Parties : An Italian Evening At The Museum

Last summer I received the brief from a client to plan and design an Italian, Dolce Vita, Ferrari themed, evening to remember at the Design Museum . Sounds fun right? It was! A lot of people think of Rebecca K. Events as a wedding planning only event business, but oh no, we plan so much more then that! This event was a fabulous evening to celebrate a private clients assistance with the opening of the Ferrari exhibition at the museum and truly a celebration of their friends, family and how important all of this was in their life. The theme was not to be all full of red and cars, but more of a festive evening honouring the history of the Ferrari company and family that my client has spent years researching. With that included the love of Italian music, Italian food, Italian drinks and well, I think we got it right!

London -party - plannerLondon - Event - Planner The look was glamorous and we incorporated a touch of red into the main colour scheme of golds, black and white. We added a little party attire to the handsome waitstaff with red bow ties and suspenders serving Bianco Negronis and glasses of Prosecco throughout the evening. We had a sketch of Mr. Ferrari himself printed in gold foil on cocktail stirrers and the napkins throughout the evening had racing quotes and black and white images from clients archives. The little touches were great conversation pieces throughout the evening and some guests even saved them as souvenirs !
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So You Are Getting Married!

Congratulations! We are so excited to hear that you are engaged! Your love popped the question and you said yes and now you are ready to start planning your big day! As London based event planners, this time of year is one of our favourites, when couples get engaged over Christmas and New Years and start planning their weddings. Before you jump onto Pinterest and start booking wedding dress appointments, take a step back and enjoy this time. Here are the top EIGHT things that we recommend you do before worrying about the colour of the table linen.

Celebrate!

Forget that it is January and so many friends of yours are doing a dry January, fill up your glass with bubbly and celebrate! Being engaged is such a special time for you and your fiancé and you should enjoy it. Once you are ready to dive into planning the big occasion, we suggest starting with these items. The fun dress shopping and cake tastings will get there, we promise!

Take Time

There are a lot of things to factor while planning your wedding. You need to decide where to get married, maybe you both live in a city but are actually from different countries. What type of ceremony do you want; church, town hall, an officiant in your parents garden? Is having a band a deal breaker vs. having a dj? Do you want to have a dance theme party reception for one evening and go all out or would you rather invite a smaller group of guests to a country home and have a weekend full of activities. Take a little time for each of you to separately write down what your priorities are for your wedding day and from there it can create an outline of the wedding you want to plan.

Create A Guest List 

The guest list. There are often a lot of factors in the guest list. You have parents friends that they would like to invite, friends of yours that invited you to their wedding, distance relatives that assumed they would always be invited to your wedding. I recommend to step back and think of your guests as a list of people you truly want to spend time with. People who when you walk down the aisle on your wedding day, you are excited to be surrounded by. I think of the guest list as group of people that I would be excited to invite to a dinner party and be in their company for hours. Once you have a good idea on your guest list and the number of people you want to invite, then you can start thinking of so many other factors for the day.

Budget

Before researching venues and falling in love with a castle that is twice your budget or going dress shopping and trying on a dress that costs more then the band, sit down and create a budget. Budgeting is probably one of the least exciting things about planning a wedding, however it is the most important. Will your parents contribute or will it all come from the two of you. Will you need to save for a bit longer, then maybe you push the date back a little further then the original idea. There are a lot factors in your budget, so sit down and really research and think about how much it is you want to spend on the wedding day and ….then start planning!

Set the Date 

You have your budget set, guest list ready, so now get your date set, however, be ready with a couple dates, be flexible. It is good to have a few date options in your mind when looking for venues. If you fall in love with a venue that ticks all the boxes and your only date is not available, it is great to have other options.

Venue Research

Now is the time to start browsing around online and in magazines. Websites like the UK based Coco Wedding Venues is a fabulous tool to research different areas and styles of  venues. Blogs and magazines are also amazing places to get venue ideas by looking at features as well. Since you have already created a preliminary guest list and budget, you can more easily look at venue ideas that fit into those points. Look at the existing decor in the space. If you want to have a very pretty pastel coloured wedding, then a venue that has permanent red carpet and black chairs may not be the perfect fit. If you are looking for an industrial chic idea, an old castle may not the best place for you. Take your time researching venues online before you make an appointment to see the space. Your time is precious and you do not want to waste it by trekking out to a venue to arrive and realise NONE of the dates you want are available, the rooms are much smaller then you need for guests or you can not have access to the space until much later then you wanted the day to begin, along with a list of many other items, research, don’t rush it, take your time.

Hire A Planner! 

