What to expect when booking me as your Wedding Stylist
Hi there, my name is Sam and I am the face behind Willow and Rust. As a stylist I get to work on all kinds of different weddings with many different people, creating beautiful unique weddings that couples and guests alike will love. But what exactly can you expect if you choose to work with me? What is involved and how do I go about creating your dream day? Well grab a coffee, or for those of you that know me, a hot chocolate, and have a read!
'That reaction when a couple sees the venue transformed into their vision is one of the most rewarding things, it's what makes me want to keep doing this.'
Initial call
After your initial enquiry I will be in touch to arrange a call. This can be with both of you or just one of you and can be done via Zoom or simply over the phone.
The initial call is when we can find out a little more about each other, you can tell me about your plans for your day and your ideas and dreams and in return I can tell you how I can help and what I can offer to help make your day as beautiful and stress free as possible.
I will ask you things like, how many guests you have, what other suppliers you have on board, if you have a colour scheme or style in mind, what spaces you will be using. For example if your ceremony is at the same venue will it be in the same space as your reception or do you have two completely different and separate spaces that will need styling.
Once we have had a good chat got to know each other a little and exchanged all of the relevant info, I will then start and put this all together into a proposal document.
Proposal
Your proposal document brings together the things we have talked about, your likes, dislikes, must haves for your day. It includes some initial ideas and inspiration to bring our conversation to life, nothing is set in stone at this point, it’s more to make sure that I understood the look you are wanting to go for.
It also includes a break down of everything I offer and everything I have included in the quotation. On the quotation page, there will be a price for everything listed and a breakdown of what the payments would look like. Again the price is not set in stone, and will differ depending on of you add or take things away along the journey.
There is also a contract page in the proposal, which you will sign if you decide to go ahead.
I will send the proposal to you via email no more than 5 working days after our initial call. You are then free to look over it at your leisure and let me know your thoughts and if you have any questions.
Booking
If you receive your proposal and love it, which of course I hope you do, we then need to get you booked in. I will send you an invoice and payment schedule, this will include a fully refundable damage deposit which you can pay at any point before the day itself and this will be refunded once everything has been collected and checked. You will then pay the initial payment amount into my account, sign the contract page in line with my Terms and Conditions which will have been sent to you along with your proposal. Once I have received the payment and the signed contract page you are then booked in!
Timelines for the next stages will vary depending on how long there is between booking and your wedding. If we start planning too early momentum can be lost, or you could change your mind about certain elements of your day the colour scheme for example. Plus I obviously have other weddings booked in and if I start working on one too early it can get confusing. So if for example you book me a year in advance I would be looking to start the detailed planning around 6 months prior to your day.
Photo: Helen Rose
Venue visit
The first stage of planning is a venue visit. I meet with you both at your venue and we walk through the day, look at the spaces you will be using. We can then discuss ideas, elements you might like to include, any logistical implications and come up with a plan together. I will take photographs and notes so I have a diary of what we have spoken about.
Planning and concept
Next is the planning and concept stage. Taking into consideration all that we have talked about, any inspiration pictures and ideas you have sent me and my notes from our venue visit. I will then out together a concept document, this shows the colour scheme, mood, style and look for your day. There will be an overview concept board which encapsulates the whole day and then there will be other pages where I break it down into a little more detail, for example a page for your ceremony area and how that might look and feel, or a page showing ideas for your table décor.
This may go back and forth a couple of times if say there are things you are not so keen on or things you would like to add. But once this document is complete this forms the basis for the look and feel of your day.
Mock-ups
This is a stage that I offer but not all couples are bothered and are happy to leave the final look as a surprise on the day. Whilst other couples like to be given an idea of how certain elements like their tables will look.
If this is something you would like then closer to the day I will put together a rough mock-up of the design and send you some photographs, this will hopefully then put your minds at ease that your day is in good hands and will look like it does in your head. Obviously if there are aspects that don’t then we can tweak at this point to make sure everything is perfect.
Final checklist
A couple of weeks out I will send over a checklist of all the elements we have talked about including amounts and colours. This way you can take a look and make sure that everything is there and correct and there is nothing we have forgotten. This will then be the list I use to pack everything the day before and check everything back in afterwards.
Set-up day
Set up days and times vary depending on the venue but this will usually be either the day before or the morning of the wedding. I will arrive at the agreed time along with everything I need to complete the set-up. I will then make sure everything is ready and as we have discussed before I leave. If one of you is there I will check-in with you before I go, if not I will go through everything with the venue co-ordinator, especially if items need moving from one space to another mid wedding, for example the ceremony backdrop needs to be moved to the reception room after the ceremony. That way I can ensure as much as possible that everything is as it should be.
Take down
Usually the morning after, again depending on the venue, I will return to collect everything. This will then be checked when I get home and your damage deposit refunded.
'Thank you for all your support and guidance, we are thrilled that you were part of our wedding. You really added that special touch that we knew was lacking but couldn't put our fingers on' -James and Laura
Follow up
This one is for you. I love to hear how couples days have gone and make sure you loved how everything looked, if you can send me a message or even leave me a review after your day, it is always much appreciated. I also always ask if couples mind sending me some photos when you get your gallery back from your photographer as it’s great to have professional shots of real weddings to show other couples!
Photos: EKR Pictures, Christopher Waud, Gail Secker, Emily Robinson
If you would love me as your wedding stylist and want to know more, then you can head over to the contact page on my website and fill in the enquiry form, send me an email or just give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!