In this episode of Now That I'm Engaged, How Do I Get Married?, Kevin Dennis and August Yocher sit down with Irene, founder of Irene + Co Events, to discuss the invisible logistics behind a seamless wedding day and why thoughtful planning goes far beyond beautiful design.

Irene shares how luxury weddings are built through preparation and exceptional guest experiences. She covers everything from transportation mishaps and detailed timelines to vendor collaboration and contingency planning. Irene explains the countless behind-the-scenes decisions that allow couples to fully enjoy their wedding day without worrying about what could go wrong.

If you're wondering whether you need a wedding planner or want a better understanding of what goes into creating a smooth, stress-free celebration, this episode is packed with practical advice and insider insights.

Irene is the founder of Irene + Co Events, a luxury wedding planning and design studio serving New York, Connecticut, and Utah. A TEDx speaker and WeddingPro Educator, Irene is known for creating storytelling-driven celebrations and has been featured in People Magazine, The Knot, Carats & Cake, The Los Angeles Times, and more.

Highlights:

• Why logistics are the foundation of a successful wedding
• The hidden work planners handle behind the scenes
• Creating a seamless guest experience from start to finish
• Building realistic wedding timelines that reduce stress
• Why vendor communication and collaboration matter
• What couples should know before hiring a wedding planner

Connect with Irene:

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Connect with Kevin & August:

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All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Now That I'm Engaged, How Do I Get Married? And we have Irene from Irene and Co. Events. And she's here today to talk to us about luxury logistics, the invisible work behind exceptional events. I got it without messing it up. So I I know.

Woo Yeah, no stumbling.

You did it.

I stumbled when we practiced. Anyway, all right, Irene, tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today.

Absolutely. first of all, thanks for having me. Super excited

Of course.

to be here. my name's Irene from Irene & Co Events. I am a wedding planner with offices in Utah, Connecticut, and New York. And I'm also a mom of twins. So kind of planning life and all of my staff and then people's weddings is an art in itself, I find.

How old are your twins, just out of curiosity?

They're five. They're gonna start kindergarten in a couple of weeks.

that's

Yay.

exciting. Your life will forever change once school starts, so

I'm so excited. They're so excited. We've been practicing bus routes and honestly we couldn't be more thrilled.

Aw.

Yeah, I love it. All right, we're gonna dive in to our topic here today. So, Irene, when couples hear the word luxury events, they often think about beautiful design, expensive details. So what does luxury mean to you beyond what guests can actually see?

I think to me, I mean, in this day and age and in this economy, I think having a wedding with guests is a luxury in many ways. So

Mm.

at any at any level that you're doing a wedding, if you are spending money and investing into an experience for you and your guests, that is luxury. Let's just baseline that there. When people think about luxury or ultra luxury weddings, we are really going into that.

300, 500, 700 to a million dollar weddings. That's when I think luxury is when we're over that $300,000 mark. That's when

Mm.

the details become more personalized. The experience with your clients become a lot more gentle and hands-on and very high touch. Because it's not just about like how thick the linens were or how great the paper was, but it's truly about how personal every single detail was, not just for the two of them, but

For all of their guests. That's when luxury really starts hitting that mark.

Mm. Makes sense.

Yeah, the feeling itself.

Yeah, it makes sense.

Yeah.

Yeah. So you've talked about like the invisible work behind an exceptional wedding. So what do you think are some of the things that happen behind the scenes that couples don't even realize that their planner is managing?

man, I feel like half of my job I it's almost like that iceberg theory. You only see the tip of it.

yes, yes.

And there is a giant block of ice of work that me and my team are executing in the background. Whether it's constant follow-ups and communication with vendors prior to the event, whether it's managing timelines with different family member requests, not just the couple's requests, and really managing

Mm.

those emotions with logistics is really hard.

But also on the day of. I mean, we just had a wedding this weekend that had someone have a total disaster of a nightmare of a breakdown. And we had to find transportation for 150 people with about a 15 minutes notice. And

Ooh.

that that's that's like the invisible work that you're paying a planner to do is

Yeah.

when things really hit the fan, who is actually picking up those pieces and who is making sure that the resources are in place to be able to execute on the day of?

as well as after the day and making it all seamless to give you still a great experience and recover. It's it's a lot. It's honestly a lot. Again, you only see

It is.

the tip of the iceberg.

