Finally, almost 1 YEAR after we got married, I have time to talk all things wedding, specifically all things about planning a Southeast Asian wedding in America.
First things first, Chaitan and I knew we needed to hire a wedding planner, with both of us working 40-hour work weeks and me commuting from Chicago to the suburbs I KNEW I needed some help. For starters there are a lot of wedding planners in Chicago, and we were open to suggestions. We had a few interviews with some planners, one being a reference we got from our good friends. She was a planner who used to work for the Q Center as their event coordinator and she started her own company with her husband during the pandemic when she left the Q Center.
There are some things that were a MUST HAVE for me from my wedding planner:
- A superstar in communication
- Organized
After a few interviews we ended up going with Wedding Whisperer. I know a lot of people may have the same question, how can someone who’s American successfully plan a huge Indian wedding, and honestly is comes down to my 2 must haves.
How did we know Wedding Whisperers was the one?
Over our phone interview, they asked the right questions like: Are we having a Garba?,What was Chaitan’s vision of the Baraat? Clearly, they knew what they were working with. She had done Indian weddings when she was with Marriott. The second thing was a promise to always be accessible whenever we needed them, and it was comforting to know that I will get a text back from Victoria or Dan ASAP.
While interviewing your wedding planners, do what is right, do what your heart tells you. Ultimately at the end of the day, you will be working with this person for a long time and this person will be responsible for reproducing your wedding vision and bring it to life. This person will also be there in your bad days, because planning a wedding is not all rainbows and butterflies, there are lots of tears, disagreements and push back from family. Victoria was always there when I needed a friend to vent to when wedding planning was too overwhelming, and I didn’t know what to do.
One of the questions my husband asked was if they had planned a wedding our size (500+) after starting Wedding Whisperer, and the answer was no, but we went with what our heart told us, and I was giving them a chance. Turns out, our hearts were right, they KILLED IT.
Dan and Victoria make a great team, Victoria is all things wedding while Dan is all things numbers. Together they are the perfect teem who will work with couples to achieve their dream wedding at the price they have budgeted.
Prices were never an option for us, we ended up paying more for Victoria and Dan versus an Asian planner but looking back at how the near year of planning went and how the wedding turned out, I would 100% pick them over again. I literally refer all my friends and family to Victoria 30 seconds after they get engaged.
Fun fact, Victoria and Dan have become friends and it’s crazy to think that some of our vendors have now become an import group of people who were there for us on our most special day as a couple.
🖤
Living My Best Life 