Podcast Episode:
Want to know what goes into planning a beautiful wedding? Want to hear a few crazy stories too? This week’s guest is a wedding planner, and she is gonna tell you how to do it … and how not to.
FRANK RELATIONSHIPS: THE WEDDING PLANNER
Guests: Lauryn Prattes
Date: March 10, 2013
Frank: Want to know what goes into planning a beautiful wedding? Want to hear a few crazy stories too? This week’s guest is a wedding planner and she’s going to tell you how to do it and how not to on this addition of Frank Relationships.
Welcome to Frank Relationships where we provide a candid, fresh and frank look into relationships with goals of acceptance, respect and flexibility. I’m Frank Love and you can find me, my blog and my various social media incarnations at franklove.com.
Once again, I’m joined by my co-host, Dr. Gayle. We all know I’m a hopeless romantic, so she’s going to make sure I keep my tears in check while we discuss weddings and stuff. She knows how I get all choked up and whatnot.
Dr. Gayle: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Frank: What’s up, Dr. Gayle?
Dr. Gayle: Good morning, Frank.
Frank: If I say what comes to mind when I mention white doves, white gowns, white paper thingies going down the isle, white cake, I’m confidant you’ll say, “A wedding.”
Now, let’s try it again. If I say what comes to mind, if I mention lavish, fairytale, train, crazy women, crazy men and expensive, well, I think you’re going to say “weddings” again.
How does one merge the white lavishness and the attitudes and remain sane? Today’s guest is going to tell us all about it. She’s none other than a serious on-top-of-her-game wedding planning virtuoso, and she’s here to help everyone who just got engaged on Valentine’s day, get ready for the wedding.
Whether you’re a do-it-your-selfer or will be hiring a wedding planner to take care of the details for you, I’m confident you’re wall away from today’s show with a few tools and tips that will make your wedding the day you’ve always dreamt it’ll would be.
So, if you’re interesting in learning about securing a wedding location, why a bride should consider hiring a wedding planner and what services wedding planners offer, then join me for the next hour as we talk with Lauryn Prattes of Table Six Productions in Washington, D.C. Geetings Lauryn and welcome to the show.
Lauryn: Hi, Frank. Thank you.
Dr. Gayle: Good morning, Lauryn.
Lauryn: Good morning.
Frank: Alright, why in the world would I pay someone to plan my wedding when I’m smart enough to do it myself?
Lauryn: You know this is probably one of the number one questions that people get asked or that we get asked and what I always tell clients when I’m in a meeting or anytime anybody asks me this is, I relate wedding planning often to an accountant.
Yes, if I wanted to take the time to do all the research, go through the stress and the hassle of having to do all of my own taxes and file everything and pray and hope that I got it done and that I’m actually going to save money, I could probably do it myself. But I am much happier, saving myself the time, the stress, being able to do what I like to do, instead of having to focus on that by paying somebody to do my taxes for me.
So, I feel like wedding planning’s just very similar. There’s so many details that go into it. There’s so many mistakes that can be made. That having an expert that knows what they’re doing, who can guide you through it and who offers different packages, so it can be as involved or as not involved as you feel like you want and need. It can just make it so much easier, make it a happier time for you and your fiancé so you look back on your engagement and think of it as being happy and fun instead of it being this stressful time that you’re planning a wedding.
And a lot of brides make a ton of budget mistakes, because really when you meet with the cake person they’re most interested in helping you find the cake, the florist’s most interested in the floral and the decor, the venue’s most interested in the venue. So, the wedding planner’s really the only person that’s interested in the entire wedding and can guide you through the whole process.
Frank: I’m convinced, knowing that–
Dr. Gayle: You’re convinced that easily?
Frank: Yeah, yeah. Knowing what–
Dr. Gayle: Wow.
Frank: Goes into getting my taxes done, if I were getting married any time soon, I’d probably hire a wedding planner based on your–
Lauryn: Yes.
Frank: Description.
Dr. Gayle: So what mistake–
Lauryn: Yeah.
Dr. Gayle: Lauryn, what mistakes do brides make? Or do couples make?
Lauryn: You know, first of all, the first mistake if you are considering hiring a planner, and even if you aren’t, I think the first thing you should do is, at least meet with one. At least find out if it’s right for you. The single mistakes that people make a lot of times is not meeting with a planner upfront. So a lot of times I have a bride that thinks maybe, “Oh, I need a venue first or I need to get more done first,” and really you can meet with a planner very early on.
So a lot of times the bride might book the venue that might not be right for her style, just because she didn’t know what was out there. She might book one that’s too expensive, that she really can’t quite afford. A lot of times we do have clients that have come to us with a few vendors already booked who have spent a lot more on those vendors than we would’ve recommended. Just because of their budget and because then we have to save other places or there’s certain things that you just can’t go without or the bride doesn’t want to go without, so she ends up going more over her budget than she might have if she had met with a planner first to help guide her in that way.
Dr. Gayle: Right. How early do you suggest or how early when planning and your wedding is a date, how early do you think that people should meet with you or meet with the planner?
Lauryn: I always recommend as soon–
Dr. Gayle: When considering a date.
Lauryn: As you get engaged.
Dr. Gayle: Okay.
Lauryn: I say as soon as you get engaged. I have clients that don’t have a date yet. They might at least have a time of year, so they want to get married fall 2014, something like that. So you don’t even have to have a date. You want to kind of have an idea of your guest count. You definitely want to have at least an idea of budget, even if it’s not an exact number; at least a range. But other than that, you really do not have to have that much already done in order to meet with a planner.
Honestly, the earlier the better. You’re going to get more out of your money by hiring a planner at the very beginning than once you’ve started doing things. But you can hire one any time. I have brides all the time, that get halfway through and say, “I realize I should have hired a planner at the beginning, I need help.” So you can really hire a planner any time, but the best time is right at the beginning to get you started.
Frank: Do you charge a percentage, a flat fee or a la carte? How is your fee structure developed?
Lauryn: It takes into account a few different things. And what I will say is that, wedding planners in general, there’s a variance across the board. Some wedding planners charge a flat fee for their packages, some planners charge a flat fee plus a percentage and then some planners charge just a percentage of what your total wedding budget is. So, it really is a variation, kind of across the board in terms of business standard for that.
It depends a little bit on where you live. So how they do things in New York verses how they do things in Miami, verses how the event industry runs in D.C. It can be a little bit different depending on where you live and just your particular planner. It varies a little bit.
