Photos from a Real KJP wedding

Vendor Spotlight: Ever Weddings

This week we are continuing our Wedding Wednesday series and featuring ANOTHER amazing vendor! This time, it’s Ever Weddings – a wedding coordinator in Greenville, SC.

If you’re looking for someone to handle all the details of your wedding day, Michelle Lewis is your gal!

We just happened to meet her at a Rising Tide Society event in Greenville several weeks ago, and it was easy to tell why she would make a perfect wedding coordinator. She is so fun and adorable and totally has a heart for serving couples on their wedding day.

Before we start, we thought we should clarify the difference between a wedding coordinator and a wedding planner.

A full wedding planner handles most of the details for you and custom-plans your day. They also are basically there from the moment you get engaged until after you have your grand exit at the reception. A full planner also helps with choosing and contacting vendors.

A wedding coordinator is your wedding day manager. A month-of, or day-of wedding coordinator. She is your go-to person for everything you need executed and handled on the wedding day. You will likely begin working with your coordinator a few weeks before the wedding day to communicate your needs and vision. She will also be there to direct your rehearsal and the entire wedding day. Michelle can be there to make sure everything goes off without a hitch!

Michelle, of Ever Weddings, is a wedding coordinator. She’ll put together a master day-of timeline, the processional/recessional order, decor placement, and so much more. She will also contact your vendors to make sure they’re all ready to go before your wedding day.

 

What is your favorite part of being a wedding coordinator?

One of the best parts of my job is getting to set the tone for the day. As the wedding coordinator, I’m the liaison between all vendors, the bride and groom, families, and guests.

I interact with everyone, and I’ve found that when I’m happy and relaxed, it helps everyone to be happy and relaxed! Often I have attended or been part of a wedding where the coordinator is stressed or uptight and it can put a damper on everyone’s day.

My thought is this: we’re all here to witness the beautiful union of marriage and to have a good time, so let’s do that and not sweat the small stuff that may not go as planned!

What made you want to be a wedding coordinator? 

In high school, I attended a wedding as a guest and this is what stuck out to me:

a) the wedding started late,
b) the food was brought out late and everyone was ‘hangry’, and
c) guests didn’t know what to do, when to do it, or even where to go.

I thought to myself, “They need help. Even I could do a better job running this wedding.” And voila, my journey began. Throughout the next few years I came to realize that wedding coordination incorporated all of my best talents and passions into the dream job for me.

Organization, flexibility, problem solving, serving people and anticipating their needs, and of course, marriage, which I’m very passionate about.

Why should brides have a wedding coordinator? 

The number one reason is so they and their loved ones can enjoy the wedding day stress-free. Why do all the planning and preparation if you don’t get to enjoy it yourself?

Hire someone who makes you feel completely at ease that everything will go as planned. You won’t regret spending the extra money. I promise. 

What tips would you give a bride who is newly engaged and planning a wedding? 

Make a list together of the things that are most important about your wedding. Agreeing on those things will help you when deciding what fits into your budget.

Most importantly, keep the ultimate goal in mind: getting married. If something goes wrong or you start to get stressed with the long planning to-do lists, just remember that in the end you’ll be married, and that’s all that matters! 

What are the most important qualities/things to look for when you’re picking a wedding planner for your wedding?

Find someone who makes you feel at ease. Someone that you connect with. Someone who you trust not only to be organized and efficient but who will set the tone on your wedding day.

Someone who will put you first and make sure your voice is the one that’s heard. 

What’s one thing you want your potential clients to know about Ever Weddings?

Ever Weddings is in business to support brides who might not be able to afford a typical wedding coordinator. I’m the mother of (soon to be) three young kids, and I’m blessed to have a husband who supports me staying home and working on my wedding business on the side.

This means that not only can I work for my brides throughout all hours of the day (and night), but I charge one price and stick to it because I don’t do this for money. I coordinate weddings because it’s my dream job.

What song HAS to be on the playlist at the reception? 

The Cha Cha Slide – this is the ONLY song that I will ever dance to while I’m coordinating a wedding, and that’s because I just can’t help myself!

Some people are probably sick of it, but in my book, it’s a crowd pleaser and must be played, especially if it gets folks with two left feet to get up and dance.

 

 

Greenville Area Wedding Coordinator – Ever Weddings

Not everyone has a wedding coordinator. We’ve been a part of a lot of weddings, some hired a wedding coordinator and some didn’t – and every wedding was magical. But there were a few noticeable differences.

The first difference is the level of stress and the second is how seamless your day flows. As a bride, you don’t want the wedding party or family walking up to you asking you a bunch of questions or vendors having to ask where things should go. You also don’t know what time your dj or band should arrive, where they should setup, or where to place all of the beautiful decor you envisioned for your big day. This is what makes a coordinator so valuable.

If they are a full-service planner, they can help you from the moment you get engaged, leading up to the wedding with managing all of the vendors, contacting them, and handling all of the details which can make you pull your hair out.

Day-of or month-of coordinators are life savers. You just hand off the planning you have done, and they make the magic happen while you sip your mimosa and enjoy your favorite day with your favorite people.

Regardless of which one you go with, having a day-of  or month-of coordinator, or full-planner from day one of engagement, we HIGHLY recommend you consider hiring a professional to help you!

 

You can connect with Michelle at her website, on instagram @everweddings, or on Facebook.