Last week I had the honor of being invited to co-host one installment of an Instagram Live series for Modern Luxury Weddings (South Florida and the Caribbean) called Planners to the Rescue with Carla Catoira, CEO and Founder of The Bridal Bazaar – Luxury Bridal Experience.
I’ve pretty much avoided going live for quite sometime, so what better opportunity than this to jump in to the IG Live world than this? There was no way I was missing the chance to connect with our followers and introduce ourselves in as real a way as we can during a pandemic to let you know that we’re here to help figure this hot mess out with regard to your wedding plans.
We received so many great questions from so many of you but we only had 30 minutes so I decided to address those unanswered questions, and recap on the questions we covered on the live feed here.
What About Menswear?
The same rules apply for tuxedos and suits that did for wedding dresses. You absolutely need to stay in touch with your retailer or designer to know if there are any delays related to this hardship. I highly recommend using smaller privately owned menswear boutiques in general, but especially for your wedding. In our experience, the big-box retailers almost never get it right. Our favorite is My Groom’s Room by Sartori Amici in Miami, FL. Owner, Sebastian Garcia, and his team are my go-to menswear shop because I can rely on them to be completely transparent while delivering a top-notch experience and look to our clients. When it comes to your wedding, it’s often best to shop small.
What About Makeup Trials?
Hair and Makeup trials are generally super important, however if you’re still set on getting married this year, please understand that it’s nearly impossible to execute 100% safe makeup application because makeup artists can’t be expected to purchase a whole new kit for each face. During your trial your artist can wear a mask, but they will need to resolve that they will have to waste more makeup than they typically would in an attempt to create your custom look by dishing out more product onto a sterile disposable tray as they avoid contaminating their kits. Imagine, some looks require 4-6 different shades of shadow, etc. to create the level of glam they’re known for. I reached out to our friend, Selena Aguilera, owner and lead makeup artist at, I Do Bridal Glam, to share her thoughts on performing this service in the near future. She was very straight forward in her response, “hire a professional, and secure them ASAP for your wedding day. By the time a trial is possible, the artist you want may already be booked for your wedding day. Send us photos without makeup, filters or weird angles and we can go from there”
Event Insurance?
Can you get event insurance after you’ve booked a vendor? ABSOLUTELY! It’s important that you review the policy with your agent to understand what is and isn’t covered. I recommend securing event insurance no later than 60 days before your wedding to cover issues that may arise prior to your wedding day. Event liability insurance can be purchased closer to the event date, sometimes just days before. Read more on Event Insurance.
What About “Adults Only” in the Invitation?
Couples are always looking for a way to express the things they need their guests to adhere to without being insulting or in poor taste and we get it! One of them is asking their guests to take a night off from parenting to have fun with the adults which can be extremely touchy for some cultures or individual families for their own reasons. However, the presence of children may not work for every wedding environment depending on the location and formality. Either way, I leave this type of sensitive wordplay to our fantastic team of stationers who never let us down. Check out the creative way our friends at On Paper expressed this request to the guests on a suite they created for one of our clients.
Humor is always the best way to make it clear that you want an adults-only celebration. I recommend reiterating that sentiment on your wedding website along with a lighthearted recommendation if you intend on having on-site or nearby childcare available. If a venue is on the water, that’s a reason that I believe shouldn’t require too much explanation but if it does, the wedding website is the place to drop those details off.
Where can we get the Drink Bombs?
Yes, I heard you loud and clear! My Drink Bomb was quite the hit during our IG live and for good reason, they’re fabulous! If you’re ready to try them for yourself or you would like to send someone a cute quarantine happy hour gift use the code: SHARI10 for 10% Off your purchase!
When is The Bridal Bazaar?
Great question! This luxury bridal experience will be back at Viscaya Museum and Gardens in November as long as we can safely gather by then. Sign up for our email newsletter to stay in the loop, and don’t worry, we send a max of two emails per month (if that).
Wishing you and your families good mental and physical health during all this craziness. If you have any additional questions, leave them in the comments or reach out directly, we’re happy to help.
Featured Image Credit: Tessa Maxine Photography