Frank: Okay. Tell us about Table Six Productions was originally founded.
Lauryn: I love our story. Table Six Productions was founded by two women, Heather and Shannon. So, I own the D.C. office. So, I own and operate this office.
Frank: Okay.
Lauryn: But Heather and Shannon are the founders of the company as a whole. Table Six Productions actually has offices across the U.S. And Heather and Shannon are really good friends since college and they were at a friend’s wedding, who shall remain nameless and they were at the wedding and just found it very stressful, they found that things did not seem like they were running smoothly and it was obvious to guests who were there–
Frank: Were they bridesmaids or they were just guests?
Lauryn: No, they were just guests.
Frank: Wow.
Lauryn: So, they could just tell that things weren’t organized; they could tell that things were running behind. And also, the wedding was just very, very–just boring, so to speak. There wasn’t anything that gave it any personality. They could have been at anyone’s wedding. And they were sitting at their table when they should have been dancing, but once again, people weren’t up and dancing. It just wasn’t a really lively wedding.
So they were talking about what they would’ve done differently, and at the time they also were both in communications and marketing and kind of were looking for a job change and that’s when they realized that maybe there was a need for a fresh-style wedding planning. And the hardest part wasn’t necessarily how to run a smooth event, which is important or adding unique touches, but more of what they could do together, or better yet, what they could do if there were multiple planners for Table Six. So, they decided then, they wanted to go ahead and start this company, wedding planning company and they happened to be seated at table number six at the wedding. So, when they were trying to come up with a name for the company, a little bit later, once they really got the ball rolling, they decided why not go with where they hatched a plan, which was at table six.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Frank: Now, how did Lauryn get involved?
Lauryn: I was living in Atlanta at the time where I’m from and I was working for another luxury bridal event resource when I met one of our Table Six market owners in Atlanta.
Frank: A luxury bridal ev–what did you say?
Lauryn: Luxury Bridal Event Resource.
Frank: Goodnight.
Lauryn: So–
Dr, Gayle: What does that mean? What is that Lauryn?
Lauryn: It’s a little bit of a different concept. There’s not one of these up in D.C. A lot of other–
Frank: We can’t even say in D.C., but okay.
Lauryn: A lot of these other areas have started opening up these boutiques almost, so to speak, where vendors advertise and then a consultant refers brides to the vendors. A little bit of what a wedding planner does but the bride does not pay for this service and the vendors are paying for the advertising. So, it’s a different form of signing your vendors from a planner who is the referral source for vendors or through flipping through a magazine, something like that. So, it’s a really great, very different concept. It would take the whole hour of the show for me to explain fully what it is.
Frank: How does a vendor know whether–a vendor at one of these boutiques or what ever you called it, I’ve got to write it down?
Lauryn: Event Planning Resource boutique.
Frank: How does a vendor know whether to waste her or their time with a bride or a bridal party that can afford it or can’t afford it?
Lauryn: That was the great thing about this resource, because a lot of times when brides have contact you through a magazine, they don’t know if they can afford you. You don’t know if they can afford you either. So, the great thing about–this one was called, Bridal Bar. There’s a lot of different ones across the US, different names, as I said. But I would sit down–I worked as a consultant there, so I would sit down with the bride talk to her, talk to her about her vision, talk to her about what budget was and then knowing all of our different vendors that advertise with us–there are a maximum of five categories, which is very limited–knowing how many advertised or who advertised with us and what their styles were, because a lot of florist have a set style. Some of them can do different things, but you just know who does modern the best or who does rustic the best or classic. So based off the bride’s style and what her budget was I would then refer her to the right vendors for her, including Wedding Planners as well, as part of Bridal Bar. But through that is how I met Mary, who at the time was owning the Table Six market in Atlanta and I begin working with her.
I just fell in love with the concept of Table Six, the website, just with the modern, fun, fresh, feel. Once again, it didn’t feel stale or traditional or boring. It was just really a fun company with a fresh look.
So, I started working with her and assisting her on weddings and I knew I was planning to move up to D.C. My boyfriend and I did long distance for two years, so I knew I was planning on moving up here and I had been working in the wedding industry a bit up here, working as a blog manager for one of the wedding companies up here. So I just knew a lot of the vendors already, like any industry, the wedding industry is very small market once you get on the backend things, so our people across the country know a lot of vendors.
So, when I moved up here Table Six asked me to open up the market up in the area and I took a look around. I knew there were amazing vendors up here already and I love the concept of Table Six. I like the idea of being able to own my own business and at the same time be part of something that was just a little bigger than me and so it was just a perfect fit.
So I opened it up, up here about two and a half years ago. I felt immediately embraced by the vendors that were up here and was able to very quickly build up great clients as well as a network of some of the best vendors in the area.
Frank: Well, ring, ring. It’s Frank Love and I’m here with my fiancé Dr. Gayle. We’re showing up at your door and she’s ready for us to get our–
Dr. Gayle: I just want the world.
Frank: Our wedding on.
Dr. Gayle: I want everything.
Frank: Yes, and I’m rolling my eyes–
Dr. Gayle: Because he is cheap and doesn’t want to pay for anything.
Frank: Yes, and I’m sitting down and I want you to explain to me what it is your role in the game is going to be. Gayle has already signed you up and I’ve already put a deposit down, I guess, and now I’m just a grump and I want you to convince me that you are–
Dr. Gayle: That we need you.
Frank: Yes, let’s hear it.
Lauryn: Oh, of course, yes. You know there’s few different ways that a planner can save you money to start out with. Since I know that was your number one concern you don’t want to spend too much. So, the first thing a planner is going to do to help you save money is make sure you don’t make those budge mistakes.
There’s so many budget calculators on websites that you can go and you can find and that is probably one of the biggest mistakes people make, is by using those budget calculators.
Frank: I like it.
Lauryn: It doesn’t take into account what you want. It just takes into account whatever that budget calculator normally spits out. It also doesn’t taken into account where you live. Planning a wedding in the middle of Indiana, for example, is going to be probably a lot different than the cost of planning a wedding in D.C. Cost of living is very different, cost of milk is very different–
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: Cost of gas. Same thing, cost of weddings.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: We live in a expensive area and people need to be prepared to undertake the expense. So, these budget calculators really don’t do a great job on taking all that into account, whereas the planner’s going to take into your personal one. What’s the most important thing to you verses what’s not as important. Where can you save? So, that’s kind of the first way a planner’s going to help you save money, is by knowing where to put your money.
