NORMAL NUPTIALS? Event planner Kristin Sullivan has had to redefine what weddings look like to her clients today.
They tell couples to expect the unexpected when planning a wedding. However, “they” likely made that saying up to prepare couples for a caved-in wedding cake, not a global pandemic that could turn their celebrations into super-spreaders and bring the wedding-planning industry to its knees.
Alas, the latter has been a new reality, thanks to COVID-19. Kristin Sullivan, a longtime wedding and event planner in Southwest Florida, attests to it.
“It’s been quite a challenge,” Sullivan says. “We only did one wedding last year out of the probably 22 that were supposed to happen. That was because it was a very intimate family experience, and they did everything they were supposed to do,” in terms of social distancing and safety, she added.
Sullivan has had to redefine what weddings can look like to her clients today.
“I’ve highly encouraged micro-weddings and Zoom weddings,” she says. “We’ve all learned that virtual can definitely take us different places now.”
She suggests several ways to make the occasion special: Having a virtual receiving line, hiring a musician to join the Zoom room for a first dance, giving each guest a champagne split and mini cupcakes and more. She also says to send wedding invitations still, ask attendees to dress up and not forget the “thank you” notes.
“People still want to feel included,” she says. “It’s obviously not what you’re expecting and not what you wanted, but you can still make [the experience] fun and unique.”
Sullivan, a 25-year industry veteran with multiple ventures, including two wedding companies—Swivel Group Events and The Bridal Retreat—a book and vlog, continues to innovate in this uncertainty.
Shortly after the pandemic hit last year, she started a retail line and now offers intimate wedding planning excursions called PlanningMoons in Southwest Florida, for clients near and far.
Couples stay at her waterfront guest property in Fort Myers and enjoy five hours of one-on-one wedding planning, meals, roundtrip airport accommodations and optional add-ons. Alternately, they can choose a virtual consultation. And she hosts micro-weddings and vow renewals onsite.
The PlanningMoons wrap into The Bridal Retreat’s holistic and healthy approach to wedding planning. However, Sullivan has had to put a hold on the company’s star offering: a three-day, four-night, stress-free wedding-planning experience.
The retreat was set to take place in several upscale venues across the country in 2020, guiding 20 women at each destination through yoga, meditation, mindset and awareness while wedding planning in a calm environment. Frenzied brides-to-be clung to the concept like moths to a light.
“The solution was to give them everything in one place at one time and make their lives easier,” Sullivan says. It had completely sold out. “The clients that we had were so excited about it.”
She’s set up the model for licensing or franchising and plans to roll out other versions for different genders and lifestyles when it’s safe. She’s hoping to host the next event this fall in Nashville.
“Our content is ready, the coaches are ready, we just need the world to move again,” Sullivan says. In the meantime, “It’s been an absolutely crazy year for everyone, and we’re just doing the best that we can to help our clients and keep ourselves going.”