Yeah. Well and were you successful in getting everyone moved? Yeah, what'd you do? Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, what'd you do? What'd you do?

Okay, small story time because it's so fresh off the boat.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah.

we had 150 people staying about 45 minutes from the venue for their wedding, and transportation just did not hit the mark, unfortunately, and we had to get 150 guests down the mountain to their final destination. Luckily, we

We're able to switch things around in the timeline, start with a different cocktail hour, give a

Mm.

little bit more breath onto things. And we lost about an hour and forty-five minutes in our normal timeline. And

Mm-hmm.

it was a little chaotic, but we ordered so many Ubers. I called private hotels that were nearby to give

Yeah.

their private transportation that they would have done for only their guests. I called all my favors in and I was like, everyone needs to get to this hotel. This is what I need.

And we had like 25, 30 cars there within like 20 minutes to get everyone there.

wow. That's impressive.

Wow.

no small task for all of us, but that's the kind of crazy logistics

No, no, that's a big lift. That's a big lift. Yeah.

No.

that had to ensue. But we were very, very fortunate and very lucky to have such a great team that as soon as we heard what was happening and what the call was, that it was a full on jump to action kind of moment to be able to get everyone there. Our ceremony started still on time, miraculously, and the rest of the

Wow.

Yeah, that's impressive.

night

we caught right up to the perfect timeline at the rest of the night. So that's

Yeah. That's impressive.

that's some invisible work. No one's gonna

Yeah.

ever really understand what happened.

No.

No

And it's just the

benefit of having a planner too. Like I mean, I think people think, yeah, I can do all the planning myself, but then it's also the day of, like when, you know, ultimately sh*t

Yeah.

sometimes hits the fan. Like who's gonna be the one that manages all of that and the chaos?

No, that's so true.

for sure.

So true. All right. So Irene, what's an example of something that can look completely effortless to a guest, but actually requires a huge amount of planning and coordination.

Other than what we just talked about.

definitely a It's

Yeah.

okay. I'm gonna have PTSD for a long time. I think something that really looks so effortless but requires so much coordination is a table layout and like a guest layout for dinner or a reception. The

I agree.

Mm-hmm.

the amount of intricacies involved that it's not only about the design of

what table is where but and how these tables interact with each other but you have an emotional element of where

Mm.

the guests actually seat and how the couples are arranging their guests appropriately that can be a lot of pressure on the couple too

Mm-hmm.

and it's one of those pressures I try to alleviate but I don't know your guests like I've never seen a hundred and 150 of these people so that

Yeah.

can be very complicated and then we add the layer of catering that we want to give a personalized experience to every guest seated at

table, which means I need to know dietary restrictions, I need to know what preferences you have, if there's any sort of major allergies or hey, there's only this whiskey I would like with dinner. Those kinds of things I make notes on every single guest coming so that that

Mm-hmm.

server can really hone in and give a five-star experience.

That's amazing.

Well and how early on in the planning process do those logistical type things start happening?

from day one. I just had

Yeah.

a we call our priorities meeting is our first call with a couple. We just had one yesterday and we're going over this is how the seating assignment works. This is all the information we have a whole year or two years to find and figure out for everyone. I want to know your guest. I don't just want to know you and it's a whole thing. So I try to learn the guest in pieces. So I know

Mm.

Mm.

them from their addresses of regionally where they're from, when we're doing save the dates.

Wow.

Mm-hmm.

And then I

start piecemealing, okay, we might have heavier drinkers because they're from here, or I see there's some people from Asia, so maybe we should tailor the menu a little bit more to something that they're comfortable with, and things

Mm-hmm.

like that. So throughout the process, I'm thinking about the guest experience the entire way and how it interacts logistically with catering. But also my favorite thing is linens. So I'm like, what does the table look like? And will these people appreciate it based on regions or backgrounds or the couple?

and their story. So it's really important for me to factor in everything the entire time and build something in layers rather than just waiting till the end.

