There’s no disputing these are tough times, and the event industry has taken a hard hit. With the wedding industry temporarily on pause, it’s important to highlight incredible people who are contributing to this community.
At Ethical Weddings, we love putting the spotlight on socially-conscious vendors in the wedding space. And despite the uncertainty of everything, we want to do our part to shine the light on impactful vendors like the phenomenal women behind Amethyst Event Productions.
5 Questions To Ask A Wedding Planner
When it comes to hiring a wedding planner, you likely have a lot of important questions. Now there’s the added layer of planning a wedding amidst a pandemic. While the dates and details may change, the big questions still remain:
How will you ensure your day goes smoothly without compromising your vision, ethics, and theme? Is it possible to have a sustainable wedding that showcases your flair and flavorful personality? Should you proceed with planning?
Hail yes and all hail the power duo queens behind Amethyst Event Productions who are here to show you how to overcome these obstacles and plan your dream wedding.
Keep reading as #bossbabes Deniz and Jess share the big questions to ask a wedding planner. If you’re planning an eco-friendly, vegan, or sustainable wedding, open a doc stat and take some notes!
Meet The Crown Jewel of Wedding Planners: Amethyst Event Productions
Amethyst Event Productions is a full-service wedding design and management company based in Los Angeles, California. We started Amethyst Event Productions to pursue our passion for the extraordinary. We pride ourselves on making highly customized and unique events that promote sustainability and individuality. Our events are produced with the intention that each and every affair we’re involved with is inspiring, deliberate, and unforgettable.
Spill your expertise: What makes you an authority on wedding planning?
We are Jessica Gonzales and Deniz King, owners and lead planners of Amethyst Event Productions. We’ve been in the industry separately for 10 years and when we first came together we bonded over our mutual vision to produce creative and intentional events. Seeing a lack of creativity in the execution of weddings and a cookie-cutter approach inspired us to offer a different option. Ultimately, we know that all weddings are not one size fits all.
We specialize in planning vegan and sustainable weddings because it’s something we’re both really passionate about. As wedding planners, we’ve seen first hand how much waste can be produced with one event. Through our years of experience, we’ve learned ways to cut down on that waste without compromising your design. Our clients are on different levels of their eco journey, so we can make your wedding as sustainable as you’re comfortable with.
Even if wedding plans have changed, you can still plan an event that showcases your personality, highlights your love, and makes an impact. Here are Jess and Deniz’ five questions to ask a wedding planner. Let’s kick this off by zeroing in on your values.
1. Are My Values Important When Hiring A Wedding Planner?
Absolutely. We believe in working with people and creative partners who share the same values as us because it makes our working relationship so much more effective. One thing we are so proud to say is that our clients align with our values.
At Amethyst Event Productions, we care about the impact our industry has on the environment. On average, a wedding in Los Angeles with 100 – 200 guests produces around 500 pounds of waste. This waste ends up in landfills and in our oceans, and greatly impacts our environment and marine life. We have a passion for incorporating sustainability into events by minimizing waste, as well as promoting vegan and plant-focused weddings and events to lessen the impact on our planet.
We love to work with our clients to create a wedding that is sustainable + plant-based without compromising design. If this is something that is important to you, we can help incorporate sustainability into your wedding package with a dedicated sustainability meeting and a curated list of our industry partners with the same values – like florists who work with sustainable farms and caterers who specialize in zero waste – to create a truly mindful event.
2. Why Should I Hire A Wedding Planner?
Many times, couples don’t grasp the importance of hiring a wedding planner because they don’t fully understand what wedding planners do. But just as you would hire a professional like a doctor, electrician, or carpenter for other areas of your life, planning a wedding is no different.
Many times this will be the one and only time you plan a wedding so you have no idea what questions to ask a wedding planner or vendors, or where to even begin in the planning process. Hiring an expert will help you plan out and manage the details of one of the most impactful days of your life. We work hard to exceed our clients’ expectations and it’s important to find a wedding team that puts you first.
A wedding planner is especially helpful in these uncertain times. As questions and confusion surface, having wedding planners in your corner can ensure that the right questions get answered.
3. Do I Really Need A Wedding Planner If I Have A Venue Coordinator?
This is a question we heard hundreds of times when we worked at venues. Each of our careers began with us working for hotels and venues as coordinators and catering sales managers. Essentially, we know first hand how these roles differ from a wedding planner.
We love our industry venue coordinator colleagues and work well alongside them, but it’s important to know how they offer a different role to your wedding than we do as wedding planners. The most important thing to consider is just this.
At the end of the day, the venue coordinator works for the venue and has the venue’s best interest first and foremost. A wedding planner is a hired professional who works with your best interest at heart.
For venue coordinators on wedding days, part of their main focus is making sure that their staff doesn’t go into overtime, making sure the kitchen is meeting entree serve times and making sure vendors load in on time and don’t cause property damage. Whereas, when you hire us for wedding planning or wedding management, we have a strong handle on every aspect and detail of your wedding and ensure that everything we’ve discussed is executed to your expectations.
4. How Do You Give Back As A Wedding Planner?
This is an important question to ask to gauge where a prospective wedding planner’s values lie. We’re extremely passionate about giving back to the things that are important to us. We believe a sustainable, vegan lifestyle is an essential part of kindness toward animals which is why a portion of our Amethyst Wedding and Event Package proceeds is donated to Last Chance for Animals.
5. What Are Your Top Recommendations for Planning An Eco-Friendly Wedding?
There are so many ways to make your wedding eco-friendly. One way is to use a sustainable wedding invitation option that is web-based to send your invitations digitally to significantly reduce waste. Another way is to show your guests that sustainability can be beautiful by partnering with a florist who is committed to creating designs without floral foam and donating your floral centerpieces at the end of the night to give your flowers a second life.
Peep our guide for more tips on best practices for sustainable wedding flowers.
Final Two-Cents For Hiring A Wedding Planner?
Hiring a wedding planner is such an important decision. Trust is the key ingredient to a successful planning experience. With that in mind, we recommend you hire someone who understands your needs and you can trust to execute your vision to your expectations.
Our goal is to create a stress-free, enjoyable experience for our clients and we want you to hand over the difficult parts to us. Once that happens, you can have fun planning the biggest day of your life!
Many couples have been affected by COVID-19, and Deniz + Jessica have put together a helpful resource to help you make a plan of action for your big day.
About The Authors
Deniz is co-owner and lead planner of Amethyst Event Productions. As a native Chicagoan and city girl, she thrives in the fast-paced life of a wedding planner. Her background in PR and creative advertising led her to a career in special events, working at the city’s premier wedding venues. With a decade of experience under her belt, she puts her creativity, attention to detail and love for problem-solving to use for each of her clients.
Jess is co-owner and lead planner for Amethyst Event Productions. Ten years ago, she started working in hospitality, learning the ins-and-outs of providing a high level of service while simultaneously learning the art of working in overdrive. Her background in the events industry ranges from hotels to catering companies to venue management which is a huge asset to her clients because she’s hyper-organized, creative, responsive, and stays cool under pressure.
We are so inspired by Deniz and Jess’ mission to create sustainable AND Pinterest-worthy weddings! Amethyst Event Productions proves that amazing style doesn’t have to sabotage the planet. More importantly, your wedding is still the most important day of your life, even if it might be on a different date, or under different circumstances, than initially envisioned.
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