My Top 5 Tips for Planning Your Winnipeg Wedding from Out of Town
I’ve worked with a lot of couples who don’t live in Winnipeg, to plan and design the flowers and full event design for their Winnipeg wedding.
Most of them were originally from Winnipeg, and now live in other parts of Canada, the US, even all the way to New Zealand! And truth be told, those are always some of my favourite weddings to work on — the couples are more trusting, and tend to let me do my thing and the creative result of that working partnership is always the best!
Learned from my years of working with out of town couples, here are my top 5 tips that will help you best plan your Winnipeg wedding from outside of Winnipeg!
Hire a Local Wedding Planner — not a planner from the city you live in
I’ve had a few experiences with couples who’ve hired wedding planners from the city they live in, and to be 100% transparent with you, it just makes ZERO sense. Why?
-In my experience with multiple out of town planners, they don’t bother putting in the work to research our local industry. This means they have no idea what rentals are available here, what different Winnipeg vendors can do, even what the venue itself looks like!
-It increases the workload on your other vendors (without appropriately increasing their pay) because we end up having to manage a lot more of the work.
-This all boils down to planners who either over-promise to their couples what they can get here (often at a budget point or availability that has absolutely no relevance to the Winnipeg market) OR to planners who develop a hoity-toity attitude that Winnipeg sucks and therefore everything for the wedding must come from out-of-province. Neither of these create collaborative vendor environments, and in fact, can be quite detrimental to the overall way that your wedding comes together.
Luckygirl Photography, Soiree Planning. See More Here.
Research Pricing in the Winnipeg Market
Depending on where you’re coming from, the Winnipeg wedding industry’s pricing may be higher, lower, or on par with what you’d expect to pay for a similar wedding in your locale. This is another time where you just need to trust the vendors that you hire in the city your wedding is taking place in.
“Thanks so much for everything that you did for our wedding. The florals could not have been more perfect — you are so talented. You were so much fun to work with and were so flexible to all of the many iterations of flowers + colour palettes that I had over the year leading up to the wedding. Everything turned out perfectly, and the greenery cloud in the chapel was so dreamy. I absolutely loved everything. Oh, the table arrangements...I died!!” — Stephanie and Andrew
Brittany Mahood, Soiree Event Planning. See More Here.
Start Planning Early
Starting your planning early when you’re out of town gives you a lot more room for flexibility and peace of mind. It also allows you to strategically plan one or two trips back home, and set up any meetings with your planner and other vendors that you’d like to do in person, like food tastings or rental selections. And if you have your heart set on any particular vendors, then starting early is key! Winnipeg’s wedding vendors have a tendency to book up VERY early, thanks to our longer than average engagement length compared to other areas in Canada.
Ariana Tennyson Photography. See More Here.
“Lauren's work speaks for itself. Factors such as long distance, uncertain times, and an abbreviated timeline did not take away from the professionalism and thoughtfulness we received throughout the entire floral and event design process. Lauren allowed us to share our goals, vision, and inspiration for our wedding but also gave us the confidence to know that we could trust her expertise. She was a HUGE reason why on our wedding day, one of the most notable compliments my husband and I received was "Wow, it's so great to see you both so relaxed!" - Diane and Bryce
Ask for Vendor Referrals — and then trust them
Find one local vendor who you’re dying to work with, who you know will be the perfect fit for you in terms of style, professionalism, and vibe. Then, ask them for referrals for their favourite vendors to work with who will also be a great fit for you! Choose to work with vendors who routinely work together to get the best result. We know and trust each other, and work well together! It’ll make things a million times easier for you.
We also know your venue! We know what does and doesn’t work based on the logistics of the venue, as well as what does and doesn’t look good in the space. And, chances are pretty good that we’ve got some ideas on what we can do at your venue to make things a lot more interesting than the average wedding.
Sugar & Soul Photography, Amanda Douglas Events. See More Here.
Plan for Extra Time With Your Guests
Chances are, you’re “coming home” for this wedding and there will be a lot of people you haven’t seen in real life in a long time, and you’re going to want to spend as much time with them as possible. Whether you’re planning to have a welcome party, bachelor/ette parties, or a day-after brunch, or if you’re just planning for the wedding day itself, look for ways to spend as much time with your people as you possibly can. That might mean giving your timeline some extra cushion between the ceremony and reception so that you can mingle with an extended cocktail hour. If you host your ceremony and reception at the same venue, you’ll be able to maximize the amount of time you can all be together.
Janine Kropla Photography. More Coming Soon.
“I love working with out-of-town couples.
It’s definitely a different planning dynamic, but the level of trust a couple gives us to really be here on the ground and acting as their proxy is an honour. I love getting to do site visits, floral meetings, or linen meetings with them virtually, or provide them with our detailed design boards and bringing them visuals the best way we can, to help establish that trust factor and ensure they’re still feeling included while making the process as easy as possible for them.
My favourite part of planning with a couple long distance is their surprise! When they finally see it all come together, and realize it’s exactly what they wanted but didn’t know it — that’s so satisfying!” - Amanda Douglas, owner of Amanda Douglas Events
Special Note:
I think it’s particularly important to hire professional vendors at basically all times, but especially when you’re planning from out of town. It’s awesome to have people you love involved, but it adds a layer of stress that you just don’t need. I’ve seen and heard some friend-or ( friend-vendor) drama first hand, like people who were supposed to set up your sound system or a gardener aunt who was supposed to do the flowers, and while it sometimes works well, it often doesn’t. You really don’t need those kinds of things happening on your wedding day!
Brittany Mahood Photography
“We hired Lauren for complete floral and event design services for our intimate 2021 wedding. As soon as I stumbled upon her portfolio, I immediately hired her before we had made any other decisions. We were planning our wedding from out-of-province and would need an experienced vendor team we could fully trust and Lauren graciously provided us with her experienced and candid opinion to guide us in selecting everyone from our planner to photographer.
In perfect coordination with our event planning team, she took a leadership role in helping design our event. She constructed a vision for the evening by incorporating inspiration from our travels and favourite resorts, interior design elements from our home in Toronto, and inspiration photos I'd flip to her at all hours. This provided for a meticulously cohesive design that flowed through all elements of our event allowing for a full transformation of our private property and had guests questioning whether they were still in Winnipeg.
Lauren is an expert at her craft, hard-working, detail-oriented, and creative. If you are lucky enough to have her, my advice is to allow her to take full creative control and just prepare to keep saying "wow" when you see what she comes up with.”
— Shannon and David