Now is the time to look into hiring someone to help you. I am not not just saying it because, well, that is what I do as a London wedding planner, but truly, hiring a wedding planner is a great place to provide you with assistance throughout planning your wedding day. I have never worked with a couple that hasn’t said after their big day, they originally thought hiring a wedding planner was a little frivolous, but honestly, it ended up being the best thing they did throughout planning! Wedding planners allow you to enjoy planning your wedding while taking a lot of the admin over for you. Planners have connections and a little black book full of many ideas and suppliers and it allows you to not have to spend hours googling around and interviewing multiple suppliers. There are so many reasons why it is a great thing, but that can be an entire other blog post! From full wedding planning, the weeks before or even a creative consultation and styling, there are multiple ways to work with wedding planners.

Research Suppliers

If you have decided to hire a wedding planner or not, it is time to start researching and reserving suppliers. Cake designers, florists, caterers, photographers, hair and makeup artists, so many people help to make your wedding day an amazing day. Break out your Pinterest boards and start dreaming and planning your ideas and styles so when you contact suppliers you have ideas to share of what you are looking for and you can see if together you will make a great fit. Research their portfolio, prices, availability and make appointments with a few suppliers to see if you enjoy working with them, as that is super important.

 

So there you go. Our top EIGHT things to do at after getting engaged. We would love to hear from you if you are interested in working together on your big day! Enjoy the moment now and get in touch with us later! xoxo – Rebecca

 

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Welcome to Rebecca K. Events & Styling!

Hi! Welcome to Rebecca K. Events & Styling! I am so thrilled that you have stopped my gorgeous new website! I have to say, after working in the events industry for over fifteen years, my new brand seems like something that has been such a long time coming and I am beyond excited to share it with you. Rebecca K. Events, a London based event planning, design and styling company, welcome!

I love the details to an event, the special touches added to your wedding day to make it personal. I adore adding meaning behind every little element in a celebration. If you are looking for someone to copy and paste another event that you saw, I am probably not your lady for that. If you are looking for someone to work with that will have your guests leaving and say, “that was SO them!”, then you stopped by the right place.

{photo by: Julie Michaelen Photography}

Ever since I can remember, I have truly always loved to entertain and plan parties. I have memories of when I was a little girl and planning the theme for my birthday parties, turning my living room in my teeny Washington D.C. flat into a gorgeous flower filled Thanksgiving Day dining room for 10 guests, to creating a dessert station for a client that created the illusion of sweets floating in the air. Entertaining and the joys that it gives guests to walk into a beautifully decorated room or to watch the bride and grooms faces when they walk into a room of their nearest and dearest after just getting married, this truly makes me beyond excited. I love the joys of being able to plan and design so many wonderful amazing moments in life!

I have been beyond lucky throughout my career to work in some amazing venues in the States and in London. From the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts   and modern Newseum in Washington D.C., to beautiful beach side glamorous locations in Miami and iconic London institutions such as as Tate Modern & Tate Britain. I have dealt with celebrities details, created custom colored ice cubes for a mega movie premier after party and even was part of a team that rang in the pre Obama inauguration evening new years style party. Throughout all of these experiences, the private and special events have always been a special place in my heart, and this is why I created Rebecca K. Events!

{photo by: Lucy Davenport Photography}
Julie Michaelsen Photography - Rebecca K Events - London Wedding Planner
{photo by: Julie Michaelsen Photography}

I love to put together designs for couples that tell their story throughout their day. From the invitations that arrive in their guests mailbox to the perfect thought out place settings for their wedding meal, I believe that every touch on your wedding day should be specially chosen to you. The excitement from a birthday guest of honor when they see their friends and family all in one space and enjoy every minute of the night while I plan the timing behind the scenes, this is what I love. I love to create the a buzz worthy experience that keeps you replaying every moment in your memories for years! I also love to be able to be the contact who is behind the scenes organizing the timings and details so that you can have fun.

Lucy Davenport Photography
{photo by: Lucy Davenport Photography}
Lydia Stamps Photography - Rebecca K Events
{photo by: Lydia Stamps Photography}
Rebecca K Events - Lucy Davenport
{photo by Lucy Davenport Photography}

No event is too big or too small for me and my team. Your 40th birthday party, your wedding for 20 guests or 200 guests. We don’t believe in chair covers and sashes, or throwing confetti on a table and bunting on the ceiling and say, voila, nope, we believe that every day is worth celebrating and that creating a fun, memorable and stylish soiree is what you should take time to have us help you plan and create.

Want to work together? We would LOVE to hear from you! American couple getting married in London, let us help you. A London based modern day anniversary dinner, let us help you with the details. London based couple planning an elopement, we are here to help. Getting married abroad and want a planner that you know will take care of everything from A to Z while you just have fun, we are here to do that. Get in touch with us here !

xo Rebecca

*A HUGE thank you to the lovely La Happy for their patience and attention while creating this site. You are not only amazing designers but a perfect example of the type of suppliers we love to work with! Attention to details, gorgeous work, nice, happy and wanting to make everything perfect. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

 

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