There is a lot that goes into throwing a party, and when it comes to orchestrating a wedding day, it can be more than you expect. Florals have to be brought in, tables and linens have to be rented, lighting needs to be set up, drinks and food are catered, the cake comes from a baker, and more. 

Every big and small detail of a wedding day comes from a different vendor, all set to arrive at different times. 

It can feel overwhelming and confusing on where to even begin, which is why we have such a heart for planning and helping couples throw a party they’ve dreamed of, and why we offer different wedding planning packages to fit different needs. 

Wedding Event Management (aka Month of Planning) is our very base package – for those who feel confident in planning, finding and booking vendors, but need someone to help manage everyone on the day of the wedding. We work with you 2 months out from your event date and manage the vendors you’ve booked to put together the day you’ve designed. 

Our Partial Wedding Planning package is a little more involved, starting at 6-8 months out. This is more for the person who has a Pinterest board of all their ideas, but needs help finding and managing the vendors to make those details and design come together. 

And finally, our Full Wedding Planning package is our most involved planning package, starting 12 months out from the event day, and we oversee *everything*. This is for the couple with time-consuming jobs, who maybe don’t live in Wilmington, and don’t have the time (patience or interest!) to find vendors, manage a budget, and be in charge of every little detail. They want a say on the big picture, but are okay with someone else narrowing down the options and managing logistics. 

It can be difficult in the beginning to judge just how much you’re willing to take on yourself and sometimes you get into the trenches and realize you need more help than you thought, so let’s break it down if partial or full wedding planning would be the best fit for you. 

The Key Differences 

Vendor Management: Design Vendors vs. All of Them

In partial planning, we take on the responsibility of the three most impactful design vendors depending on the final design. For example, this could mean we manage the lighting, draping, rentals, florals, or other. We typically choose the vendors that need to be coordinated with each other and leave the stand-alone vendors to you – like a DJ, the photographer, makeup artists, hair stylists, etc.

Since we are more involved with the design vendors, we will join you at the rental showrooms and help you pick out statement pieces, glassware, silverware, linens, tables, chairs, and more. If you’re someone who loves the aesthetic of things, you will absolutely love these meetings. 

For full planning, we are in charge of communicating and coordinating every vendor and rental involved in your day. We do the research based on your needs and your budget and will present you with 2-3 options of every type of vendor and rental needed for your day and let you pick your team and design from there.

Budget Management

Managing an event’s budget, making sure you stay on it, deciding how much of your budget goes where, and comparing prices of all the vendors and venues can feel like a full time job – it’s *literally* our full time job! 

In full planning, we take over as much as you want. We’ve helped couples from the very start, choosing venues and dates because that can be an overwhelming process in itself with a lot of things to consider.

Your venue has a major impact on your budget, and we know what questions to ask, have previous experience with most of the venues in our area, know what to look for when thinking about your specific event, and what some venues include (or don’t) like rentals, required vendors, and more. 

We want to maximize your budget, so we make sure your venue hits the sweet spot of being exactly what you need without spending more than you want. 

We build your vendor team with your budget in mind and disperse it according to your priorities. If you want iconic floral statements, then the florist will be a priority vendor in the budget. Same with music and a DJ or band, or food and a caterer. 

For partial planning, we help advise on the budget, but the bulk of the responsibility is on you. Of course, we help manage the budget for three chosen vendors but our view is limited to just them.

How Often We Talk and The Timeline

We have a 12-month personalized monthly checklist for the full planning clients. We plan meetings and tastings in advance around your schedule, so if you are an accountant and your busy season is spring, we will avoid planning major decisions during that time and plan them for either before or after to avoid extra stress. 

For partial planning, we plan 6-8 months out, so we have a tighter timeline but plenty necessary for the limited vendors we’ll be managing. 

For both, we check in monthly (starting at either 12 or 6-8 months) to make sure everything is on schedule and to prevent an overwhelming build-up of tasks. 

Who is Partial Wedding Planning Best For? 

Partial planning is for the couple who still wants to be involved and in charge of the overall day, but just needs some support to visually make it all come together. They have a gorgeous pinterest board they have been obsessing over but doesn’t know where to even begin to start bringing this vision to life. These couples can handle the key vendors such as, Catering, DJ, Hair and Makeup, but the design vendors like Florist, Rentals, Lighting.. SEND HELP! Our Partial Planning Package, assists clients with up to 3 vendors, curates a custom design deck and assists with managing the wedding budget.

We’ve even had some clients upgrade from Event Management to Partial Planning because they realized that throwing an event was more than they bargained for and they needed more help than originally thought. That’s totally an option, as long as we have enough time to find and book your vendors! 

Who is Full Wedding Planning best for? 

This is for the couple who wants to be involved, but don’t want to have to do the scouring and the research to find vendors that they want to work with or trying to stay on top of the never ending task lists – nothing wrong with wanting to spend time on celebrating your engagement season or focusing on other things in your personal life or career! 

You still want a wedding day that reflects who you are, but also see the value in letting someone else help you along the way. You want the help from start to finish and want the brunt of the work to be taken on by your wedding planning team.

Ready to get started designing your dream wedding day?

Whether you are interested in Partial Planning, Full Planning, or simply Event Management, Brittanie Raquel Events is still excited to make your event iconic! We’re here to help talk through your vision and inspiration and find the right planning package for you – click here to get this party started!