Our Plan + Style package ranges from providing assistance in key aspects of the wedding planning process to full wedding planning and coordination letting the couple relax and have the ease of selecting their favourite things without all the legwork!
Our full planning package removes all the pressure, making planning the wedding a pleasurable and enjoyable experience. This comprehensive service will leave couples free to enjoy and savour their special day.
We are also able to provide dreamy destination weddings having partnered with our international sister company, Isla & Smith, the wedding destination experts. We are able to provide the most beautiful, stress-free wedding in the destination of your dreams.
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After a decade in the business, I have launched my new venture – The Wedding School. The Wedding School is an educational platform designed to help teach, inspire and provide practical tools for existing wedding planners, those looking to break into the industry, and DIY brides and grooms. Comprising workshops, educational films, regular newsletters and informational products and resources, our couples will get the lowdown on what it takes to plan a wedding, going behind the scenes of a real-life wedding planning business. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, The Wedding School, to get started on your DIY planning journey today!" Danielle tells.
how and when was white + white weddings born?
It was after attending a friend’s wedding in Fiji 10 years ago and being thrown into an on-the-day coordination role that I discovered my love for weddings. It was that lightbulb moment where I just knew that this was the path I was meant to take. Taking my skills from previous marketing roles, I was able to relocate to the US to hone my wedding and event planning skills.
Gaining extensive experience overseas and working with leaders in the wedding industry, I was in excellent stead to return to the Brisbane market with skills and abilities that could take my business idea to the next level. I had noticed a rising trend in wedding planning in Sydney and Melbourne and knew that would soon move over to Brisbane – it was the perfect time to get my own business off the ground. That is when, in May 2009, I launched white+white weddings and events and have never looked back.
how and when was white + white weddings born?
It was after attending a friend’s wedding in Fiji 10 years ago and being thrown into an on-the-day coordination role that I discovered my love for weddings. It was that lightbulb moment where I just knew that this was the path I was meant to take. Taking my skills from previous marketing roles, I was able to relocate to the US to hone my wedding and event planning skills.
Gaining extensive experience overseas and working with leaders in the wedding industry, I was in excellent stead to return to the Brisbane market with skills and abilities that could take my business idea to the next level. I had noticed a rising trend in wedding planning in Sydney and Melbourne and knew that would soon move over to Brisbane – it was the perfect time to get my own business off the ground. That is when, in May 2009, I launched white+white weddings and events and have never looked back.
Planning a wedding is a unique process for every Bride and Groom – it can be hard to know what to expect! One of our beautiful brides has shared the wedding planning process from her perspective. From being drunk on love in the proposal phase to feeling the weight of the world in the lead up. Newly engaged? This read will give you an honest and raw insight into what’s to come.
1. The high stage. Drunk on love and the words from my fiancé that he wanted to set a date. After so long, this was it, we were doing it. The excitement of announcing a date, finding a venue and making contact with you. The brainstorming and booking suppliers stage. Feeling like I’d just secured a stress-free day by hiring a professional bridesmaid of sorts. At this stage I didn’t realise how good my friends were and how many people love a wedding! I thought “nope, we’ve got this covered. Danielle and her team will be my new BFFs and all will be sweet as on the day”.
2. The lull. The calm before the storm stage. This is when I probably disconnected from reality and was completely stress-free. Wedding? What wedding? Oh, I’m sure it’s happening sometime but I’m sure things are ticking along quietly in the background. Not sure at this stage why I hired a wedding planner - this stuff seems pretty easy. I guess we’ll just turn up on the day now and everything is done? I’d bought the dress, seen the length of the train and decided I better enlist a bridesmaid and maid of honour so that I’d have someone to haul that mother load of tulle behind me, if need be. Time was ticking on ever so slowly and my brain was hungry, so I re-enrolled in Law because who doesn’t need an expensive academic hobby the year they get married?
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3. The lead up. The stressful stage. The “I wonder if any bride has ever died of natural causes (heart failure) from stress related to a wedding” stage. The emails started to ramp up. Bills and invoices from suppliers came in. I started to realise how good the Groom seemed to have it. I took over the payment of the bills sometimes because paying them made me think that it was all sweet, one less thing to worry about so everything was going to be fine. I had a Hen’s Weekend and started to worry how I was ever going to fit into my wedding dress with the amount of Veuve and Hen’s Party cake I had consumed. Reality was creeping in. I learnt the value of a hair and makeup trial and how to break up with a supplier. I learnt why indeed it is deemed a “trial” and started to take comfort in knowing that I could feel like a princess on the day because the second hair and makeup trials had been a success. I was confident. If all else failed, at least I would look good.
Last minute dance lessons were booked. A honeymoon was rapidly arranged. Study was going well but was making me a bit of a cranky mum and an insomniac of a fiancé. I was feeling like I was carrying the load of the world on my shoulders and Mr Right just wasn’t doing enough. I was not feeling like my stress was heard enough so I offloaded onto him many times via text or verbally, just in case he hadn’t heard me the first time! He began to try and step up where he could.
