10 Questions with Kate Edmonds

Talking to Wedding and Event Designer, Kate Edmonds of Kate Edmonds Events Ltd. regarding wedding planning during these unprecedented times

1. With your client’s weddings this season being postponed, what is the percentage for the second half of this year vs next year?

As you can imagine 2020 thus far has been an unprecedented wedding season due to COVID-19. Our events that surround a wedding, for example, a wedding shower or an engagement party for the first quarter and beyond were completely canceled. However, one hundred percent of the weddings we had planned for April, May, and June did not cancel but postponed in March and we quickly moved them to August and September dates in 2020. We are now discussing with our clients what is prudent going forward and if in fact we will proceed with these weddings. Our August 16th wedding for 350 guests has been adjusted and we are planning to celebrate this gorgeous couples nuptials with their intimate families that are lucky enough to be neighbors and best friends and who are also quarantining side by side. 

 

2. What were their criteria for this year vs next?

We have a really good group of new wedding clients that booked in the first quarter with Kate Edmonds Events for 2021 starting off our wedding season in June through October. Our clients feel comfortable with their choices at this time. Throughout this process, we need to be mindful that these dates may once again change.

 

3. Are you still planning “destination” weddings or keeping it more local?    

That’s a great question, as destination weddings have become a huge favorite with our couples and I myself got married in France last year and have become super familiar with planning weddings in Italy, France, and the U.K. We have a couple who are planning a European wedding, which was originally scheduled for May 2021 and we have collectively decided to schedule it for the Spring/Summer of 2022.

 

4. What will you suggest to your brides if the pandemic is still going to be difficult for travel and they don’t want to change the date once again?

We have to abide by state rules and regulations and the law of common sense. With that said, I am suggesting small weddings with larger parties later on attended by friends and family who have seriously quarantined either apart or together. We are planning only outside celebrations for groups of 30.

 

5. How will you handle Venue and tastings shopping?

It has been interesting booking weddings remotely, thankfully after years of experience, my clients are putting their trust in our expertise when choosing their venues. We will postpone pleasurable tasks like the tasting and tabletop selections and final floral design meetings as long as possible and organizing everything behind the scenes and with the clients remotely. Because we have worldwide clients, Kate Edmonds Events was already set up with Zoom, Facetime, Skype, etc. so this hasn’t been a huge transition thus far. 

 

6. How will you handle dress shopping with the bride?

We have been sending our brides everything from Bridal Council virtual fashion shows and are hoping that by the end of Summer our brides will be able to visit the ateliers in New York City and beyond to have their consultant appointments and their measurements taken. Nothing could come close with the joy of choosing your wedding dress.

 

7. How will you handle seating at churches or synagogues and receptions?          

This is a twenty-five million dollar question, churches and synagogues will be pretty straight forward to space the guests six feet or more apart, given that the house of worship is a roomy one. As an alternative, I suggest outdoor ceremonies as a natural solution. For the reception we should use every available outdoor space available, I believe tenting will be the rage. Buffets will be rendered obsolete, cocktail parties will drastically change because no one wants to share an hors d’oeuvre tray or a stand in a line at the bar. Hand washing stations are going to be a fashion statement. 

 

8) What are some ideas you have for a fun reception with dancing, sit down meals, or buffets during these times? 

The entire hospitality world can only respond to the directives from the individual states. 

Personally, I really think that an old fashioned idea of a boxed picnic dinner or lunch with a lovely checked or floral tablecloth and starched napkins, housed in an English-style picnic basket can be charming in a beautiful outdoor setting where guests are encouraged to move in their safe groups with an appropriate distance. Music and singing can entertain the guests and if they feel so moved they will be able to stand up and dance in place. 

9) Do you think this moment will change the way we see weddings in the future after this pandemic is over?

For the immediate future, I believe weddings will become smaller,  intimate, elegant affairs. This will only last for a period of time as humans are extremely social animals, however, I really hope that the hospitality profession will start to push further into locally sourced foods, less waste, no plastics. 

  

10) Would you ever plan a virtual wedding?

This is a fun question, that I guess that we have already achieved. Sometimes when guests are ill, elderly or far away in other countries we have streamed a wedding ceremony, a cake cutting or first dance. We use Facetime, Zoom, etc. and if you have a small intimate wedding and would wish to include other guests this would be a great way to achieve that, I recommend the use of a professional videographer positioned in a safe way to facilitate this for the wedding planning industry.

http://kateedmondsevents.com/