Wow, that's that's honestly really above and beyond like thinking about guests in a regional way too. Like you really are thinking about the individuals, not just the group as a whole.

I think when we order things for specifically for a bar, it a hundred percent matters where the guests are coming from. If

Yeah.

I have a full guest list from California coming to Utah, that is an entirely different bar order than if I have people coming from New York. Like there are very clear expectations

Mm-hmm.

that we have that we've seen just doing so many destination weddings. We want to make sure everyone's

Yeah.

comfortable and really have what they need or what they would expect.

I know us Californians we're a pain. So anyway.

What do we order?

I would say us

I don't know. I'm trying to like think.

New Yorker us New Yorkers are a lot too,

don't worry.

All right. So Irene, how how much does the venue itself impact the logistics of a wedding?

oh man, I think if you're not at the right venue from the start, you've just stabbed yourself in the foot and you're just gonna

Mm.

be going uphill. You really need to pick a venue that matches your priorities first. So some

Mm.

people will come to me with their date and their venue and then explain their priorities. And sometimes I have to backtrack them to say, hey, that doesn't work here. So it's so much

Mm, mm.

better and so much nicer when we get to do a venue discovery together and I get to guide them based on their priorities.

the venues that are really gonna fit their guest count and their needs and wants and expectations.

Yeah, makes a lot of sense 'cause it cracks me up because a lot of times we'll, you know, 'cause we do a lot of draping and lighting and chandeliers.

Mm-hmm.

But there's client

Which is incredible.

well, thank you. But clients come to us and they're like, We want to drape the entire room and I'm like, Why I why are we even here? You know, like why do we pick this venue if we don't want anyone to see what it looks like? You know, we could be at a tent in a parking lot somewhere and no it it would look the same and feel the same. You know, I don't it just kinda makes me laugh when people do that. So I agree with you a hundred percent.

I love venues

Yeah.

with so much character that when you

yeah.

Yeah.

cover the whole world, I'm like, well, we just lost so much architecture. Like, w why?

Yeah. Well, and

Yeah.

some of it like you know, draping a backdrop or some things I I get, but when we or a wall,

That's different. Yeah.

sometimes I get the wall, but when we do the entire room I'm just like, What are we doing here? So anyway.

Yeah, there

has to be a separate element in that room. So for example, we did a full drape, full carpet install. It the room was unrecognizable

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

at at the end of the time. But we chose that venue because of the ceremony location on a deck

Yeah.

over the mountain and everyone

Mm.

being able to stay on property. So it was

Mm-hmm.

there was a priorities and a need for things, but it still made sense at the end of the day. It wasn't just like, We are here, please cover it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So like those couples that come to you and they already have a venue and a date in mind, what kind of questions do you typically ask them to help them find those priorities or come to realize like, yes, maybe this venue is the right fit versus maybe we need to steer in a different direction?

I think we're definitely talking about your guest count and what are the realistic amount of people that you want to show up. I'm talking about whether they have a priority of a band or a DJ or musicians, so I know how much of that square footage is being taken up by a stage or tech tables

Mm.

or any regard. I'm also talking about like catering expectations. Do you have very specific cultural or regional things that you would really like? And are those caterers allowed in that?

Space. That's a really big one for us.

Yeah.

We do a lot of mixed culture weddings, so it's important that all of those things can be customized throughout the process. And then I'm also asking about their experience like getting ready and what they want to feel at the end of the night when the party's over. So I know would do they want to be on property, do they not want to be on property? Are we having transportation involved? This is all like guest experience and logistics that are not the sexy fun thing.

Yeah.

of

what color your linens are, but it's important

No, yeah.

that if a bride naturally or any couple could naturally get really car sick, why would I want her getting ready off property to then go in a bus to go to a venue? We just we

Yeah, makes sense.

just ruined your experience. So it's a lot of little intricacies that I want to know about them to make sure that I'm crafting the space around them.