At this time, I wasn’t really aware of what was happening. I was a bit of an ostrich with my head firmly planted in textbooks and my biggest worry being gaining weight from stress and not fitting into my wedding dress still being my number 1 fear.
Last minute dance lessons were booked. A honeymoon was rapidly arranged. Study was going well but was making me a bit of a cranky mum and an insomniac of a fiancé. I was feeling like I was carrying the load of the world on my shoulders and Mr Right just wasn’t doing enough. I was not feeling like my stress was heard enough so I offloaded onto him many times via text or verbally, just in case he hadn’t heard me the first time! He began to try and step up where he could.
At this time, I wasn’t really aware of what was happening. I was a bit of an ostrich with my head firmly planted in textbooks and my biggest worry being gaining weight from stress and not fitting into my wedding dress still being my number 1 fear.
4. The Wedding Day. It was here. The night before went well. Nothing unremarkable. The day of, I woke up calm. Everything that I thought mattered, didn’t really. The stylists turned up on time. Hair and makeup began. If I was ever unsure about where to be and when, I referred to your run sheet and that gave me the confidence in the day’s timing. We were ready early. This was the first sign that the event was well-organised and the first time that I got an inkling that having a wedding planner was like having a hen that lays golden eggs. It was like I could stop holding my breath and behaving.
I could release and just enjoy the day. I remember thinking then that there was no way on God’s earth, had all the prep and planning been left to me, that I would have got to the ceremony on time. I was nervous but surrounded by beautiful, confident, happy, intelligent women who eased my nerves and helped me to stay calm and feel like the bride who is happy and not stressed. I remember feeling a sigh of relief when we were ahead of schedule. The weather, thankfully, was gorgeous that day – not too hot, cold or windy.
The ceremony happened. I don’t remember my vows. I couldn’t tell you what guests were where. I just used my Groom as my touchstone and focused on looking at him. I am grateful for our videographers who captured our day. That is the beauty of you though, Danielle. I didn’t know where you were, but you were there. Quietly working away in the background, making sure things ran smoothly and to plan.
The reception: the wow moment! When we fully took in all that you had done for us and it all came together. The night ran smoothly. The staff were amazing, the food was great and the guests were well-behaved. I couldn’t have asked for a better night. Your attention to detail and that of your helpers is second to none. In the middle of the night, once back at our hotel, I woke up wondering where certain things were. Thinking that surely, they had been left behind in the toilet. Nope, it was all there. You are like an angel. You are the fairy godmother for Brides! I checked a bag that somehow had ended up in the hotel room and everything that we needed was in it. We went to bed on a high that night, singing your praises more than once.
The day after, the days into the following week – each time we would hop in the car and drive somewhere we would do this wedding debrief thing. There was nothing we would change, and it has to be attributed to you.
5. The post wedding comedown and event analysis stage. We reflected on how the last-minute addition of confetti cannons really blew us away. A small thing, but a big “wow” because we weren’t expecting it, didn’t know how they worked and were totally taken back by them. We discussed how the Groom wasn’t quite keen on the champagne tower, yet on the night, the room went eerily quiet when we poured into the top of the tower and how special that moment actually was.
I learnt the process and stages of organising a wedding, and why our marriage has to work because there is no way I ever want to go through all this again! It was a magical day truly thanks to you, Danielle. I sincerely hope I am never a wedding client again – I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it again! I take my hat off to you and how you have the ability to do one wedding after the next.
You are so grounded and seem to enjoy your job. You get stuff done without fanfare. I don’t know how you find the energy to be in the business you are. My Husband and I have nothing but the utmost respect for you. We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to work with you, share our journey with you and have the most beautiful wedding day.
advice:
It is so important to choose a wedding planner and stylist that understands your unique relationship and vision for your day. Research online by looking through Pinterest, Instagram and different wedding planners’ websites to see what is out there in your area and schedule a consultation with each. Go into these meetings with a clear vision in mind (a vision board created off Pinterest and Instagram is always great!) and see how you feel about each of the businesses you meet with.
Looking through a planner and stylist’s Pinterest and Instagram pages will give you a good idea of the kind of skills they have in creating a beautiful setting and also what kind of styles they have successfully executed in the past. This way you will have a better idea of who may be best suited to carry out your unique vision.
do you have a prediction for any upcoming 2020 wedding styles?
2020 - I can see the continuation of lots of texture and tactile tablescapes. Laying with gorgeous linens and stylish dinnerware such as two tone cutlery, coloured plates and handblown glassware.
The pantone colour for next year is living coral so lots of muted tones will be popular amongst our designs. Hanging installations will take on a new dimension including the addition of balloons and pendant lighting.
tell us about the best part about what you do:
My favourite part of any wedding is seeing the months and months of hard work come together to create an exquisite day a couple and their nearest and dearest will never forget. Looking down the aisle at the emotion that hits the Groom as his Bride walks down the aisle towards him is such a special moment that makes the months of stress and planning all worth it.
