“It’s important to create a wedding that reflects each couple’s taste, personality, and style,” says Janet Dunnington of CEO Weddings. “I start the design concept by talking to the couple and finding out their wants, needs, and vision for the big day. We discuss careers, interests, hobbies, favorite colors, how they met, and favorite season, to name a few.

“I planned an October wedding in Vermont for a couple who wanted a fun yet elegant fall theme,” continues Janet. “I kept the fall theme fun and festive for the outdoors cocktail hour. There were mums of all colors along with hay bales, cornstalks, pumpkins, gourds, and votive and floating candles everywhere.”

Each table was decorated with gold beaded table lamps, gold chargers topped with fall leaf, and gold votives. Each gold silk napkin was treated with a bronze gold silk ribbon, and tucked into each napkin was a menu that also served as a place card. (The card had been embossed with gold maple leafs, plus calligraphy in a pumpkin color ink.) The wedding cake design was white fondant icing and marzipan fall leaves.

“Another couple’s wedding was personalized by representing both the couple’s work with animals and their heritage,” says Janet. “The bride’s family was from India, so the wedding started the night before with the ceremony of Mehndi, ‘the night of henna,’ when the bride and women relatives paint intricate artwork and designs on the bride’s palms and feet.

“At the wedding, the women wore Saris and the men wore lungi, dhosi, or lenga, traditional clothing of India. The menu was also made up of traditional Indian dishes.

“To represent their work, the couple’s dogs were part of the ceremony, and the bride, an amateur photographer, had photographs of all species of birds that we used as table names.”

In a wedding with dozens of vendors and logistics involved, any number of things can happen. To avoid potential problems, Janet does detailed follow-ups with every vendor. “I don’t leave anything to chance,” she says. “If there’s a potential problem, I’ll catch it ahead of time during one of my follow-up sessions.”

Once she avoided a potential glitch when the cake had not arrived by the pre-determined time. “I phoned the baker to find out if the cake had left. It had, so I asked for the route of the delivery van, and sent someone to back-track the route. We found the vehicle broken down and out of cell range. They loaded the cake in the car and accompanied the cake to the site. The bride never knew!”