Right. Let's talk about vendor communication. How much coordination happens between like a planner and the different venues before the day of the wedding?

oh man, I've never counted my email threads, but this is why there's a minimum

Yeah.

of a one year a one

Yeah.

year mark. I think to give you a taste of vendor communication, we manage as a team about 16 weddings for next season that we're doing. And every

Wow.

single morning I am waking up to at a minimum 103, 105 emails just in my inbox. And then I have my team's inboxes that we're constantly

my goodness.

filtering every day. So

communication and that skill and that being understanding of like time management to respond to people quickly at a very high level is imperative in what we do.

Makes it makes a lot a bit of planning here and there's been

Yeah. And just making sure the communication is on point too. Cause I mean, we do a bit of planning here and there's been many times where

and I'm sure you've dealt with it in the past, couples are communicating different things to different vendors and we end up with different timelines. But we just wanted to ask from your perspective, what happens when vendors aren't communicating with each other or everyone has like a slightly different idea of what the plan is.

Yeah, I think having your planner be like the North Star of this is the final say is gonna be really important. However, I really believe in collaboration. I've been doing this

Yes.

for eleven years and I have been on all sides. I have a very strong production background and my team has a very strong catering background. So we know every in and out of what they're gonna need before they ask for it.

So thankfully we're able to control the narrative of the logistics to make sure it's very successful for everyone. But if I'm working with a vendor who maybe is not as seasoned or we haven't had that relationship yet, we better believe there are multiple venue visits involved. They are multiple calls of like, hey, let's just catch up on expectations for the two of us. How can we make this better for you? Because I always want to make sure that they understand that I have their best interest in mind.

But I need to follow the couple's expectations and we need to be aligned and not sending mixed signals because that's when

Mm.

emotions can run high and stress can start entering the process is when there

Yeah.

is no North Star of that planner leaving it.

Well, and I'm gonna pick on photographers here, but it's generally the photographer decides to go rogue and it it ruins everything 'cause it's like, dude, listen to the plan- like let's follow the plan- like let's follow the boss. You know, like and it just it just makes for a a much easier stress free wedding when like you said, when there is we're following that one North Star. So it makes yeah.

Absolutely. And I think

some some people do it better than others in every regard. And I think it's a learning experience how we go naturally. But I think everyone wants a relationship with the couple. So that way when they're serving the couple, they can feel connected,

Yes.

do their best work, and be creative. And some planners don't allow that. And I understand why I'm not like that. and I

Yeah.

Mm.

can see where photographers and videographers or even DJs will just

Mm-hmm.

go rogue and try to have that relationship because that's what they really need. So I I can see where the tendencies come from, but I try to reassure

No. Yeah.

all of my vendors like, trust me, you're gonna know them, you're gonna love them. We're gonna have calls. Don't go rogue, please.

No,

and you bring up a good point 'cause it's so much better when there's a team approach to where there's

Yeah.

a a dictator, you know, running you know what I'm saying? But when we all

Yeah.

go in it together or we're all on one team, you know, team couple and you know, things go so much smoother. But yeah, I I i i you have a good point about like when it's not collaborative there. So

Yeah, and I agree on the collaborative aspect too, because we're experts, but so are they, right, in their own field. So it is good to ask them questions and lean on them and their expertise, but yeah, still at the same time having that North Star. So we can all do our best work while all still being on the same page.

Yeah, makes sense.

All right, Irene, how do you build a timeline that actually works rather than one that just looks good on paper?

we start with a very basic structure of things we know are going to happen, like what is going on the invitation? What

Mm.

time are we telling the world first? And then we will slowly start building it out. I think our timelines start at a half a page a year out. By the end of the year, it's probably three to four pages because of how detailed and time sensitive everything is going to be. But I have everything there that everyone's going to need in regards to all right, it's catering's turn.

what times do they need for the kitchen? Great. Okay, now it's musicians' turn. What times do they need for sound check and such? And I'm

Mm-hmm.

working almost backwards category by category to make sure everything interacts appropriately. We have venue access appropriately for everyone. And people feel that there's some transparency that even though you as production don't really care about the catering schedule. Like you don't need to

Mm-hmm.

know when dinner's there, but knowing that it's happening around you is really helpful.

I agree.

Because

when you're loading in and such, I mean you can be very mindful of, hey, I'm sharing this space at this time. Okay, great.

Yeah.

