A&BE

Are you considering our Gold Package, but want more information? We’ve noticed at Arbor and Bloom Events that our day-of coordination service has been our most popular choice among clients, so we decided to break things down for you!

The first thing you should know is that with the Gold Package, the majority of our involvement begins eight weeks out from your wedding day. But don’t worry – we can be a resource to you throughout the whole process. Here are some of the ways we can help:
 

• Immediately after booking, you’ll receive a welcome packet full of information. This includes:
  • A list of our favorite local vendors 
  • Some crucial dos and don’ts for planning your wedding
  • A suggested budget breakdown
  • A general timeline and to-do list to help you out along the way
  • And more! 
• We can assist you with contract review. Send us contracts from the vendors you’re thinking of booking, and we’ll look them over to ensure you’re getting everything you need. It also helps us to know what the venue and other vendors are expecting from you on the day of the wedding, allowing us to be fully prepared. 
• Once the contracts are signed, A&BE will also help you get your payments to them on time (as well as assist with any possible gratuities, generally distributed at the end of the reception).
• We’ll be available to answer any additional questions you may have along the way!

So, why do we begin working with you eight weeks out? 

With this being a day-of coordination package, eight weeks out may seem unnecessary. But those weeks are actually vital to the planning process. At the eight week mark, we’ll send you an extensive questionnaire to learn all about the wedding you and your family have worked so hard to create. Immediately upon receiving that information, A&BE will form the first draft of your day-of schedule. This allows us to see if any important information is missing, and will help us ask the right questions about next steps to make sure no box goes unchecked. We’ll also meet with you to make sure we understand every detail you have planned. If we don’t know about it, we can’t execute it properly for you. 

Once we both believe the schedule is good to go, we’ll distribute the final draft to all of your vendors. This helps us confirm times for important things like arrival and set up times, photo schedules, hair & make up and more. Most importantly, it’ll ensure that everyone has the exact same information, leaving little room for error. 

When all that is finished, we’d love to attend a venue visit with you. This way, we can fully understand how you’re envisioning the space – plus, it gives us another opportunity to go through the details of your big day. 

A&BE will also be at your ceremony rehearsal. Whether or not this is your Officiant’s first wedding, we’ll be there to offer assistance. Additionally, we take this opportunity to hand out personalized schedules to all bridal party members and immediate family. These schedules might include things like hair and makeup times, when the party needs to be ready, when they get lunch, etc. 

Finally, on the big day of your wedding, A&BE will arrive at the venue typically as early as the venue will let us. At that point, we begin any setup or decor placement that won’t be done by the venue or another vendor. We provide all day access to you, as well as an event “emergency kit” for you to use if needed. Throughout the day we also make sure your hair and makeup, photo, delivery, and set up times are on schedule. If a vendor is late, even by ten minutes, we reach out to them immediately to ensure everything is going forward as planned. Once we get closer to the main event, we make sure the room is ready for guests and the bridal party is tucked away. 

During the actual ceremony, we’ll be there to open the door and send you (and your bridal party) down the aisle. We can assist whoever is in charge of music, and, after the ceremony is over, we’ll help with any major decor or room changes that need to happen. During the cocktail hour, we’re around to assist the photographer and, of course, help out with any important space changes.

A&BE’s Gold Package services continue into the reception as well! We’ll help with important moments like:

• Room entrances and welcome speeches
• Coordination with the catering team to ensure food is ready to go in a timely fashion
• Wedding toasts
• Cake cutting
• Any traditional dances you’d like to include

Once the evening is wrapping up, we can assist you with any type of special send-off you had in mind. We’ll stick around to help pack up any decor you might have, and make sure your gifts and cards are loaded into a specific room or predesignated family vehicle. 

If this sounds like exactly the kind of help you’re looking for, reach out to set up your free 30 minute consultation. During this time we’ll get to know each other and see if A&BE’s services match your needs. While we’re confident we’d be a good fit, it’s always smart to chat with us directly one-on-one. We often book weddings a year out, but anywhere from 6-18 months before is typical as well. Regardless, we recommend getting in contact with us as soon as possible. (In time sensitive situations, we can potentially book as close to one month out if needed.)