The second way is because a good planner should have really great vendors and connections. I have great connections with my vendors that I work with. A lot of our vendors may offer our clients special discounts or at least incentives to maybe give you a little bit more for what you’re paying. And also, a lot of times we’re able to pass some of our discounts along to you that we get on different things like linens or accessories, favors, things like that for your wedding day.
So, the first thing I would say to you is that we are going to help you save money. The second thing I’m going to say to you is, you have the rest of your life to be married and have to deal with the stress of the relationship or not [getting help] 17:37–
Frank: Oh my God.
Lauryn: Or anything else.
Frank: You’re killing me.
Lauryn: So, let’s start the wedding planning process with no stress on your fiancé. We want her happy. We want her enjoying this time period, having fun and if–
Dr. Gayle: You want to start off right, Frank.
Lauryn: Right, and if I’m with her also, she gets to talk to me about all this wedding planning stuff instead of talking to you about it, because I’m sure that you don’t care which shade of pink we go with–
Frank: Cha-ching. I like it. I like it.
Lauryn: I’m there to talk to her about all this, should be the person that listens to her and helps her make these decisions. And then you get to come in on the fun things. Grooms like to come in the tasting, food tasting, cake tasting. You get to come to the music meetings. All that fun stuff. But you don’t have to come pick out the bridesmaid dresses with us.
Dr. Gayle: So Lauryn, how often do you speak with your brides? Are we like best friends? Do we go shopping together for dresses?
Lauryn: It depends. So, it sort of depends on the package. For clients that are getting married in a few months and already have a lot done, they’re going to book a little bit of a smaller package, less involved. So we’re not going to communicate quite as much.
I love to be friends with my brides. I have a few brides that already gotten married. I have one that just had a baby. I just made her dinner and took it over to her. I have another that I go out to dinner with on a regular basis with. Sometimes a relationship does develop. It just depends on client’s needs.
I work with a lot of working professionals that have very demanding careers. So, a lot of times what we’re doing is just through emails. They don’t have the time to have a phone call. They don’t have the time to go on a lot of meetings. A lot of decisions are just made through email.
Then I have some clients that require a little bit more hand holding. They need a little bit more conversation on the phone, maybe a few more in-person meetings. And then, if it’s really a full service client, then I do love to get to go on–I love it when the bride invites me on the wedding dress shopping.
Dr. Gayle: Oh, really. Okay.
Lauryn: I don’t always go. I do normally if they invite me, but normally a lot of times it’s just kind of a moment for them and their mom. But sometimes the bride invites the planners and that’s always nice to be part of that special experience.
Frank: You’re listening to Frank Relationships and we’re talking with wedding and event planner, Lauryn Prattes of Table Six Productions in Washington, D.C. Please tell us how we can reach you and use your services.
Lauryn: The best way to reach me, you go onto our website and take a look at our website. It’s table6productions.com. And the six is just a number it is not going to be spelled out.
And then people can also reach me on our office phone. The number for that is 703-787-8270. Or, of course, by email and my email is lauryn@table6productions.com. So, there’s a few different ways that you can reach me.
Frank: Okay.
Dr. Gayle: Now Lauryn I must admit, I’m kind of obsessed with the wedding shows like the David Tutera and “Help Me Get Married” and “Four Weddings” and the TLC thing–
Frank: Excuse me, there’s a guy in the room. Can you help me out? I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Dr. Gayle: So, when we think about–women know what I’m talking about–
Frank: So, forget the guys.
Dr. Gayle: Right. Forget about you guys. Yu really don’t care, anyway.
Lauryn: Some of them know.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: Some of them know. They get busted watching “Say Yes to the Dress,” you know. Tuning in when the bride’s tuning in.
Frank: Hey Lauryn, we were cool up until this point.
Dr. Gayle: So Lauryn compared to those shows is that just for TV hype or how realistic is the actual wedding planning process compared to those shows on TV that we see?
Lauryn: Some of it’s just for hype, but a lot of them are quite accurate, actually. Obviously David Tutera steps in just a few weeks before the wedding.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: Also have to realize that these weddings that you’re seeing, the weddings that David Tutera plans on there, those are probably almost up into six digits, $100,000 plus wedding. Now–
Frank: Is David Tutera’s–is he like an emergency guy?
Dr. Gayle: He kind of is.
Lauryn: Yes, he is on the show and he got his start as a wedding planner and floral designer, so he does full weddings that he probably planned for a year and a half. Yes, on the show he steps in a few weeks before the wedding and completely re-plans the wedding.
In order to do that, you’re going to need a sizable budget and still that’s quite difficult to do and you don’t know if those weddings are taking place on a Friday, on a Thursday, what day of the week these times are taking place on that he’s able to redo. But no, those are pretty real steps that he goes through, at least–
Dr. Gayle: Okay.
Lauryn: With the client. That’s I think the biggest thing with those TV shows or also in magazines and blogs these days. It’s when clients see this and then come to me and want that same level and style and they have to know that all of these weddings come at a price tag.
Even the simple rustic ones that you see on our blog or a lot of times you see photo shoots in magazines and what you can do for a photo shoot is going to be a lot different than what you can do for a full scale event. When you have these lavish full table set-ups. They’re only done for eight guests at a photo shoot, just to set the table whereas when you’re doing it at a wedding and doing it for 200 guests, either logistically, it might not work as well or clients just have to realize that every element that goes on the table is going to cost you more money.
Frank: Got it. If we’re not talking about same sex male weddings, do grooms ever hire wedding planners?
Lauryn: Yes–
Frank: Really?
Lauryn: I have had several grooms that have been the more driving force behind wanting to hire a wedding planner, because they just don’t want their fiancé to have to deal with the stress of it. Because they feel like their fiancé might not take the steps to ask for help, but think that they probably should get it. So oftentimes the groom is the one that wants the wedding planner, that encourages the bride to hire the wedding planner or a lot of times comes on that initial meeting. And every now and then, the groom is actually who I communicate more with than the bride.
Frank: Okay.
Dr. Gayle: Oh, really?
Lauryn: Uh-huh.
Dr. Gayle: Do you find that he makes the more sound decisions, because is the bride too emotionally involved?
Lauryn: Sometimes, yes. It just depends on the groom. A lot of times the grooms are more involved, it’s just because maybe they’re more of the type A personality. They really want to know exactly what’s going on all the time. But it just depends on the client, once again. Some brides are very decisive. Very easy. Want to book with the first vendor that they meet with each time, laid back, easy going. Other brides have the hardest trouble of deciding between a few different vendors, a lot of times, because quite honestly any vendor I’m referring to the bride or I’m meeting with, is amazing. So, it’s a hard decision.
