer many different kinds of packages, play at numerous events, and will play for up to 4 hours at a time. On top of working with these vendors, I would like to do most of the décor and party favors myself. I enjoy working with this area more than anything else involved in the wedding planning process.

Timeline

In order for this wedding to be planned appropriately and smoothly, I would give myself about nine months planning time. It is very important to have enough time to book the venue, photography, and catering especially. Most of these venue sites and vendors fill up quickly, and I would want to make sure I have enough time to plan with them. Since the wedding would be in March, it will not be quite as hard to book venues and vendors, but I would still like to be able to get a good enough head start. I want to be prepared for the worst. If these vendors fall through, I need to have enough time for a back up plan to fall into place.

Evaluation

After the wedding, I would like to make sure that I accomplished my goal of making this wedding stand out from all of the rest. The main way that I would evaluate this event is through the guest that attended. I would talk to the guest to see what they really thought. Now, I know that if it is my wedding then they will probably be leery of telling me if something was horrible. So, my second form of evaluation would be for every vendor to fill out an evaluation form of what they thought about the event. I figure that they are used to working with many weddings in the Nashville area, and will probably be able to tell me if this wedding stood out from all of the rest.

Summary

In closing, I know that each bride wants her wedding to be the best day of her life. Taking it a step further, a bride wants her guest to remember that special day as well. This has been a glimpse of how I would plan my dream wedding. But, I want to be able to help every bride that comes to me create a beautiful, creative, and one-of-a-kind wedding. These are just a few ideas, and I cannot wait to help a bride accomplish her own wedding dream. Reality is that each bride and groom is unique, and their wedding should be able to reflect who they truly are. Their wedding should be memorable, and not seen as just another wedding.

Resources

Harley, Mary Ann. Union Station-A Wyndham Historic Hotel. Nashville, TN.Catering Sales Manager.

Phone (615)620-5677 Email: mharley@wyndham.com

Merryman, Tatyana. Fashion Atelier. Murfreesboro, TN. Owner.

Phone (615) 907-0301 www.Tatyana-Designs.com

www.marinomusic.com

www.wyndhamunionstation.com

www.acephotographs.com Email: acephoto@comcast.net

www.thebakeshoppe.com Email: cakes@thebakeshoppe.com

www.useventguide.com Dawn Pappas mentor2@useventguide.com