Please know that Arbor and Bloom Events will never pressure you to commit to a package during the initial consultation. After we talk, you’ll be sent a full breakdown of the services we’ve decided fit your needs, along with a contract for you to look over. If you do decide to hire us (and we hope you do!), you’ll send us the signed contract and initial deposit, and we’ll get started. 🙂 

There are several different packages to choose from with Arbor and Bloom Events. This is the most popular choice, but something else might be a better fit for you! Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions you may have about our Platinum or Diamond packages.

So, you just got engaged! You’re probably thinking, “I’m so excited!”  (or, “I’m so overwhelmed!”). Wedding planning is exciting for some and daunting for others, but one thing we can all agree on is needing to find the best place to start.

Written by: Megan Adams & Julia Strange

What is step one? Is it the venue? Is it a Pinterest board? Is it buying every wedding related magazine you can find and scouring them for inspiration? Okay, here’s the real step one – the foundation upon which all of your wedding planning will be based. It is your budget.

Find out where your money is coming from to pay for your special day. Weddings can be expensive (did you know the national average spent is $34k?!). What are some common options? Are you and your fiancée paying for it completely out of your own pocket? Great! Sit down and decide how much money you can commit. Are your parents funding the big day? Fantastic! Find out exactly what they are committing, and decide if you’re planning to chip in as well. Do you have a benefactor who’s not setting a limit? Amazing! Just make sure you know where you want to draw the line.

Once your number is established, plug your budget into a formula that will help you know exactly how much to spend in each area. Here’s one example of a budget breakdown:

Next (and this is important) – be realistic. Make your guest list. If you have a tight budget, it’s likely that you won’t be able to feed 300 people. You’ll either have to make some hard cuts to your guest list, or find more money to ensure everyone can attend. Then, pick what is most important to you. Do you love cake? Are you a flower queen and want to spend more on turning your space into a garden? Prioritize the areas closest to your heart, but make sure you cut elsewhere to make it work!

Once you have a financial plan and have laid down the groundwork, you can finally do some dreaming. Think about what your ideal day would feature. Where do you picture yourself saying “I Do”? Are you feeling traditional, industrial, or rustic? What’s your style? Make sure you gather all of your ideas in one place (I recommend pinning to a board on Pinterest). Just be aware that your ideas are absolutely going to evolve as you move through the process.

This is also a great time to start looking for a wedding planner. Begin to reach out to a few of them and see who you click with on a personal and aesthetic level. Finding the right planner to help you through out the process can take your ideas and eleveate them so something better than you imagined. Not to mention take the stress out of the process.

Next step is finding a venue. I recommend visiting at least three at the beginning of your search. In fact, for this, I would apply the Goldielocks philosophy: try one at the high end of your budget (which would probably be all-inclusive), one in your mid-range, and one on the low end (probably more DIY). Doing this will help you (and your planner) get a clearer idea about exactly what type of venue will best fit your needs, even if none of those venues are the one for you. You will now be better prepaired to know what you need. Once you have something booked with a date, you’ll be ready to move on to the remaining vendors on your list!

Who should you book first? Personally, I would start looking for the right photographer. Find a photo and editing style you love, and then research photographers with that style in your price range. Keep in mind that your photographer should be an investment. Your photos are likely the only thing you will keep after to remember the big day. We all have a friend who’s a photographer and will do it for less, but you’ll likely regret it if you hate your photos in 10 years.

The next one will probably surprise you, but please book your favorite hair and makeup artists as soon as possible! It might not seem urgent, but the best ones (and probably the ones you like the most) tend to book up quickly.

After that, look back to your venue. Will it have a caterer & bar on site? If not, this is a good point to begin looking. Again, depending on your budget, you should talk to a high, mid, and low-end caterer. Some caterers and bar services are going to be more full-service than others. Your low-end caterers are likely not going to stick around to clear the tables. Make the decision on what level of service you are most interested in, then pick your favorite.