And then you have the bride that just wants to meet with vendor after vendor after vendor and just can’t quite make a decision and that’s when–
Frank: And it’s driving me crazy.
Lauryn: Well, and probably herself crazy. Taking too much time and that’s when you need to scale back and figure out why. Part of our job is part planner, part therapist, part friend.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: So, figuring out why it’s so difficult to make decisions on certain vendors or what the underlying decision is. Maybe it’s that she’s trying to make the groom happy or make her family happy and is struggling internally, because she maybe wants to go in a different direction with the style of the wedding or something like that.
Dr. Gayle: Do you prefer the bride that doesn’t know what she wants at all and wants you to make all the decisions or the bride that knows exactly what she wants and is the type A?
Lauryn: There are pros and cons to both, and I have to say I love that I get a mix of it.
Dr. Gayle: Okay.
Lauryn: The bride that knows what she wants is always great, because it’s fun to [brand] 26:19 some of the brides and she gets excited about ideas when you come to her with ideas or you can go back and forth and feed off each other’s creativity or ideas or vision, whereas at the same time, the bride that just says, “I want it to the amazing, over-the-top, beautiful,” or just gives you kind of a style and says, “You make it happen, it’s in your hands,” that’s fun too, because I get to have the creativity and do my vision. But at the same time, sometimes they aren’t as excited, because with different ideas, just because they just want to show up and see it on the wedding day. They don’t want talk about it beforehand or they just don’t have the creativity or the time or the desire to go back and forth with ideas with you. So it’s two-fold, sometimes one you enjoy, sometimes it’s the other. So it’s nice to have a mix of styles.
Dr. Gayle: Now you mentioned creativity, where has your creativity stemmed from? Like what’s your background other than wedding planning?
Lauryn: I am a big fan of “I think you’re born with the creativity or not.” I think that you can be taught how to do certain skills, like you can be taught how to plan a wedding. There’s actual steps that go through that. You can’t be taught your creativity or your style but my background is that I just wanted to start in fashion. So I do come from wanting to and understanding how things go together. I always loved fashion styling, so it goes along with event styling.
I also started out as an interior design major, so once again, goes with styling of interiors of spaces. I’ve just always been really been interested in spaces, how things can go together and mixing different elements, different fabrics, different styles.
But also I come two parents who honestly were just really stylish. They were both in the cosmetics industry at one point. My dad’s really creative, working with his hands. And even just as a child, I’ve always wanted to do more creative things. I’m just very right-brained and enjoy creativity and putting things together and coming up with these new ideas to the point where I keep myself up at night trying to think how we can make each wedding different or better or push the envelope just a little bit with ideas. So, I think that creativity is something that you have and then you enhance it.
Frank: I got to tell you Lauryn, I’ve never heard a child say about their parents that basically they were stylish.
Dr. Gayle: Yeah, I like that.
Frank: “They were fly. My parents were great. They were fly, stylish and sleek. I love to see my daddy get dressed in the morning.” I’ve never heard anybody say that.
Lauryn: Yeah, they were. I remember when I was a little girl and my parents would go out to–they always on Friday nights, would always go out with friends. I just always remember that and I always overdress now whenever I go any place and everybody’s like, “Oh, you’re so dressed up.” And I’m like, “What do you mean?” I love that. I wish that people dress up more, but–
Dr. Gayle: I do too.
Lauryn: I remember when I was a little girl and on Friday nights seeing my mom put on her black fur coat in the winter to go out to a nice dinner with friends or something–
Dr. Gayle: I love it.
Lauryn: And so I just always remember her being really, really stylish.
Frank: And you grew up in Atlanta?
Lauryn: I did.
Frank: Fur coats in Atlanta? Is it just me? Am I just crazy?
Lauryn: It had to be winter. It had to be winter. And my mom grew up in Milwaukee so maybe she still had that mentality that it was going to be really cold when she stepped out, but in the winter.
Dr. Gayle: So, they supported your creativity and didn’t try to deter you from being a major art, I assume?
Lauryn: I think for a little bit my mom wanted me to be a lawyer or a psychologist and then finally she realized, “This isn’t her.” I’m creative and I love doing that and I just wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t get to–and that’s why I really wanted to do wedding planning and be hands-on.
I’ve worked on the magazine side and that’s nice, but I really wanted to be front and center hands-on with the brides, working with them and also being involved in the entire vision. Once again, as I said, I like to work on putting everything together, as opposed to working just for a floral or decor team, which would still be extremely creative. I like being able to be in control of how everything comes together. The photography is an art form. The food even these days is an art form in terms of how it’s displayed or what creative ideas you’re coming up with food. It’s not just chicken or fish with mash potatoes and vegetables anymore. So, being able to see the whole vision come together.
Frank: Well, back to mom and dad. They want to host a wedding at their house. Is that okay?
Lauryn: Uh-huh.
Frank: What are the considerations? What do we have to be concerned about?
Lauryn: It is okay. There’s a lot of considerations. It depends on their house. Is their house setup for that?
Dr. Gayle: What type of house is the best type? Is it like outside wedding or indoors?
Lauryn: Outside.
Dr. Gayle: Okay.
Lauryn: Outside. Inside of a house is just not normally going to flow very well and inside of the house is great for other events. You can do it for rehearsal dinner, you can do it for a day after brunch, for an engagement party, shower.
Typically most people’s interior of a house just isn’t going to be set up for a wedding. Plus, we can make your wedding feel very intimate and feel like it’s a dinner at home without it actually being a dinner around your dining room table. So I think some place that has a good amount of outdoor space, where we can tent, is important.
And then, you also have to think of the catering tents. You either have to have a gourmet kitchen large enough for catering inside. You need to have a basement area that’s large enough for them to set up what they need for catering or you need to have an area outside where you can also have a separate catering tent where they can set up their kitchen and execute everything out of there.
So, there is a lot that goes into planning a wedding at home. The number one thing that I say when a client tells me that they want to plan a wedding at home is, “Why? Why do you want to do this?” I want to make sure that they aren’t doing this, because they think it will save money, because it won’t.
Frank: Really?
