Question #1: What did you love about planning your wedding?

Well first let me say hi to all the future brides, followers, and lovers of Kate haha she does amazing work so I am so excited to be here and can go on and on about what good hands you guys are gonna be in with Kate! (insert Kate “AWWW”-ing here)

Wedding planning is just a really fun time in general, but to start, one of my favorite things was to be called “fiance” that was just a whole new term to call myself and then check out venues, and taste food, and be able to just really look at what our style is together and how we can create just one cohesive, beautiful moment that matches our personalities. Especially not having really been in the industry at all, I mean I had been in a couple weddings myself but other than that, that was it! So for me it was just learning what our style was together, and then getting to meet all the personalities out there in the wedding world.

Question #2: What were some not so fun parts?

You definitely can’t control anything haha, and I would say that just in general like… I know everybody knows but… I think for me some of the moments that got a little bit difficult was one: really trying to figure out contracts – I’m not really a detail person in that regard and so trying to wrap my head around everyone’s process and knowing what questions to ask and what they provide. So it’s great that you’re offering these tips because there’s so much to google and so much to learn and if I was able to just sit down and listen to some of the stuff that you have, that would have saved me a LOT of time! But yeah, I think the hardest part for me was just making sure I had my T’s crossed and my I’s dotted in areas where I did not have expertise in. So if you’re smart like everyone joining and getting these tips, then you’re off to a good start!

Part of it with the contracts was just learning where to be watchful and where to step in and check on things. I didn’t know till the week of our wedding that the planner actually booked the venue for 2 extra hours than what I thought, so I was stretched financially and just really stressed about that.. but then, actually that was something that I ended up being so happy about because a lot of brides would tell me “You’re going to blink your eyes and it’s gonna go by! You’re not going to be able to remember a lot of it!” and so because we had that extra 2 hours, we got a moment where we could sit together away from everyone while they were setting up the dinner and just have a moment with the two of us. Plus we got to go in and look at the reception decorations too before everyone came in. So I would definitely say, take advantage of booking as much time as you can the day of. Give yourself that extra hour cuz you’ll love it.

Question #3: What was important to you when planning your wedding? Style, experience, time, etc.

Definitely the experience and I’m really glad that was our main focus. I mean the style and all of that personalization is important too, but I feel like it can be easy to get wrapped up into this “picture perfect” look and I mean we did go all out it was absolutely beautiful, but luckily our focus was the experience. And that in and of itself was one of the reasons why I fell in love with your photography style, because you are so good at capturing that MOMENT. Like, I’ll cry haha. We went through all of the pictures and watched our wedding video on our anniversary and it was NOT a situation where you were like “Okay stop having fun! Now everyone just stand there. And smile. And then pose.” Like, you just naturally moved around us and really just let us authentically and genuinely enjoy the moment, and you captured ALL of our good sides while doing that 😉

So definitely the experience was our main focus, and I think that definitely helps with knowing that we can’t control anything cuz it’s about the experience ya know? And to add another thing into there, we had a very interesting journey haha. Our venue almost burned down because of the fires a little while ago, we had the officiant back out – there was like 10 things that happened haha, my dress got messed up… so a lot of things behind the scenes kinda got stripped away from me. Like this is what I wanted, but things were falling out of alignment, and it was things that you can’t control – like no one can control natural disasters. But that morning when I woke up, I said “You know what, I don’t care if we don’t have a venue to go to… all that matters is that he is by my side and this day is about the two of us.” Which really took the pressure of it needing to be “Pinterest-worthy” or worrying about what others thought off of me.

Question #4: What was something you wished you spent LESS time stressing about or working on?

Yeah, I would probably say… worrying about what everybody else thought haha it’s kinda like what you said. I definitely spent a lot of time thinking “I hope I make these people happy” – which is genuine, like my heart was behind that. but in the end I think I ended up putting myself second. I was just so go go go about worrying about everyone else and didn’t prioritize spending time with each other as much as I could have. Planning a wedding is stressful haha, so I wish I would have given myself more time to relax!

Question #5: What was your favorite part of your wedding day?

I would probably say our first look. I was so nervous – ahh! I’m gonna get emotional talking about it haha. But there was just so much emotion leading up to that moment and so many nerves. And I think just having that special moment between just the two of us really helped to center us and just center together. You know, being excited to see each other and knock the nerves away. Annnnnnd you got really good pictures with my dress and the trees all around us I was just like OH YES haha. That totally was my favorite moment.

I don’t feel like the first look took anything away from the ceremony, if anything, it totally enhanced it. Because not only were we able to have that private moment together, but it felt so so special when I looked at him when I was walking down the aisle (because I was nervous about that – is it gonna take away from him seeing me walk down the aisle??). But it totally didn’t, I got TWO moments! So that’s what I felt. It was a great moment to get the nerves out and just be quiet together. I mean, I was self-conscious walking down the aisle having 150 people stare at me haha so having that moment with just the two of us was such a special time to be goofy, or cry or smile without everybody looking at us.