You can also start the search at this point for a great DJ or band. The biggest thing to pay attention to is whether or not they’ll have all of the equipment needed for both the ceremony and the reception. Also be sure to ask questions about how they would like the music selections given to them.  It’s important to find a DJ with strong communication skills that will reply if you have questions as you move forward. Something additional to note – a good DJ should NEVER use Wi-Fi (only occasionally for requests).

Finally, don’t forget about the flowers! Decide what floral styles you love and meet with a few of your favorite florists. Your planner should be able to give you a few options in each design and price category.

At this point in the process, it might also be a good time to hone in on other details that make up your overall aesthetic. This means taking care of any additional décor or rental items, cake, officiant, photo booth, as well as paper goods like save the dates and invites.

This is a great start to kick off your wedding planning experience. If you have already checked all of these boxes and hired the vendors, then all you need to do is focus on the details which frankly deserves it’s own blog! Let us know if you would like to see a details breakdown!

It seems that at the end of the evening for many of the weddings that I coordinate, I am unfortunately spending a lot of time assisting the catering, bar, or venue staff by throwing away hundreds of plastic/Styrofoam plates and even more single-use plastic cups. Further, at the end of the night, we are throwing away dozens of floral arrangements and single-use candles. This is not uncommon! It happens every weekend at every venue around the Indianapolis area and beyond. These nights, while the happy couple and their friends and family dance the night away, I am left feeling like there HAS to be another way. 

While the climate and reducing waste are a large concern for many, there doesn’t seem to be any room for it in the wedding event industry. At the very least, oftentimes it just seems like no one takes a few moments to try to easily minimize the waste. 

When we think of “zero waste”, we tend to think of ZERO being an impossible goal, and it doesn’t occur to many couples to even consider it during planning. After all, this is your special day! We certainly want the focus to be you and the life you have chosen together, but at A&BE we think you can have it all – planning the wedding of your dreams while also reducing your waste. Here it is useful to break this idea down to see how easy it can be to focus on key items where you can reduce your footprint, then backtrack to show how we can all get closer to zero waste. 

First, let’s start with what I consider to be MOST important opportunity to reduce – taking advantage of renting reusable items from vendors/locations. I understand that the decision to use disposables is normally made for budgetary reasons, and I certainly respect that, BUT it is incredibly simple to cut out single-use cups, plates, silverware, and napkins. If your budget allows for it, the first thing you should do is work with your caterer to have real, reusable dinner wear. If your caterer does not offer the option to rent through them, you can always work directly with a local rental company like A Classic Party Rental to get your items. They can also supply many of your decor items like table cloths, runners, chargers, and more! I do understand that these companies use plastic in the storage and transpiration of these items, so it is not a perfect solution, but it will save 300+ plastic plates and even more cups from the landfill. Remember we are focusing on reducing, and not a perfect zero. 

Now, I hear you. I know what your venue is going to say when you come to them with these wonderful ideas. They are going to tell you that at a certain point in the evening, they are going to switch to plastic because they cannot have broken glass on a dance floor. And they are right – if you have ever danced on a sticky wedding dancefloor, you know that cups get dropped often. Then as the evening goes on people tend to forget or lose their drinks, and in an open bar situation, they will just head to the bar for another drink. I can’t tell you how many full drinks I have dumped out. While I have no perfect solution for this, the best option I know of is to turn your wedding favor into a reusable plastic cup. Provide the bar with couple-branded plastic cups in a few colors to hand out to your guests at the end of the night, the colors will help them find their cups again!  This also incentives them to keep the cups and maybe even take them home – which means one less item being thrown away.

Paper is easy! Research your printing vendor and find out if they are using sustainably-sourced paper. When you order, reduce the number of pieces if you can – which does not only reduce waste but is also a big money saver.  Printing costs are not cheap! Wedding websites can help convey any extra information – in this digital age, there is no reason to have entire information packets printed. Then recycle any excess you have after mailing. Some printers even carry seeded paper; this is a textured paper that comes with flower seeds embedded in it. After use, you can plant the paper and at least some of the seeds will sprout! 