Lauryn: Because some of them are doing it, because they just have a really strong tie to their family home or they love the land or there’s another reason. But if their number one reason for doing it is to save money, then I say, “We need to go elsewhere.” Because when you’re doing a wedding at home, you have to bring in a tent, which is extremely expensive. You need to bring in everything. You have bring in the kitchen, the rentals, power. Your parent’s electricity bill isn’t going to have enough power to support a band and surprisingly a coffee maker. Coffee makers draw more power than almost anything at the wedding.
Frank: Okay.
Dr. Gayle: Do you consider tents even if it’s not going to rain? How do you always factor in the rain factor?
Lauryn: I love an alfresco dinner; one that’s outside with no tents that under the stars.
Frank: Whoa, hold up. Wait, wait. Alfresco dinner, what does that mean?
Lauryn: It’s just outside under the stars with no the tent, pretty much.
Frank: Oh. Okay, what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with talking to the guys in the group? What about just saying an outside dinner–
Dr. Gayle: He wants you to talk in plain English.
Frank: With no tent.
Lauryn: Because, it’s a wedding. It’s supposed to be elegant. We have to use fancy words, make it sound out it was purposeful. Not that you too cheap to get the tent.
Dr. Gayle: Not like it was a cookout outside under the tent.
Lauryn: Right, exactly, exactly.
Frank: I need an aspirin.
Lauryn: Like it was purposeful. See this is why you have a planner, so that I can talk to the bride about this and you don’t have to worry about it.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: But, but–
Dr. Gayle: What’s the most extravagant–
Lauryn: I love–
Dr. Gayle: Sorry, go ahead, Lauryn.
Lauryn: I was just going to say, I love doing that, but you have to have a back up rain plan.
Dr. Gayle: Right. What’s the most extravagant wedding you’ve done?
Lauryn: Oh gosh, well we have a wedding that was on “Platinum Weddings.”
Dr. Gayle: Oh wow.
Lauryn: So that one was to be extravagant.
Dr. Gayle: So, “Platinum Weddings” is a show, Frank.
Frank: Oh, alright. See that’s–thank you.
Lauryn: Yeah, “Platinum Weddings” is a TV show. I’s about over-the-top, really luxurious over-the-top weddings.
So, we’ve done weddings for hundreds of thousands of dollars. We’ve done weddings for four hundred, five hundred people. All sorts of cultures: Indian, Lebanese, Pakistani, Orthodox Jewish–
Dr. Gayle: Now, do you just–
Lauryn: And African.
Dr. Gayle: Now, do you just do weddings here or can someone hire you to do a destination wedding?
Lauryn: Someone can hire me to do a destination wedding. I love the Bahamas. I love Italy. Anybody that wants to get married in Italy, please I’m here. No, you can hire us to do weddings anywhere. And when doing destination weddings, once again there’s pros and cons for hiring a planner who’s local verses a planner here with you, verses a planner who’s local to where you’re getting married.
Frank: Or both, I assume. Can you do both?
Lauryn: No, you would typically hire only one planner.
Frank: Okay. See?
Lauryn: Yeah, you’re only going to hire one planner.
Frank: I thought I solved it intelligent.
Lauryn: It was a good idea though.
Dr. Gayle: Now is there a difference between a planner and a coordinator or…
Lauryn: No, people–well, it depends. People normally interchange the name. When you’re talking about a venue coordinator, then yes. And this is something I hear all the time actually, “Oh, our venue coordinator takes care of the wedding.” Well, they do to an extent, but most of the really great venue coordinators in the area will tell you to hire a wedding planner, if you want more hands-on approach. A venue coordinator is going to refer you to a small, very small group of vendors, typically that they know or like or work with. They’re going to refer you to one linen company that that venue works with.
A lot of times I use three different linen companies for one wedding to get the look that we’re going for and from all over the U.S. They also aren’t going to come with you on your stationary appointment. They’re not going to help you pick out your favors or put together your welcome bags for guests.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: These are all the things that a planner really does for you and we consider ourselves planners and event designers. So we’re going to plan the weddings for you as well as design the event.
Frank: Back to the destination weddings–
Lauryn: Yes.
Frank: Whether they go with the person there or here.
Lauryn: The reason that I always recommend going with the person who lives where you live, when you’re doing a foreign destination is because I think the standards are a little bit different here verse overseas. Just like when you know you’re going overseas to get normally a four star hotel. You really want a three star, because their standards are a little bit different, same thing with weddings. Their standards can be a little bit different. So having somebody here who understands what it is that you’re looking, who can meet with you in person, get to know you and then be able to translate this to whatever destination you’re going to.
As I said, the industry’s a pretty small industry. Through our connections we can really quickly plan a destination wedding and figure out who the best vendors in that area are for you. But having a planner here who understands more of the standards that you’re looking for and the other person that almost always bring in as well, the photographer.
I like to bring in a photographer from wherever; normally a local photographer from the D.C. area Let’s say, if you’re getting married in Mexico, bring a D.C photographer.
Frank: Really?
Lauryn: Once again photography is one–yes. Photography is one of those super important parts of a wedding, in my opinion, that you really take away for.
Dr. Gayle: And it’s the most expensive, right? Isn’t it one of the most expensive?
Lauryn: It can be, yes. It can be very expensive and one piece of advice I always give to clients, if you’re looking to save on photography, save by not getting an album. Save by not getting prints, but spend the money on a great photographer and maybe he’ll just give you the disk of images. You can go on the Shutterfly and print your own albums if you want, if you’re trying to save money.
Instead of going with the photographer that’s maybe less expensive or the same price as the other photographer, but as far from maybe that price offers their service plus the disk of images, whereas another photographer offers their service plus an album and two parent albums and 80 prints and a photo club, all this stuff. Go with a great photographer who maybe you’re getting a little bit less from them, but who you love their pictures.
Frank: Can you go back to convincing me to fly a good photographer into Mexico instead of finding a good Mexican photographer?
Lauryn: I think it’s, once again, it’s a quality and standard difference. And also, a photographer, when you have one here, a lot of times people are doing engagement sessions, so you can do an engagement session with your local photographer here. You get to know them. The photographer who can be with you the full day, so you really want, when you’re looking for a photographer, not only love their pictures, but really connect on a personal level as well.
And quite honestly, it’s not going to be that much more of a cost to fly in the photographer and pay for a hotel. They’re not going to have to stay in the Ritz with you. Like any vendor, they’re going to require a decent hotel, but it doesn’t have to be a five star resort. It’s not going to be that much more of an expense and it’s something that I feel is just really important, a lot of times.
