As many of these women have noted, the custom wedding – as opposed to the ‘package’ approach – is rapidly becoming the norm.
Nikki Begg, a professional bridal consultant, and owner of Bermuda Bride founded her business nine years ago. She sought to provide what was at the time, a nearly impossible service: a wedding representing what the bride wanted and nothing she didn’t. The only full-time, Bermuda-based wedding planning company on the island, Bermuda Bride specializes in destination weddings, which allows them to “focus exclusively on the bride and her wedding day” and are always available when you need them.
Not only does Bermuda Bride have excellent relationships with Bermuda vendors of all sorts, but it is also preferred by many of the island’s hotels and resorts. Furthermore, the business branched out in 2001 opening a floral company called Petals, as well as a design and rental company, Elements. Through collaboration and complementary services, these companies streamline the planning process.
Nikki adds that, while Bermuda Bride specializes mainly in high-end weddings, she and her team are equally enthusiastic to accommodate any budget. “Often the most creative weddings are where we have to come up with viable and exciting solutions,” she explains, citing tight cruise ship schedules as one challenging example.
Speaking of schedules, Nikki urges brides not to let the planning schedule overwhelm them. Her advice is to “decide on your priorities and make those decisions first – they will provide the framework for all the other decisions you need to make.” She also councils brides to leave 10% worth of “wiggle-room” in the budget, as things tend to be more expensive, as well as take a bit longer than expected.
Nikki Begg also recommends care in choosing the guest list, pointing out that greater volume translates to a greater cost.
When asked about trends Nikki suggests simple elegance, elaborating that, as part of this “overall sense of elegance,” upcoming weddings will also showcase “varying hues of monochromatic colors as the main colorway and texture upon texture as the theme.” Nikki, however, also draws her own inspirations from her surroundings, referring to the “deep tangerine sunsets, ocean blues, rich bronzes, and woody greens” which the landscape of Bermuda provides as perfect, vibrant accents to the wedding palette of whites and ivories. “And,” she adds, “the beach theme always, always works.”
In 2010, Bermuda Bride will be reworking its already elegant website, www.bermudabride.com. The new site will provide even more information, including a library of 2009 bouquets, a blog, and a special interactive section for current brides, as well as a forum where past brides can post advice.
With so many new things on the horizon, Nikki Begg and her team are more excited than ever to be making great strides in their industry. “There is a tremendous sense of satisfaction in seeing everything come together,” she explains. “Whether we’ve been working on a wedding for 18 months or 18 days, understanding what the couple wants, truly wants, and then being able to help them achieve that is incredibly important to us.”
With over nine years and 800 weddings worth of experience, Bermuda Bride embodies everything necessary “for a wedding day as individual as you.”
http://blog.bermuda-wedding.com/2010/06/wedding-wonder-women/