Food is also an easy area to reduce your waste! In Indianapolis, any unserved food can be taken to Second Helpings. This is a wonderful, local nonprofit with a passionate mission: “Since 1998, Second Helpings has accepted donated perishable and overstocked food to prepare nutritious meals for thousands of hungry children and adults every day, and distributes them free of charge through local social service agencies in Greater Indianapolis. Second Helpings also trains unemployed and underemployed adults for meaningful careers in the culinary industry.” Please contact your venue or caterer to see if they are able to assist, otherwise, you or a family member can drop the food off on your own. 

There is a similar organization for unwanted florals; Random Acts of Flowers. Here is a statement from their website: “Random Acts of Flowers receives donated flowers from the community and repurposes them into new bouquets for individuals in healthcare facilities. Random Acts of Flowers improves the emotional health and well-being of individuals in health care facilities by delivering recycled flowers, encouragement and personal moments of kindness.” Typically, you can work with your venue or florist to make sure they are scheduled to pick up your flowers after your event. 

It is so exciting when you begin planning your wedding to start shopping for all the things you will need! BUT WAIT! You don’t need to own all those items. What will you do with them after your wedding? If you are going to buy some items make sure that they are one of two things: A) Reusable as home décor, or B) Easy to resell online. There are countless Facebook pages dedicated to this in Indianapolis, and not only is this a great way to offload items after the wedding, but it is also a great way to find some low-cost items second hand that you can make use of for your own wedding or event. But I think what is most effective is rentals, as covered above. These are items that are going to be used repeatedly throughout their lifetime and between your venue, A Classic, and other rental & vintage vendors, you can find nearly everything you could possibly need. And you know it will have many lives to come. 

Finally, there’s the opportunity to make use of personal items. Some individuals who are incredibly passionate about zero waste will buy a second-hand dress online or from a vintage store. Others will breakdown their mother’s dresses and redesign them. These are all great options, and for the groom, there are many rental options as well as investing that money into a suit or tux you will use over and over again. When it comes to jewelry you might choose to purchase vintage jewelry or use a family heirloom. 

There are definitely more details to be considered as you push towards a “zero-waste” wedding but I think this is a good start. There are many ways to tie the knot with just a little less waste. Your guests would likely never know the differences, and long term everyone will almost certainly appreciate the effort.  

Written by: Jonah Otto & Megan Adams

If you are reading a blog about wedding planning, you’re probably pretty far into thinking about wedding prep yourself. And if that’s the case, it’s highly likely that you feel like your drowning in a sea of wedding-specific terminology and lingo. So much so that it can be difficult to tell the difference between what you need and what you don’t to execute your perfect day.

Nowhere is this more evident than in understanding the differences between a day-of coordinator (an all-around wedding day specialist, such as A&BE) and a venue coordinator (a staff member from your wedding/reception venue that exclusively works on events held at the venue).

While one or both could play a major role in your wedding day, you can generally expect different attention and services from each of them. Broadly speaking, in most cases a day-of coordinator will provide you with much more hands on service and individualized assistance than a venue coordinator has the capacity to do, resulting in a less stressful experience for you and your partner.

To help you out in determining exactly what you need for your big day, we have outlined the top 5 differences between a day-of coordinator and a venue coordinator.

Disclaimer: We would like to note that these differences are not universal for all venue coordinators and day-of coordinators – some provide more assistance and services than others. However, in our experience of working with countless couples, these differencesare crutial to your overall day. Almost no venue coordinator provides all of the services that day-of coordinators, like A&BE, can provide for your wedding experience.

1. At Arbor and Bloom Events we closely plan & coordinate the deliveries of your vendors, while most venue coordinators simply track the delivery times.

We are meticulous in making sure that the delivery schedule of you vendors actually makes sense! For example, if you’ve chosen to decorate your cake display with carefully chosen elements from your
florist, it’s important that the cake is delivered and ready before the florist arrives with your decorations. Without a day-of coordinator like A&BE, you’d be left to cross your fingers that it all works out!

2. A day-of coordinator controls all of the audio and visual aspects of the wedding ceremony while many venues don’t provide this service at all.

