Richmond Weddings — Blog — One Sweet Day in May

A gorgeous, just-about-summer-day is where this love story takes place. Corrin and MJ were married at the incomparable Big Spring Farm in Lexington, Virginia and well, let's just say years from now I will still look back on this wedding with all the heart eyes.

People made this wedding what it was as I was 37 weeks pregnant with Caroline at the time and need to once again shout out to my amazing assistant (also named Caroline) and Madison for overhauling day- of- management and doing it so flawlessly. The ceremony space included dozens and dozens of feet of garland along the aisle and the arbor was draped in delicate chiffon ivory fabric. The reception barn was filled with farm tables adorned with blush, mauve, and burgundy florals and garlands made of bay leaves and ruscus. Guests were treated to a delicious cuisine of different types of tacos and several types of desserts. The real magic though, seeing Corrin and MJ become husband and wife surrounded by those closest to them. Again, I will always always love this stunningly remarkable wedding and cannot thank Corrin enough for allowing me to intimately be involved in all the processes of planning this beautiful day. It was truly a blessing.

Enjoy these images from Natalie Jayne

Vendors:

Planning, Design, Florals - One Sweet Day in May

Catering - Stone House Catering

Videography- Joshua Bryan Cinema

HMUA- Hello Darling Beauty

DJ- DJ Squirrel

Invitations- ETSY

Calligraphy- Making it Marley

Rentals- MS Events

Ribbon- Ruffled Lane

Photography - Natalie Jayne Photography

Ceremony and Reception Venue - Big Spring Farm

Let's talk today about wedding week workflow, shall we? I will admit that I am type B kind of girl and work the best under pressure. However, this may have worked for me in college with term papers and finals, but not so much when you have a big beautiful wedding on your hands. Figuring out the best time management strategies for myself come wedding week has been a game changer. Everyone has different ways of setting up their workflow, these ways I'm about to share just work great for me; I'd love to hear some of your ideas too! So let's dive into it!

I place my floral orders about two weeks in advance. Maybe a little longer if I need something a little exotic or out of the box. This way I don't have to worry about not being able to get something in time, and if something is wrong, I have plenty of time to work it out and not feel stressed. Two weeks out is when I make sure I have everything I need supply wise too and if anything needs to be constructed installation wise, now is the time when that happens. If something needs to be built or made, I know it will be done well before those gorgeous blooms arrive. If I have multiple wedding months like this upcoming Fall, my calendar needs to be scheduled to the minute to make sure I'm not leaving anything out for a wedding. For example, I'll take a Monday and use the morning to work on nonperishable items for one wedding and the afternoon to work on something for the next wedding. This way I'm not leaving anything till last minute. Timing is everything, my friends. I also use this time to confirm timelines with my brides regarding set up time so I can know well in advance what time loading needs to happen and when we need to be on the road to the venue.
A few extra things I get together two weeks out are lists of everything. For example.
1. List of my floral orders so I know if I'm missing anything.
2. List of vases and inventory I will be using.
3. List of the wedding day timeline.
4. List of pieces that needed.

MONDAYS

Once we get into wedding week, the fun begins! During wedding weeks, I usually have my vacation responder on my email and my wedding becomes my priority. Mondays are when I get buckets ready and prepare the ribbon for the bouquets. I also wipe down all the inventory I'll need and get all my supplies in place. This way when my flowers arrive, I can attend to them right away

TUESDAYS

Tuesdays are when my first floral order usually comes. These typically include all the greens I'll need and any hearty roses I want to allow to open before a Saturday wedding. If I have a Sunday wedding, this schedule moves back a day. A Friday wedding, it shifts forward a day. Tuesdays are when I get all my vases ready with either chicken wire or foam. The processing of flowers starts this day too. I like to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon doing this. Then I "green out" all my centerpieces. That means I put in all the greenery for each piece so I can place flowers in accordingly on Wednesday and Thursday!

WEDNESDAYS

Wednesdays are when the bulk of my orders arrive. I take a few hours to process and then knock out as many centerpieces as I can before the end of the day. I like to try and get about half of them done so I know I have a good head start on Thursday.

THURSDAYS

Thursday is centerpiece day and knowing I have half of them done from Wednesday, I'm not stressed and can enjoy the day designing without feeling rushed. Priceless my friends. If everything goes according to schedule, they are wrapped up by 5 pm, and I can enjoy my evening with my little family. Working into the night during wedding week is bound to happen from time to time. I just like to make it a point to stick to work hours as much as possible. It's better for my piece of mind and overall well being the week of a wedding.

FRIDAYS

Fridays are bouquet days. I like to start with the bridal bouquet. It's my favorite (of course), and it just starts my day on the best note. Bridal bouquets sometimes take hours and doing them on Friday mornings allow me ample time to get it perfect. Doing it first also lets me make sure Once the star of the show is complete I move on to bridesmaid bouquets. These tend to be less involved and smaller, but still take up a few hours. I like to place ribbons on bouquets once I arrive at the venue, so the don't get soaked with water during transit. Once bouquets are completed, I move onto small personals. This category includes boutonnieres, flower crowns, and corsages. These need to be made last since they are the most perishable and need to be delivered at their freshest. On Friday evenings, loading begins. Anything non-perishable gets put in the cars the night before so that all I need to do the morning of the event is load the florals.

I think the key for time management for the week of a wedding is finding what works best for you and your team. It took over a year for me to finally nail down a schedule that didn't leave me rushing and stressed. My brides deserve the very best work and the utmost professionalism from me, and that starts with planning a schedule and timeline that works for me. A detailed and curated workflow that allows me to wake up on a wedding day feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day is priceless.

Happy Fall season y'all!

Warmly,
Michelle