What Type of #dayofpgh Bride Are You?
Talia Nelson Photography
Engagement season is upon us…I hope! After this year, I don’t put much faith into the ‘normal’ timing of things anymore.
Shit is all over the place: I booked, planned, and executed a June 2020 wedding in two weeks. I took a cold phone consult for a July 2022 wedding last October, and somehow, we’ve got more than one Sunday wedding on our calendar next year. I stopped looking for a rhyme or reason.
Engagement season usually means an avalanche of inquiries from eager couples ready to start planning, and every single one that hits my inbox makes my day. Nothing gets me more excited than opening those messages to learn more about the type of client I’m attracting. I love wedding planning, but I love successful marketing strategies more.
If our team is available, you’ll get a reply back with our package information, and an invite to book a 30 minute coffee date so we can learn more about the details of your day, and how we can help! In that half hour, I can tell what type of #dayofpgh bride (or groom!) you’ll be, and I’ve shared their tells below.
All first names have been changed to those of my best bros to protect the innocent.
So…what type of #dayofpgh bride (or groom!) are you?!
ALI
Ali is the shit. She’s a planner, she’s practical, and she did all of the heavy lifting for her wedding within two weeks of getting engaged. She knows exactly what she wants, and understands that in order to enjoy her own wedding, she’s got to delegate the day of to a professional.
Ali’s consult is fifteen minutes, and she signs the contract within the hour. By our first meeting, she wrote the timeline herself, filled out my DIY inventory form, and is mildly embarrassed at her efficiency. Meanwhile, I’m in client heaven, and consider offering Ali a job after her wedding day.
I love Ali because above all else, she knows what she wants, and trusts my team to get it done for her. These qualities alone means I’ll spend less time helping her choose between colors or defending my experience, and more time preparing for her day.
Ali’s wedding gets executed flawlessly with zero drama, and we barely speak because she’s rocking out on the dance floor. Within a week, she writes me the sweetest review. To all of my Ali brides: I LOVE YOU!
KATHY*
Kathy is not the bride. She’s the mom! I’m not going to lie, when moms inquire on behalf of their children, a red flag pops up in my head, but I know that is so unfair. I’ve worked with many amazing, loving, and kind mothers.
*OKAY full disclosure: I wrote this back in 2020, and I no longer book weddings with Mom. I will only consult and work with the bride or groom directly, however there are SO MANY amazing moms I’ve gotten to know through their kids’ weddings, and she deserves a category here. If your mom is like Kathy, consider yourself lucky. Just make sure you inquire yourself or it will be a big no from me lol.
Anyway, back to Kathy.
Kathy got married in the 80’s at a catering hall where her dad knew a guy. She had Princess Di sleeves, and ‘first looks’ were not invented yet…how modern! She has no fucking idea why her daughter would want to have her wedding reception in a warehouse with no bathrooms—especially when the moderately priced all-inclusive downtown hotel does everything for you!—but accepts that things are different now. What’s most important is that her daughter is happy.
But Kathy doesn’t hire me for her daughter. She hires me for her own sanity, because she wants nothing to do with any of the nightmare warehouse logistics. To her, this concept didn’t make sense from the start.
She wants to slip on her fully beaded charcoal Adrianna Papell gown from Nordstrom—not bad for havin’ three kids!—and beam as her son escorts her down the aisle before her little girl ties the knot. Get Kathy some freakin’ prosecco, we’re dancing in a warehouse for God’s sake!
When Kathy says thank you to me, she really means it. Especially after inspecting the luxury bathroom trailers. Very tasteful.
KATIE
Katie cares. Really cares. In the ‘tell me more’ section of my inquiry form, there’s 500 words detailing her love story with her fiancé (and Pittsburgh native) Alex, how they live in Ohio for grad/law/med school, will have the biggest and best cookie table ever, and that she really wants ‘wants a stress-free, magical day!!!!’
If Katie hires me, she’ll get that and more.
I love Katie. She’s been dreaming about this day for like, ever. She’s read all of my blog posts, scoured my Google Reviews and already asked her photographer if they knew me. She only wants to hire the best.
Katie books the first available time slot for a consult with me, and spends her 3 p.m. hour at work researching different bouquet styles. She follows the #burghbrides hashtag on Instagram, and physically cannot wait to be married. I can’t wait to impress her.
“I feel so much better already,” Katie says as we wrap up our consult. Got ‘em.
Katie’s wedding is…everything she wanted. She cries after seeing the reception space for the first time, and I don’t tell her about how chaotic the room flip was. She dances with Dad to ‘The Way You Look Tonight,’ and tags me in her sneak peek photos the following week.
A year later, she’s rockin’ a baby bump and I comment a huge, emoji-filled congrats. I miss her.
ERICA
Erica is the client I’m most proud of. She’s an old coworker, a relative of one of my dance team girls, someone in the Pittsburgh wedding vendor community, or an acquaintance of my husband. She knows me personally, got engaged, and thought of my company to coordinate her wedding. The awe of someone I know hiring me has not worn off, and while I take every client to heart, working with Erica reminds me of how far I’ve really come, and why I love my job.
We meet over drinks, and I struggle to put on my ‘J. Lo in a headset’ personality because Erica knew me way back when. I shove my imposter syndrome down, and tend to be a little more honest with her. Erica will ask my advice for the little things, and gives me the tea on all the family drama that may play out during photos at the altar.
At some point in the day, I definitely cry at Erica’s wedding, and then drive home smiling really big.
MELISSA
Melissa is quietly stressed, and isn’t a huge fan of the spotlight. She’d prefer to elope, but it would crush her fiancé, and her grandparents, and probably her annoying ass cousin for some reason, and for the love of God can’t we get this over with? It’s just a few hours with all the attention on her, and then it’s a lifetime of Christmas mornings, road trips, and weekend movie marathons. She can handle it.
But she’ll learn some interesting things when she meets me. Like the fact that the grand entrance is optional. And she can have her brother in her bridal party. Wait…they can cut pie instead of a 4 tier cake?! I see her smirk towards the end of the consult. This will be fun.
I follow up with some off the wall ideas to incorporate their cats into the day, and reassure her that a wedding can look and feel and be anything they want it to. Screw tradition!
The day is so perfectly them. The video game wall is a freakin’ hit, no one misses the DJ (or the bouquet toss) and I eat two slices of pie after breakdown is over. YUM.
KRISTEN
Kristen is bad and bougie. She wants a banger, and cares about all the right stuff. I haven’t even met her in person yet, and I can’t wait to see the gown(s) she wears. Her vendor team is stacked—full band AND A DJ—booze is top shelf, and I caught her calling the wedding an ‘event’ on more than one occasion, which thrills me.
Our meetings are always after 5 p.m. in The Omni William Penn lobby. Can I marry her?
From day one, Kristen has emphasized guest experience above all else, and isn’t scared to incorporate colors that aren’t blush into her design. She hates chivari chairs and string covers of A Thousand Years more than I do. Day of setup begins the day before. My assistants Instagram all of it and I feel really cool.
There’s no time for speeches at this reception, and she’s pre-ordered Chik-Fil-A to arrive at 11 p.m. Lizzo plays throughout the night.
I stay long after my job is over and gossip with her other vendors. Kristen demands I take a shot.
I am Kristen. Kristen is me.
MY POINT IS…
…There is no ‘right type’ of bride or groom you guys. What’s most important is that you be yourself on your wedding day. Don’t feel like you need to do this, or that, or anything at all! Research, hire, and work with vendors who support whatever wedding you want to have.
If that happens to be us, LET’S GO I’M SO PUMPED!
The end.