Destination Weddings and Honeymoons

Lauren with her planner, Chad

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Most of you know I am the art director of Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, but something I probably haven't talked about too much is that I moonlight as the art director for SPA magazine. (And by moonlight I mean, that's the other half of my job.) You can imagine how busy I am day to day, putting out amazing magazines filled with incredible information about spas, travel and … weddings! Regardless of content, when working in publishing, you're living in a deadline-driven world — meaning, work comes first. Yes, even before your wedding plans sometimes … and let me tell you, ladies (and gentlemen!), there a lot of logistical considerations that come with planning your destination wedding.

This whole work/wedding-balance thing is one of the issues that has caused me to pull out a couple of hairs (gray, of course!) in the past few weeks. I'm still trying to figure out a lot of details for our wedding weekend in Savannah. One thing I'd like to suggest, which has given me immense peace of mind, is: Find a planner (even if it's just for the week of). He or she will help relieve a ton of stress from your (already) busy schedule.

When my mom and I started talking about planning the wedding from six hours away, I could see her brain trying to calculate all of the little things that would need to take place the week of the wedding. I knew we could do it, but I am my mom's only girl, and I want her to be able to enjoy this (almost!) as much as I am going to! So I sought out reinforcements. In the form of Chad Baker.

Chad started out with a company called Coastal Savannah Weddings, which provides planning services for local weddings, destination weddings and elopements. The company then branched into Elope to Savannah. Most recently (and most exciting to me!), Chad opened a bridal boutique in the heart of downtown Savannah called The Bride on Broughton. It's basically a one-stop shop. You can shop for your dress, talk to him about planning your event, hire an officiant (more on that later!), book your photographer, and come back the day of to get your hair and makeup done. I mean, come on. This is bridal planning at its finest. So I sent an inquiry to Chad via his website asking if he does day/week-of coordination. His response:

Hi Lauren,
Thank you for the inquiry and congratulations!!
We are available for your date of March 11th, 2012, and we love both of the venues you have chosen.

I'm probably way off base with this but have to ask, would you be the same Lauren Clark from Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine's website/blog that I read often, as 85 percent of our brides are having destination weddings here in Savannah, and I read she is marrying here in our beautiful city? If not I totally apologize. :)

Thank you again for your interest in our company and I hope you have a wonderful day!!

I hope you can figure out WHY I was as excited as I was by receiving this email. A planner who loves both of my venues, one who's comfortable and confident working with destination brides, and ... um ... someone who KNOWS WHO I AM!? Amazing.

When we scooted up to Savannah for our vendor-meet-and-greet weekend, our last stop was Chad. I had originally planned to meet with him first, but I think, ultimately, it worked out best this way — he gave us such great feedback, had smart solutions for some logistical issues, and provided insight into details I had completely not even thought of. (He runs a tight ship — he also suggested ways to ensure my guests are prompt when arriving at the venue so they don't miss me walking down the aisle.)

The weight lifted off my (and my mom's) shoulders has been huge — it is so nice to breath easy knowing someone is there, doing the things he's best at, while I'm here, doing the things I'm best at.

Missed one of Lauren's blogs? Click here for more from DWH's very own destination bride!

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