Frank: Can a destination wedding be cheaper at least to the bridal party?
Lauryn: It can be. No, it can definitely be cheaper, because normally you’re going to have less people. A lot of times it will be cheaper for what you want, meaning if you have a certain budget here, you might have 200 people come. But if you take that same budget and go to Mexico, you’re only going to have 50 people come, so you’re going to be able to save money in that respect and also a lot of times you can make kind of a wedding weekend out of it with that money.
Do something fun for everyone who comes on Friday night. Do a brunch the day after by the pool with everyone who comes as well. Spend more quality time with the people that you really want there. Your close friends, your close family and not your fifth cousin that you had to invite or an office worker.
Dr. Gayle: Because your mom wanted them there.
Lauryn: Right, exactly. You get to really spend time with people that you really wanted there and also get the wedding that you were looking for.
Dr. Gayle: And it’ll be a good party.
Lauryn: Exactly, and you’re already on your honeymoon. And as I said, a lot of times guests come and stay a little bit longer, because if they’re going to fly to Mexico, they’re not going to come for a day, they’re going to make a little bit of a trip out of it themselves, too.
Dr. Gayle: Lauryn, do you discourage brides doing any do-it-yourself things for their weddings?
Lauryn: No, I don’t discourage it. It just depends on what you’re looking for. Normally when brides hire Table Six, they aren’t looking for a full DIY wedding. If you’re looking for a full DIY wedding, there is other planners who specialize in DIY or maybe you just want to do it yourself. But having said that, we definitely take on a lot of creative and fun kind of DIY elements to help enhance the wedding and then I do have some brides that do, do some of the elements on their own, like making the seating charts themselves or making the table numbers. Certain elements, but not the entire wedding, just more of a mix of using good quality vendors and then enhancing it and making it maybe a little bit more personal or just, because they enjoy the creativity of doing some of the things their selves.
And then, once again, I have great resources to help you with that, such as classified where other brides are selling maybe what they’ve already made or selling other elements of the wedding or things like that. So, I, a lot of times will talk to the bride and help figure out, “Okay, these are the elements where we should hire out someone to do it and these are the elements where you can take it on yourself or I can help you or we can take it on for you,” different elements like that.
So, I don’t discourage it completely, but I think that there’s also for a while there, there was a huge trend towards the DIY look. Everything was DIY, now brides are starting to kind of get tired of that look, get tired of too many mason jars, 200 burlaps and move more into a little bit more of a refined look. l credit Kate Middleton for that look.
Dr. Gayle: What does Table Six consider a modern chic wedding?
Lauryn: That’s a good question. I think it’s a combination of the elements. Modern doesn’t have to mean contemporary, so to speak.
Dr. Gayle: Okay.
Lauryn: So if it makes sense, I have a lot of clients that want the vintage modern–
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: That want classic modern. It doesn’t have to mean contemporary, it doesn’t have to mean just very sleek minimalist. It just means a fresh take on things. To me, modern is designing every element. So, making sure the linens coordinates with the look, bringing in specialty linens, not just using the basic white linen that the venue offers. That’s one of the easiest ways to change the entire look and feel for the least amount of money, is by bringing in, even just plain linen, but be it a different color.
That can really make a big impact on the space. Once again, not using a lot of–hotels have this–like ivory damask curtain looking linen. Getting away from that and going with something a little bit more fresh with that as well. Also just having more creativity in the paper, in the invitation; it’s not just a white invitation anymore with black script written across it.
People are getting really unique and fun in using colors or different patterns on their invitations, different textiles from letterpressed, which is where the paper is pressed in to foil, which is really fun and that gives you that metallic look.
I would say that what makes it modern is all those different touches that you bring together. All of the details, to lighting, draping, if necessary, flowers, the menu cards, all of those little details that come together and look like they were all thought out, and not just–
Frank: You mentioned burlap. Now, are there–
Lauryn: Yes.
Frank: Burlap wedding dresses or are those fine burlap tuxedo’s–
Lauryn: No, no, no. They’re a little scratchy.
Frank: Okay.
Lauryn: No, burlap normally is used on the tables. So, burlap linens, burlap runners and I love a little touch of burlap, if that makes sense with your rustic wedding.
If you’re getting married out in Leesburg in the barn–
Frank: Got you.
Lauryn: A little touch of burlap is great. But there was a time where it was just burlap on the ceiling; there was burlap on the floor, on the tables. Or you’re getting married in a beautiful opulent ballroom and having burlap that just doesn’t quite go. So you need to consider all of those things. But no, a little touch of burlap is still great and when used the right way or used creatively it can be really fun for the rustic, chic look.
Frank: You are listening to Frank Relationships and we’re talking with wedding and event planner, Lauryn Prattes of Table Six Productions in Washington, D.C. Please, once more, tell us how we can reach you and use your services.
Lauryn: You can first check out our website which is table6productions.com. The six isn’t spelled out. It’s just going to be the number six. You can also reach me on my office phone if you’d rather, which is 703-787-8270. Or you can shoot me over an email and say, “Hello.” My email is laurynattable6productions.com and my name Lauryn is spelled L-a-u-r-y-n.
Frank: Okay, I’m pretty sure that there are people who do not want to do outdoor weddings simply because of the bugs. How do you deal with that?
Lauryn: Bugs–that is another good point of things that are often overlooked at weddings. So, when we have an outdoor wedding, we make sure that wherever the outdoor wedding is. Normally a venue does this automatically, but if it’s at a family farm or a property or a home, we want to make sure that we bring somebody in about three days before the wedding and have them spray.
Dr. Gayle: Okay.
Lauryn: So, spray to get the bugs away, make sure there’s no ant piles around that a guest could step in, keep mosquitoes at bay, things like that. Second thing is having bug spray in the bathrooms of the wedding, having it maybe on the bar at the wedding.
I recently went to a friend’s wedding in Charleston and we literally got eaten alive by the bugs. I was in the bridal party and luckily she did have a *(inaudible) 48:45 planner, so by the time we got down to the wedding and she realized that we’d been up top waiting to go down to the wedding, being eaten alive, she did have bug spray with her. So that was great, we were able to use that and it was a life savor for the rest of the night.
So, we’ll normally have that readily available. And then a little trick that I do as well is I have–
Frank: Oh, I like tricks.
Lauryn: Dryer sheets. I have dryer sheets and for outdoor weddings a lot of times I’ll put a dryer sheet under each table and that actually repels mosquitoes and bugs.