Let's make sure that we're collected at this time so everyone else can work around my road cases and such. So

Yeah.

it's a lot of transparency and nitty gritty follow up and details that we do pretty regularly.

And it's funny, I love that you said you build it out to like three to four pages when it's all said and done. I once or I I I would work with a planner regularly that his timelines were on average forty five to fifty-five pages. Like average.

No, no.

And it was just like No, yeah, no, no, that no, that's that's the timeline

Maybe the whole BEO, not just my timeline.

Yeah

we would get as, you know, working for that.

planner and it was just like I would be like flip where are we? You know, like and it was just a lot to keep track too

Right, too much information.

there there there's like a point where it's too little and then there's too much. And I there's like gotta be a blend. But yeah, for 45

Yeah.

to 55 page like it just and I would get stressed every time I would work with this planner because I knew because

no.

of the timeline. And there but meanwhile I

It's coming.

I absolutely loved the planner. He was

Fabulous to work with and a lot of fun. And it just his timeline would stress me out every time. So

I think there is a fine balance in terms of our BEOs. Yes, our BEOs

are longer, but I'm not sending

Yeah. yeah.

A thousand percent, yeah.

I'm not sending that to the whole world. That is wow, what anxiety. No thank you.

No. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, it was.

Yeah. What in the past, like what are some of the biggest timeline mistakes that you've seen couples make or maybe some inexperienced planners make in the past?

Yeah, I think underestimating how much time it takes to get into a wedding dress. that is a - or a bustle.

Mm.

Yes. Or bustle.

yes. I yep, those are two great ones that could derail by 30 minutes or so if you don't plan accordingly.

Mm-hmm.

I would also say a quick way to derail a timeline is not sharing it with your family beforehand. I always

Mm.

encourage my couples to have and I give it to them, a brief

timeline of expectations for the family to know so that they can be on it when it comes to family photos, what time dinner is, knowing when the ceremony is, because they are so nervous and they haven't been involved in this whole process that jumping in, they just want to do what's right. They just want to support

Yeah.

the couple, but they don't know what's too much or too little. And if you don't communicate ahead of time, you could derail a timeline very quickly

Mm.

by mismanaged expectations.

So true.

Yeah. And it kind of puts less work on the vendor team too, because they're prepared and the vendor team isn't employed into gathering everybody at all those times. 'Cause that's one thing we've been trying to tell our couples too, is like the photos always are crazy. So we've been having like a designated family member help be the Wrangler for those people because sometimes

Yeah.

They're just running off in different directions and they don't know that things are happening.

We actually implemented about two years ago a people manager on our team. So there's one

person who is literally

I love that.

just in charge of people and

Mm.

can triage as needed. They're reading the shot

Yes.

list out, all of the things. So that way we can focus on production and timeline and logistics. And when things hit the fan, we can take care of it without sacrificing the people advantage

I love that.

of things. It's it's game changing. I recommend it for every planner, every couple. Please have a people manager.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I've never heard

of that, but that's such a great idea.

Yeah,

it's fabulous. All right. So things run long or you know, like how how do you build buffer time in in to the timeline so where couples can really, you know, feel comfortable on their wedding day?

I think my timelines are very exact. So I'm saying

Okay.

8:05 first dance, 8:10 toast, like a very, very, very exact. but within that, we all know this is our expectation, this is our goal. There is has to be some fluidity in regards to what happens in between how we manage people and making sure that emotions and guest experience still remain our north

Mm-hmm.

star of how we want to operate things. So

There are built-in buffers. So for example, getting a dress on, I factor in about 45 minutes. Really only need 30, but there's

Mm.

15 minutes built in. for hair and makeup, there's a buffer of 30 minutes at all times in our timeline. So if it runs long, it technically did it. It's gonna be fine. And some when it runs perfectly on time, we end up an hour earlier than the ceremony. But there's a whole

hour factored in in all these little places that things could go wrong.

You could go hug your parents. You could have a surprise gift from your partner that showed up and you want to take 15 minutes to yourself because it's emotional. We want to

Mm-hmm.

build in that time for them to feel everything and more on their wedding morning before we get to the ceremony and get there without like, my gosh, are we late? It's like, no, actually we plan for all of this to happen. That's gonna be completely fine.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah, and

if not, like an extra hour is super nice to have to just like

Right.

spend time with family and friends and the wedding party. So no one would be upset about an extra little hour. So yeah.