One of the last things that you could want during the most important ceremony of your life is for the wrong song to come on at the wrong time or for the timing of other multimedia cues to be off. Walking down the aisle is not the time for distractions! A&BE ensures that this does not happen by thoroughly planning before and during the rehearsal, then maintaining calm focus during the ceremony itself. With us, each member or your bridal party will know where to be and when to be there. You don’t have to worry!

3. Most venues are not responsible for any decor set up at the venue. Unless you want to task your family members to help with your big day you will likely need a day-of coordinator to help set up and arrange your vision.

In fact, some day-of coordinators won’t go to this length either. Here, A&BE is truly unique! We will arrive early during set up and will help with tables, linens, napkins, centerpieces, table settings, signage, and any other specialty tables you may need. No matter what planner you use please be sure to ask if they will help with this!

4. Not all venue coordinators will manage the reception schedule, but this an essential part of what the day-of coordinator brings to the table.

Many couples think that they can simply count on the venue coordinator or the DJ to be on top of this, but the truth is that you can’t make that assumption! Many venue coordinators won’t even be there when the reception starts and the DJ is often more focused on their playlist than your schedule. There are so many elements that need to go off without a hitch – the introduction of the bridal party, releasing tables for food, the special dances, the bouquet toss, your special send off, and so much more! The day-of coordinator sees to it that everything happens according to plan, and that you don’t have to give it a second thought.

5. When the reception is over, most venue coordinators will be long gone, but a good day-of coordinator will still be there, making sure that everything is picked up and packed away.

Picture it: you’ve spent the most memorable day of your life marrying your special person, eating a delicious dinner, enjoying beautiful desserts, and laughing and dancing with your closest family and friends. Now the reception is over and it’s time for you to run off to your honeymoon or join your night-owl friends in keeping the party going. But wait!!! Who is going to help clean up and make sure that you leave with everything that you brought? If you decided to work with a day-of coordinator like A&BE, you’ve got nothing to worry about! If not? Grab your dustpan and broom. Kidding, but seriously, you or a family member will have to gather everything you provided and return the rentals.

While these are the top differences, there are actually many more! All of them result in a day-of coordinator making your life easier, bringing you tremendous value, and allowing you to keep your focus on simply enjoying your wedding.

In short, a day of coordinator works with you before, during, and after your wedding to make sure that every single ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ is crossed. You can count on people like those at A&BE to know exactly what is supposed to happen, when it is supposed to happen, who is supposed to do it, and when they are supposed to do it. Most venue coordinators simply can’t offer you that kind of peace of mind.

While it might be easy to get the terminology mixed up, don’t be confused – they are NOT the same thing.

Have a taste for the timeless? Let’s talk about how Arbor & Bloom Events helped make this couple’s day both classic and beautiful!

All photos in this blog post were taken and supplied by Peter Gubernat Photography

At Arbor and Bloom Events, we believe that all weddings begin and end with the couple – that every detail should reflect the personalities and preferences of the two people at the center of it all. This couple loved classic lines, simple silhouettes, and clean and elegant colors. In this blogpost you will see how we focused our efforts around their taste for timeless touches throughout the entire process, helping to make their wedding the classic and beautiful day they had always wanted!

As with every couple we work with, it is our strategy to start with their desired location and use that as a foundation for the rest of the arrangements. This couple was very intentional and were clear that they wanted to celebrate their big day in an industrial building in Indianapolis with rustic, exposed brick. By the time they brought us onto their team, the couple had narrowed the choice down to two venues, but ultimately chose Canal 337, the more inclusive of the options, even offering onsite catering. Located in downtown Indianapolis, this building is actually a converted church and rests at the end of the flowing canal that winds its way through the heart of the Circle City, making it a truly breathtaking setting for such a special occasion!

Next the couple reached out to a renowned Chicago photographer they are fans of, Peter Gubernat , who specializes in circular exposure photos. His keen eye and expert touches are featured in this photo from their engagement shoot. They were so in love with his style the booked him immediately – a decision that certainly paid off!  With a growing portfolio of photographers that we’ve worked with, A&B will have no problem connecting you with the artist that will perfectly capture every special moment of your wedding.