Question #6 & #7: What was your thought process for choosing a photographer? And what stood out to you the most about Kate Garcia Weddings?

So definitely my biggest things were photographer, videographer and venue. Those were, to me, what set the stage. The venue set the stage and then the photo/video team were what captured the day because it does fly by! So yeah, those 3 were the most important. And I did have a pretty specific vision with that. It was pretty easy once I picked you guys.

But yeah my vision going into it with the imagery side, I was looking for someone who could capture the genuine emotion of the moment verses I was not really into a ton of posing.. I was in a lot of weddings where it was kind of like “Okay everybody line up. Stop. Look at me.” and I don’t really want to say you had a candid ability because it wasn’t so much that, it was more just letting us live the moment verses stopping us. So yeah that was my vision going into it, and I feel like I scored. I feel like you and our videographer were THE BEST. I mean for us, that was a majority of our budget that I put aside for these vendors (you) and looking back, seeing all those moments I wanted captured was just exactly what I dreamed of. And we actually did the package where we got a second shooter, so you had a great team 🙂

Specifically thought, some of the things I really enjoyed about your style was her ability to help encourage us to be genuine and authentic. But you’re also great at staging the detail shots. So you’re great at the moments AND you’re great at the details. We had such beautiful table decorations and you were able to get some incredible shots of them. You got great shots of the rings, and the invites and I remember getting ready during the morning and watching you run around and do your thing and put it together. Like literally, you guys killed it because we even got our wedding featured too. You’re also really good with groups of people, because I have a big family that can get really loud and excited, but you’re so good at getting everyone to pay attention and cooperate without being mean or rude about it.

So from your personality, to letting us enjoy the organic moments, to getting the details and big picture of our day.. you nailed it.

Question #8: Did you feel like you booked an adequate amount of time?

YES! So like I mentioned before, pick as much time as you can because moments fly by. It was also great that we did the first look, because we were able to get all of those pictures done beforehand so that after the ceremony we could take photos of just the two of us AND do a complete different look, cuz I changed into a different dress and we were able to take more photos around the venue.. and we wouldn’t have been able to do that if we didn’t have as much time as we did. And some of those pictures are my favorite!

(For reference: Lauren chose full-day coverage, with a second shooter, and her wedding was around 150 guests)

Question #9: Was there any other vendor that you couldn’t imagine not being there?

Videographer for sure. He made it look like a movie haha it literally looks like a trailer for a movie.

Wedding planners!! It’s really key to make sure you have the right wedding planners. We ended up choosing new planners a week before the wedding and I was SO glad that they caught so many things. READ REVIEWS. Can’t stress that enough. For every vendor… don’t just take friend’s recommendations. Our planners orchestrated everything behind the scenes.

And honestly, the officiant haha we lucked out because even though our officiant backed out, we ended up having my uncle from Australia step in and marry us (which I mean… really cool accent alert haha) but he’s just really funny and really made it special for the ceremony. Initially, I didn’t think much about the officiant, my thoughts were, “Well, I mean, they’re only a small portion of the wedding…” but they are also one of the biggest parts of the wedding haha. So having an officiant you feel comfortable with and who makes you laugh, or makes it personalized in whatever way is your style is so key. I think that’s a vendor that’s kind of looked over. I’ve been to weddings where the officiant messed up the bride’s name, or was SUPER nervous and dropped their cards and we all just sat there feeling horrible for the guy. But they are important!

Question #10: If you could give advice to all the newly engaged couples out there, what would it be?

Well one, congratulations 🙂 and I also need to say – I’ve been saying brides but there’s obviously grooms out there who fall into this too so this is for everyone! But I would say, it’s important to appreciate all that you guys have done to get to that day, appreciate the days leading up to it, and appreciate each moment. Things start flying by and you get so caught up in having things set up in a way you can enjoy it, but I think also taking time during the planning process and just say “Wow, look what we have accomplished!” and they might SEEM like small “tasks” but those are the moments leading up to the big day. Give yourself as many pats on the back as you can and even take nights where instead of saying “We have to do X Y or Z” instead say, “We GET to do x y and z.” and just really take it in with a perspective like that.

And getting the right team! Get. The. Right. Team. Check reviews. Do not book anyone without checking reviews. In this day and age it’s super easy to do! Just make sure you invest in the professionals and not just skimp on that to save a few pennies. I think it’s going to make a huge difference on the day of because if they’re really professionals, you don’t have to worry about a THING!

As always, I am so happy and so thankful that Lauren was willing to take the time to go live with me on Instagram. If you want to tune in to the next interview with a past bride, follow me on instagram @kategarciaweddings – I usually try to go live every Wednesday evening at 6pm PST with one of my past brides. All live videos can be accessed for 24 hours after the live happens. There might be a slight delay right now due to the virus, but I will pop on there as often as I can!!

Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, and I cannot wait to what’s next for you guys! New series coming soon 🙂

Kate