Yeah. No one would be. You got more photos,

like w who would ever be upset about that?

No.

Yeah.

Yeah. So nice to plan in advance. And funny, I feel like this kind this question kind of goes back to your first story, but what's something that is as simple as like transportation or load-in or setup that couples might not realize can completely affect the timeline, the day of?

Well, prior to my experience, I've always said to my couples, transportation is not an afterthought vendor. It's a high expense item, highly

Yes,

logistical, and it could really make or break your guest experience if not done well. Point in case. so it's

Yes, yes.

Mm-hmm.

very, very not sexy to handle and not a sexy topic to talk about. But those aspects really make or break the entire event from a transportation

Yeah.

perspective.

hiring a caterer that's well repu have a well reputation and really

Mm-hmm.

knows that venue is a big one. There are

Mm-hmm.

little things and intricacies that this is why we have a preferred vendor list. This is why we work in the places that we do is because we can only ensure the quality if we can control who is a part of it, who is not a part of it. Now with that, I am an open book and always welcome new people into the fold with stipulations of are you insured?

Are you a real

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

business? Do you have a real team, not a temp agency associated with you? And is this your first wedding at the venue or not? None of those answers are always correct or incorrect, but we need to be open to collaboration and embracing new people while

Yes.

still maintaining a very high quality for our reputation.

No. No, and and you you could work at a wedding with a pl like f we have planners that we work with all the time that ha have brought us into a venue that we've never worked at because they we have a relationship and trust. So there's there's like there's all kinds of different ways. Like you said, there's not a right answer to that question. So

There there isn't, but I because I have three offices and I primarily work in like Newport, Rhode Island,

Mm-hmm.

Connecticut, New York, and Utah, I actually fly vendors back and forth all the time. E

Yeah.

just because you're in

do you?

one market, my goodness, it's my favorite thing. just

Yeah.

because you're in one market doesn't mean you're not right for this couple. You might be the perfect person. And I'm like, Great, I have a relationship with you. I know you're gonna do a great job. Can I please fly you here to do it?

And

Yeah.

we do it all the time.

Yeah, makes sense. All right. So Irene, what are some of your favorite emergency kit or like problem solving tools that have saved you on the wedding day?

Our team just did an entire overhaul. So I love that you're asking this.

perfect.

can't wait.

Our list has been updated and it's quite nice. I think things we always have, of course, a mini sewing kit that is pre-looped or pre-like threaded with white thread.

Wow, ja.

Mm.

So as soon as I feel like right after first dance, I've sewn more dresses on the dance floor than I can count.

wow.

So

I had

to sew a groomsmen's pants

It's right after

once. That was crazy. He ripped his pants in

No.

the middle.

I can't. that reminds me too. I right after first dance, she's breaking it down. Now we realize the capacity of this dress. And I am quickly sewing

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

all of the things that possibly go wrong. So that's one moment.

Mm-hmm.

Also, a new one this year was shoe glue. I've had a shoe sole fully come off

Mm-hmm.

for one of the groomsmen. And I we went back and

Wow.

opened all of the glue and we got some shoe glue. That's a new one that's like.

It always has to be in the kit, of something to do. Also for my ladies, not only boob tape like nipple covers, 'cause I find bridesmaids always forget that and then are very self conscious. So

Yeah.

Yes.

personal hygiene things as well.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

That makes sense.

I've had the shoe issue before with a guest. Yeah, and we didn't have shoe glue, but and I felt so bad because we tried all the glue that we had. Like I think we had gorilla glue and hot glue, and I spent like 30 minutes just like pushing

Yeah.

this shoe together, trying to keep the sole down, and eventually it was fine, but it did take a lot of glue, and I'm sure shoe glue would have been lovely to have on hand.

It's magical. I I I can I add cobbler to my resume? Is that something that could happen if I have shoe glue?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it can. Yeah.

Yes, yes.

You wear so many hats.