Frank: Nice.
Lauryn: Yeah, simple dryer sheets.
Dr. Gayle: Lauryn, what do you say to people that and probably men like Frank that this is just one day. Why are we spending so much money on just one day? What do you say to those people?
Lauryn: You know, you have an option, people’s budget is what it is.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: If you come to me wanting a certain look or you want this certain style, you’re going to have to realize how much it’s going to cost; that’s why personally must D.C. weddings these days are less people. It’s more and more common that I’m seeing a 100 to 120 people wedding, because that way they can get what they want–
Frank: Instead of–
Lauryn: Or they have to spend.
Frank: If it weren’t–
Lauryn: Two hundred.
Frank: Wow. Okay.
Lauryn: Instead of up to $200. I have brides coming to me that maybe want 250 people and then I say to them, “Are you willing to hand each one of those people $200,” because that’s starting what it’s going to cost once you add up everything that goes into a wedding per person.
Dr. Gayle: Right, the food and the alcohol and the venue.
Lauryn: Right, right. So they start to say, “Oh, well maybe not,” and then scale back that guest list.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: Or a destination wedding, you can go off just the two of you and get married if you don’t want to spend all that money for just one day, so to speak. But, in my mind, the wedding is the one time that you get to really celebrate with everyone around you. It’s something that you’re going to remember for the rest of your life and tell your children about. Your children are going to sit down and look at your wedding album and probably say, “Oh, my God mom. Why did you ever wear that dress?” But it’s something that you really share with each other for the rest of your life and it’s the one time that you get to really have this amazing party with all your family and your friends.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Frank: Are you like the worse person possible to invite to a wedding?
Dr. Gayle: Because you’re going to be critiquing the whole time.
Lauryn: *(inaudible) 51:19 say that. No, sometimes I say that I probably am. No, I really try not to be. First of all, I try to just sit and enjoy the wedding and not try and–
Dr. Gayle: Like last week where you–
Frank: You can’t even–
Lauryn: No, if I see something going wrong at the wedding, you can’t help but just want to get up and fix it. I try not to.
Dr. Gayle: So the other week you were thinking–
Lauryn: Unless it’s a really good friend, and then I’m like–
Dr. Gayle: You were thinking they should have like bug spray or something or dryer sheets?
Lauryn: No, they did, they did. No, they did have the bug spray at that wedding, so that was great. We didn’t have it up top, but once we got down after taking pictures they had it, so that was great. But no, I normally try and just sit down and relax and enjoy it and know that hopefully whatever the wedding is and turned out is how that couple wanted it.
Now a lot of times it’s hard, because “if I planned there or if I had a planner,” they would’ve known there was an option that didn’t cost them any more. So, I think that my one pet peeve with weddings is I think is that no matter how much you have to spend, no matter what your budget is you want to make sure that it’s nice. It doesn’t have to be over the top. You just want to pay attention to the little details.
And I do like putting those little personal details into it that don’t cost that much more like changing from a white cocktail napkin to a colored cocktail napkin; just little details that make it yours and make it personal. And then, also paying attention to etiquette; that’s what’s really important and etiquette doesn’t cost you a dollar. It doesn’t cost you anything to make sure you’re addressing invitations correctly, that you’re wording invitations correctly, that you’re sending a “thank you” note.
Things like that just don’t cost any money and if you don’t know the answer to the question, Google has the answer to everything that you ever need to know these days.
Frank: Interesting.
Lauryn: So, that’s the biggest thing I look for when I attend other weddings. Just making sure that to etiquette. But no, I try to just sit back and enjoy the wedding and relax as a guest.
Frank: Have you learned anything about relationships along the way? Any relationship advice you can give our audience, based on seeing so many nuptials, what to do, what not to do?
Lauryn: Not as much specific relationship advice, but there are things just for the wedding planning process that I’ve learned that I feel like can make it a lot easier.
Frank: Okay.
Lauryn: First of all, a lot of times when I suddenly have a bride start talking to me about certain things or getting concerned about something or just kind of having a little bit of a mini meltdown, I know and with out fail within two days she tells me, “Well, it was really, because the groom looked at the budget.” So a lot of times, don’t worry if you get into a fight about something like the budget before the wedding.
Also, it’s not uncommon that brides and groom fight more than normal during their engagement time period. That’s normal. Both parties are a little bit stressed out with the wedding planning, they’re starting to have conversations about things like guest lists, mother-in-laws, things like that, they’ve never had. And people are just getting a little bit anxious, I think, about getting married, so don’t be concerned and be like, “Oh, my gosh, me and my fiancé are fighting more than we ever have.” That’s normal. I hear that from a lot of my clients, so that does tend to happen. But also you just want to make sure that when you’re planning the wedding that you’re not forgetting why the wedding is happening.
Yes, we want to make sure that everything’s perfect, that all the details come together, but also just remember what the purpose for the wedding is. What the end result is and also just keep your groom in mind and for the brides out there, keep your groom in mind on certain things.
I normally at that first meeting, I normally sit down if the groom’s there I say, “What’s the one most important thing to you about this day?”
Dr. Gayle: That’s good.
Lauryn: If you’re smart, he says, “That my bride is happy.” Sometimes he has something else to say. And then, if he’s not there I ask the bride, “What do you want to do to make sure that the groom is involved, to make sure that the groom is represented here?”
I always say, “Don’t forget about your significant other during the wedding planning process,” and just relax and don’t worry when things come up. It’s normal and that happens throughout the planning process, but it’s hopefully for end results.
Frank: Do you ever find yourself making divorce predictions within the year?
Lauryn: No.
Frank: Okay.
Lauryn: No, not at all. Sometimes going through the planning–I really don’t judge other people’s relationships based on the planning process. I really don’t. Every now and then you start to notice things, like maybe there’s a little bit of a communication breakdown between the couple that comes out through the wedding planning process, because the groom’s constantly emailing, asking questions that you’ve already told the bride the answer, so clearly there’s some sort of lapse in communication.
But, no you never know what makes people go together, so I try not to make any divorce predictions, because I hope all my couples have really long marriages and hopefully they’re only a one-time client.
Frank: Yeah, yeah.
Lauryn: They’ll refer me other friends but hopefully they’re a one-time client for the wedding process. I have had brides call me and I’ve planned their bridal showers. I’ve helped them get ready for even baby preparations and or toying around with adding this new portion on to our company where we help prep for the baby in terms of the baby shower and also the registering. Because, once again, baby planning, I think is a whole other ball game out there.