Now let’s turn our attention to this dress! It is so structurally magnificent; the word “perfect” really doesn’t feel like a stretch!  In a world of trends, of lace and plunging neck lines, this classic silhouette stands out in the most beautiful way. Coming from one of A&BE’s now preferred dress contacts, Marie Gabriel Couture Bridal, it’s really no surprise that this dress is such a stunner!

While we are talking about this fabulous dress, I also want to take a moment to mention these well-fitted tuxes from The Black Tux. They are so easy to work with, making sure you get the perfect look and fit mailed right to your door. Grooms, as your planner, we can get you and your boys a great discount! Who doesn’t like a discount?

Even their rings are gorgeously simple – just a single solitaire ring that doesn’t need any additional details to turn heads.

Details, Details, Details!

Again, the wedding pair went for elegant classic lines in this full invitation set from Minted. As any good planner should, we can score you a brilliant discount here as well!

We went with these classic black dresses for our bridesmaids from the convenient website Brideside. The flowers are from one of my all-time favorite local, family-owned flower shops, George Thomas Florist. We went with all white and greenery in this classic bouquet shape and size. I love this shop because they have the skill to make exactly what you ask for and the customer-minded focus to offer bulk prices. As one of our preferred vendors, the local florist never fails to please!

If you want a straightforward, easy cake while still offering variety to your guests, a simple cut-cake and individual desserts are the way to go! This brilliant cutting cake came from The Flying Cupcake (fun fact: they also specialize in vegan and gluten free cakes for anyone in search of truly full-service baked goods!). Also, cake flowers are such a special way to dress up the cake and I am personally a huge fan of a delicate ranunculus to make your cake a little extra special. With great relationships with several local bakeries, we are sure to find the right match for your sweet tooth!.

We went with simple neutrals for the table linens, supplying our own gold charges to save money. The florist provided the candles and greenery at each table. The ornate table numbers were arranged by the venue (a nice detail in that venue contract!). Every item on the table worked together to create an elegant, minimalist place-setting for the guests and the bridal party to enjoy their meal!

Wedding Hack Alert: Reuse your greenery from your ceremony for the head table at your reception – it saves you money and there is no reason to have two line items with on florist bill for the same exact thing!

The Flow of the Day!

Getting Ready

We started the day at the Ironworks Hotel to get ready. Due to a large conference in the city that weekend we were left to look further away for the perfect hotel and spot to get everyone ready. These suites were perfect with their vaulted ceilings and bright lighting for hair and makeup prep. Both hair and makeup were provided by the lovely Something Blue Stylists, yet another great vendor relationship.

Getting There!

To get downtown to the venue & for photos we worked with Antique Limousine of Indianapolis to get a trolley to transport our bridal party separately to the venue. Using a trolley for the bridal party was a subtle detail that really contributed to that classic feel that the couple was going for!

Time for Photos

Once we got both group down to the venue, it was time for touch-ups and our first look!

We jumped straight into taking photos near the venue, then hopped back on the trolley for some photo-ops in several marvelous spots around downtown Indianapolis!

Time for the Main Event

Then it was time for everything to come together for our beautiful ceremony on the second floor while the finishing touches were being applied to the reception hall below.

Having the reception just one floor below made for a casual and simple transition between the two biggest components of the day. It couldn’t have been easier!

Dinner was served plated, and each guest was served with generous portions of both beef & chicken – the in-house catering service really came through! Dinner was followed by cutting cake, the laughs and happy tears of the toasts, and, of course, first dances.

After first dances, we moved everyone back upstairs for the party portion of the evening! It was complete with mini-cupcakes and some late-night snacks to keep our guests fueled-up for dancing and also to balance out the beverages, if you know what I mean.

We ended the evening a touch early to beat the rain for our picturesque sparkler exit. Timeless, classic perfection achieved!  Be sure to contact Arbor and Bloom Events to secure your date if you’re feeling inspired – we can work together to make your day perfect, just like this one!