Okay. How does guest experience influence the logistical decisions that you make throughout the day?

it's it it dictates them. I don't think it influences

Mm.

Mm.

without that North Star of how does the sister react versus the mom versus the couple, it is our complete North Star for sure.

Yeah. I mean,

Makes.

we're big on that here too. I mean, that's Kevin's buzzword. He's saying and it's funny 'cause Riverside, that's our recording platform, they do this thing at the end of the year with podcasts where they tell you what word you said the most on the podcast. And I feel like this year I'm like, maybe it'll be guest experience. 'Cause it's

Maybe it'll be guessing.

just been yeah, it's just been the hot topic. And I and I think that's great though, 'cause I think at the end of the day that is

The most important thing.

It's always funny to look back on those words we say a lot. So anyway.

Mm-hmm.

All right, Irene, what are some little I know we we do on the on yeah, we will.

We're gonna to share

Yeah. We will, we will, yeah.

But Irene, what are some little logistical touches that can make guests feel incredibly taken care of?

always, always at their guest arrival, I want some sort of beverage offered. I don't care if

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

it's water. Please have a person, a human, not a sign, interact with them, give them something in their hands, show them exactly where to go. That's a huge one for us and our team.

Like that.

and it it just makes that everything so so much more hospitable. And when you have, for example, when you have a can in your hand, you're more relaxed, you're chill.

Mm-hmm.

going to a

brewery, having pizza, that's fine. But when someone hands you like a beautiful glass or a flute or champagne flute or wine glass, you automatically stand up taller, your shoulders go back, and

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

it just like sets the expectation of like, this is the attitude I am expecting of you tonight. Please continue. So

Yeah.

it does like first part,

It sets the tone, yeah.

it does. But I I think people underestimate like rentals and like what they touch and feel to guests so much. But like it truly does affect how your guest will act.

So that's a big one for me for sure of how we really start off with a great guest experience.

Yeah, no, and it you set the tone right away.

Mm-hmm. for couples who are considering whether they need a planner, because that's who we're talking to today, the couples, what parts of the wedding logistics are hardest to manage without professional help?

Well that's a great question. I think I'm so biased. everyone needs a planner. I mean, I want a planner for my own life. Like how can

Mm. I agree.

I get like a house manager for myself? everyone should have a planner at a minimum a coordinator that enters like six months before this whole

Yeah.

three

Mm.

month, two months one like that's all bullsh*t. Like that you're no way you can rescue an entire wedding for whatever decisions were made, whether they were incoherent or not.

within that time frame. So

Mm.

six months minimum. Some of the things to really look out for that why you really need a planner is making sure that all of your vendor timelines match up and they all have clear expectations. So for example, how the DJ or the band is managing toast on top of catering service, is the bar open or not? Do you have enough alcohol for that part of the night? Those are such silent expectations that everyone just assumes would be perfect.

But if someone's not really orchestrating that fluidity of it, it could go wrong very quickly and you could be late to your dance floor because of a 30-minute toast and maybe get an hour left. And you lost your whole reception. So little

Yeah.

things like that of how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. That's where your planner is really putting it perfectly in line in order to make sure that it works well. And if something goes wrong, are you really going to sit there in your wedding dress and

Mm

mm.

Mm fix it?

Are you gonna ask your best friend who should be holding your dress? No. You need to have someone who can point to and say, This is a problem, I'm upset. Fix it. End of story.

And oh, the toast. That's all we have to say. so

Yeah, that's always the one, man. It's always the toast. Yeah.

The toast.

all right. So Irene, how do you balance a couple's like dream vision with what is actually practical from a logistical standpoint?

I think as a New Yorker, I grew up in the city, I am I

Mm-hmm.

am too blunt for anybody.

Okay.

So I actually when like doing my discovery calls with clients and really understanding if we're okay, I say it up front. I said, Hey, I'm way too transparent of a person. Please don't ask me a question you don't want the real answer to. If I see something, I'm going to say something. I have been trained

Yeah.

by the MTA. I cannot just be quiet.