And then, also we do engagements or proposal planning as well.
Frank: Okay.
Lauryn: We’ve had grooms come to us before they even get engaged and say–hey brides are expecting more and more these days. Going to dinner down the street and proposing at desert doesn’t quite cut it with a lot of brides these days. They want creative, they want different, they want magical and so a lot of times we work to help make that happen.
We’re girls, we know what other women are looking for and we find out from the groom different things about their girlfriend who they’re about to propose to that can make it personal or what she would want. And then we can help plan a proposal.
Frank: Now, I’ve been married twice.
Lauryn: Okay.
Frank: I’m married now, four kids. At neither point did I–Oh God, Gayle would love to chime in on this. She’d love to get me. At neither point did I do some lavish engagement. I mean, it wasn’t anything–get down on one knee. I just simply asked her or she told me that she would like to get married, what do you–
Lauryn: You waited too long. That’s what that means.
Frank: Okay, that’s what that means. How do you deal with that as just a perspective and attitude where the guy says look, “It’s just not that kind of party as far as I’m concerned. We want to get married, let’s get married. I don’t want to do a big ceremony in terms of a pre-ceremony–a ceremony around getting engaged.
Lauryn: It doesn’t have to be jet off to Paris for this lavish engagement. It can be something more simple, even like going on a picnic and we set up a picnic. It’s just something to make it a little bit more special. But if this is truly the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with I’m just of the mindset that it doesn’t take that much of effort to just make it a little bit more special, not to rain on your parade or your engagement.
And sometimes the bride might not care, but I think that everyone wants to feel like they’re extra special, wants to feel like somebody did something just a little extra special for them.
So as I said, it doesn’t have to be this incredible lavish thing, but just something–one of my clients, they met in middle school and then they dated in middle school, meaning they went over to each other’s house after school or had a drink in the cafeteria together, milk.
Frank: Some hot chocolate.
Lauryn: Hot chocolate, yeah. But then they went to separate high schools and they fell out of touch and then their first day of college, she was sitting in the courtyard of the dorms and he was walking by and said, “Oh my gosh, is that so and so,” and went up to her and they started talking and reconnected and started dating again after not dating in high school. And then got engaged at the end of college and he did it by saying that he had to go pick up his cousin, I think, nephew or cousin from the middle school that they went to. And so they went to the middle school and they’re walking through the halls and she actually started being like, “Oh, that was our locker, that was the classroom we met in,” and he played dumb.
Dr. Gayle: A love story.
Lauryn: And he was like, “Yeah. Oh that was the classroom we met in? Really? I don’t remember it. Let’s go in there,” so then he went and proposed in there. It didn’t cost anything, it didn’t take a whole lot of planning, but was it just so special and so cute and just thought out and it made her feel really special. Just going a little bit, a little bit outside the box and making it–to them that was very personal.
Frank: Got it.
Lauryn: I think that you just want to show her how much you appreciate her. And they are going to do that for the rest of your life, maybe not as dramatic and not all the time, but just put her first sometimes.
Frank: Have you ever seen a guy go all out and the woman say, “Nope, I am not interested in marrying you?”
Lauryn: No, I haven’t heard of that happening either, because normally they wouldn’t hire me for the wedding planner part, if that happened. But no, I haven’t with the proposal had that happen either. Normally when a man is going to propose to the woman, they are pretty certain that she’s going to say yes. So no, I have not had that happen and I would be very sad if that ever did.
Frank: You got a good story for us? One of those bridezilla or groomzilla or just funny stories to close us out?
Lauryn: You know, I have to say that I know this isn’t funny, I have not had a bridezilla. I think at every point a bride becomes “A little bit of a bridezilla,” but–
Dr. Gayle: You’re so kind.
Lauryn: This is just a new experience for them. They’re emotional, but I will tell you, I won’t leave you completely hanging. I will tell you that now I know of event planners who are putting a bride and other vendors–not just planners–who are putting a bridezilla clause in their contract.
Dr. Gayle: Oh, wow. What is that like?
Lauryn: Some contracts just say, which is true, this is–we only take a certain number of clients a year, so when I’m sitting down with a client you’re interviewing me, but I’m also interviewing you. I’m making sure that we are both a good fit for each other. So, in the contracts a lot of times it will just say, “This is a mutual contract, so just like you expect something from us, we expect certain things from you in terms of attitude, in terms of responsiveness to emails, in terms of getting the things done that we task for you to get done so that we can do our job.” But I’ve heard of lately, specific planners or vendors that the clause actually says in the contract, “Bridezilla clause–”
Dr. Gayle: Wow.
Lauryn: And it pretty much says, “If you are a bridezilla, if you start lashing out at your vendors or treating your vendors poorly,” we do have the right to terminate the contract. And as I said, I haven’t run into this horrendous-type bridezilla, but it does exist; either because people’s emotions just get the best of them or just because some people just like drama.
Frank: Okay.
Lauryn: Clearly the brides that go on the show “Bridezillas,” they want to be a bridezilla. I think they step off to be a bridezilla.
Dr. Gayle: Right.
Lauryn: So, I just think it’s funny that that term has really grabbed on and to the point where vendors are putting it in their contracts.
Frank: You’ve been listening to Frank Relationships and we’ve been talking with wedding and event planner, Lauryn Prattes of Table Six Productions in Washington, D.C. Please, one more time, tell us how we can reach you and use your services.
Lauryn: Well, please start by checking out our website. It’s table6productions.com and table and it’s the number six, it’s not spelled out, productions.com. It’s a really fun website. There’s lots of pictures, different style weddings that we’ve done. You can hear all about our story, a file on each of us planners and then you can also call me on my office, which is 703-787-8270 or send me an email, say, “Hello” at lauryn@table6productions.com and my name is Lauryn; L-a-u-r-y-n.
Frank: Along today’s–
Lauryn: I’d love to hear from you.
Frank: Alright. Along today’s journey we’ve discussed fee structures, why should a bride consider hiring a wedding planner and the services that wedding planners offer. I hope you’ve had as much fun as I’ve had talking with Lauryn Prattes of Table6productions in Washington, D.C. about wedding planning.
As always, it’s my wish for you to walk away from this conversation with a heaping helping of useful information, that will help you create a relationship that’s as loving and accepting as possible. Let us know what you thought of today’s show at facebook/relationshipflove, on twitter at @mrfranklove or at franklove.com. Until next time, keep rising, This is Frank Love.
