What *exactly* do you need a Day-Of Coordinator for, how do you find a great one, and how much should you invest? Tune in, because I truly cannot keep a secret to save my life. Once upon a time, I created a DOC Hiring Guide… and it’s so good, I just can’t gatekeep it any longer. In this episode, I’m sharing everything I know about day-of coordination, which is a lot. After all, I have been doing it for almost 20 years! I’m telling you: What does she/they do? What should you expect to pay based on their experience/the industry standards? Red Flags Should you just ask a friend to do it ..read more

I had the absolute honour of sitting down with my brilliant friend N. Chloé Nwangwu, a brand scientist with a background in international conflict resolution. If you haven’t heard expressions like “the invisibility tax” or “underrecognition”, you need to be paying attention to the work Chloé is doing. We talked about why your brand values are important but also why nuance is important in conversations around values, and whether having that nuance will allow you to maintain your audience’s ear and effect more positive and progressive change. We also talked about a ton of other stuff… Maintain ..read more

A month-by-month breakdown of my 6-month wedding planning method! *Note: This plan happens after a period of enjoying your engagement, and after you’ve established your budget and vision, which is exactly what I do in the Jumpstart. You can learn more about The Jumpstart here. And with The Wedding Edit (which includes Day-Of-Coordination) I customize this to your wedding plan with vetted vendor referrals in your price range. Then, we co-create a plan for planning with you and your partner, so that planning brings you even closer! Month 1: around 7:30 Committing major deposits to the vendors ..read more

I interviewed Sonja Siikanen (they/them), a queer, feminist wedding and boudoir photographer from Finland, who was recommended to me by two separate Lovebird Listeners! Here’s what I asked them about: Sonja’s own wedding, and… Creating safer spaces Sharing core values with your guests What it means to live in a “top” country for queer folks The tiny queer scene in a small country like Finland How the bar for what counts as “good” for queer folks is so low it’s literally on the floor Why marriers should lean into their values when planning a wedding… And, why it can be chall ..read more

I’m joined by my friend, the brilliant Romina Kwong (she/her), who is tackling event sustainability as both the founder and lead consultant at her business, Eco-Friendly Events, and as a teacher at Seneca College where she has co-created a micro-credential for Foundations of Sustainability in Event Management. We talked about… The most influential factors on your event’s ecological footprint, and what you can do to mitigate their impact; Who is responsible for making an event eco-friendly - the vendors, the planners, or the marriers? How to do your best to be eco-responsible while still ..read more

In this episode I interview my friend Rob Lynch, a lighting designer I’ve been working with for almost 20 years. We talk about: WTF a lighting designer even does, and the impact of lighting on any event (a thread that runs through the whole) How lighting impacts your event, at every key timeline moment What the lights are called, and what they do, so you’re prepared to understand a quote from a lighting company (likely handled along with your audio!) Colour! We also have some major digressions, because when Event Folk (TM pending) get together we cannot help but talk about all the th ..read more

This episode is an answer to a question from a listener (now client!) who asked about the wedding tax and negotiating with wedding vendors. I couldn’t fit the answer in an Instagram story, so here’s an almost hour-long episode about it! Here’s what I cover: What is the wedding tax, and can it be justified? I look at arguments from both advocates and critics and give my take on it; I also talk about some of the more common economic models of wedding planning, breaking down commissions and kickbacks, and explaining how the percentage-based model works, giving you, as always, my unfiltered op ..read more

This episode is about my experience as a real-life Sam-I-Am… someone who knows just how good green eggs and ham tastes, but has to jump through hoops to convince people to try them. And in the end? Oh, I do like it after all, Carrie-Ann! Listen in for the biggest game changers my clients have committed to that made them so happy they had me whispering in their ear (or going off on long tangents over Voxer and IG voicenotes) throughout the wedding planning process. Want to get my eyes on your personal wedding plan? Check out The Jumpstart, my virtual consultation that includes heaps of support ..read more

I'm joined by Charlie Sprinkman (he/they), founder of Everywhere is Queer, a global directory of queer-owned businesses. Before we even got started, we talked a bit about safe vs. safer spaces, and this is a thread that runs through our entire conversation. Charlie had some questions for me, which I was happy to answer, such as: What is it like being a queer wedding vendor? What’s a queer wedding like? We also talked about: Why it’s important to hire queer vendors; Keeping queer vendors safe on Everywhere is Queer and what we can do to keep queer guests and vendors safe at weddings ..read more

I’m joined by Jenna Wiegand, owner and executive artistic director of The Polka Dot Paper Shop, a wedding invitations company. We talk about: What it’s like being a feminist wedding vendor The role of your wedding invitation in the overall event scheme Wedding traditions vs. wedding etiquette Nouveau wedding etiquette for addressing wedding invitations And some of the finer points of what makes a wedding invitation feminist Parent stress, marrier stress, and the very specific stress that comes along with hiring a day-of coordinator over a month-of event manager. Find Jenna on her ..read more