Yeah.

so

when I see things that really are not gonna interact well together or I know is gonna put you over budget

Mm.

or your expectations of this beautiful draping full ceiling is going to require an extra day of load in because of how everything else needs to get into access to the venue. Like I'm going to be saying those things immediately outright. It's never an answer of, we can't do that because of this. It's we would absolutely do that. In order to do that, we need X, Y, and Z also in place. Are you willing to

manage that or handle that as well or pay for that additional labor in order to make it happen.

And I absolutely love that because there's planners that we work with that are the complete opposite of what you just said. And it makes it then then

no.

yeah, because then they they set us up as the vendor or the supplier to fail. Like they'll come to us. I'm like, and I'll look at the planner, I'm like, you know, this is not logistically possible. Why are you why are you even bringing this to the table? Like, why did you not shut this down from the get go? You know, like help.

me help you your clients, but you're making it more difficult to work with. And there's a few planners that I just I to the point now where I don't even want to work with them because they make the process so much more difficult. Yeah, it really

That's so unfortunate. I think

is.

honestly, with the community I've built around this company and how we of all interact with each other, I I have noticed that we have built a safe space for people to ask for help. So I mean

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

we're loading in for tomorrow's event today because a flora said, you know what, I just don't think I have enough time. I know we said that we were fine, but like I'm nervous about it. I

Mm.

said, Great, let me call the venue, let me call in some favors, we're gonna have an early load-in for you and we will

Mm-hmm.

get as much things as we can for you to accomplish.

fifty percent of it tonight instead. And we're doing that later today. I wasn't expected

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

when we started planning the process, but having open communication and being able to have that platform of being like, you can talk to me and you can tell me your needs and concerns, I'm always gonna help you. I'm always gonna move heaven and earth to make sure you can do the best job. Because at the end of the day, I'm here to serve my client and their expectations. And if there's anything I can do prior to make sure that

You better believe

Yeah.

I'm going to go to heaven and earth to do it.

Team couple all the way.

Yeah.

Place.

And yeah, you're a very good team player to be taking care of. Yeah, not

Mm-hmm.

only the couple but the vendors in that way too. So okay, well, I think we're coming up on the end soon. So we did want to ask if you could give engaged couples one piece of advice about the invisible logistics of their wedding day. What would you want them to understand before they get too far into the planning process?

Any planner that you're even considering hiring, every one of them will always do a consultation call prior. You don't have to commit to the entire thing if you don't want to just yet. Reach out to planners, tell them what's going on. Can we have a consultation call? I have questions. You can decide based on how they answer those questions if that planner is going to be the right fit for you. But those consultation calls are invaluable to even sync

Yeah.

of.

I'm in the right headspace or not. The ones to watch out for are planners who are like, of course, of course, of course, of course, of course, and are not honest of no, for $200,000,

Mm.

that's actually not gonna be possible. We actually need $500 for what you're expecting. I don't want to

Yeah.

sign a contract with you with false expectations. So let's be very honest about this up front. Those conversations will set you off on the right foot for the rest of your planning process, even if you started

I agree.

a little bit and you're like, I'm not sure if I did this right.

Get a consultation call on the schedule. Go call me. Go call some of our friends. We will refer you out to people if we are not available. We have an awesome list of people from across the country that I regularly give inquiries and referrals to because they're so good and so amazing at all budgets and all levels. A good planner will always give you a resource, never just a no.

Yeah, I agree.

Mm,

yeah. Redirect. Yeah.

Yeah, we're all

a community. It's all great.

Yeah.

Yeah, 100%. All right, Irene, we can't thank you enough for being on our podcast. where can our listeners connect and find you?

Yes, you can find us on Instagram and TikTok @IreneCoEvents. And feel free to as well go to our Spotify. We have a podcast there as well called Peak Perfection that

Yay.

Mm-hmm.

you are more than welcome to listen to more advice as well. But we are so excited to be here and thank you so much for having me. it's been an absolute pleasure, Kevin.

Of course.

thank you. All right. We will have all of Irene's information in the show notes as well. So you can connect with her there as well. We want to remind our listeners to hit the subscribe button if you've not done that yet. Please hit that button. Also, don't forget to send your stories and questions to [email protected]. Folks, we'll see you next time on another episode of Now That I'm Engaged, How Do I Get Married?