If you are planning a Virginia wedding, finding the right Virginia wedding planner is the first step! There are SO many incredibly talented Virginia wedding planners, so I thought it would be fun to feature some of the best here on the KWP blog!
Meet Chelsea with One Fine Day Events: Virginia wedding planner. When she’s not working, you can find Chelsea spending time with her sweet family. Let’s get to know her!!
Describe your dream wedding day: I am taking this from the perspecitve as if I were the bride, but this comes from all the years I have worked weddings for so many amazing and creative couples. I am a sucker for outdoor wedding ceremonies so my dream wedding day would be us getting married outside and the temperature doesn’t creep over 70 degrees. This keeps everyone comfortable being outdoors for your ceremony and for cocktail hour if that is also outside. My photos have also already been taken, with maybe the exception of some photos with grandparents, so we get to enjoy the entire cocktail hour with our friends and family and we can sneek away later for some sunset photos privately. Then I prefer to move indoors for dinner and the reception. While I love the outdoors, I also love the ability to change the feel of the wedding day and the assurance that any weather related issues are not a concern with us being inside for the majority of the wedding. Once dinner is done the rest of the night is a go with the flow celebration versus a scheduled to the minute activity. I invited my guests there to have a good time so I want them to have the flexibilty to do so. If we have something planned but the dance floor is hot then I am pushing it or will quietly slip away for the photo op without a big announcement. Then the perfect ending to my night would be a private dance alone where my new spouse and I can take a breath and talk about how amazing the day has been.
What makes a dream client for you? A dream client is one that has their priorities straight for the wedding day. We all know the party is super exciting and what most guest will remember, but the entire reason there is a wedding at all is because two people have decided they want to publicly join their lives together in front of the ones they love the most. My dream couple isn’t someone who has the biggest budget or wants the most extravagant set up. My dream client is one who wants to prioritize their marriage and the party afterwards is icing on the cake. My dream client is one who trusts our team to have their back and knows that we are just as investted in the success of their marriage and entire wedding day as they are. They know they are more than just another couple on our list. They are part of the One Fine Day family.
What is the most popular service you offer? – Our most popular is by far Wedding Management. We get asked so much for day/month-of coordination, but we don’t offer those services. And when we get asked why we simply say that it just doesn’t exist. Weddings take a lot of time, money, and energy to plan. It’s just not right to only come in so close tot he big day and actually know all the little things that have gone into it. Full planning can take anywhere from 150-200 hours so coming in only 4 weeks before the wedding makes me laugh. Our job is to help ease the stress so our Wedding Management package allows those couples take the controls in the planning process, but knows we are there should they need any guidance. Then we pop in for all the logisitics and finely tuned details that are needed at least 2 months before the big day. Then we are there to carry out your wedding day execution as you have envisioned it from the beginning.
How many weddings do you take on per year? How far outside of your location do you serve? – This varies planner to planner. We have several leads on our team and we let them decide how many they want to take, however, I do limit my planners to no more than 3 per month or 5 over a two month span to ensure there isn’t burn out and they get some free weekends. Personally, me as the owner, I only take on 10/year so I can be there for my team, my couples, and most importantly my own family. In terms of travel, we will go wherever our couples need us. We are not afraid to travel and in fact LOVE it. Most of our weddings keep us in Virginia, but we have traveled outside the state quite a bit too.
Do you specialize in any particular type of weddings? – No, we will take on any style wedding our couples want.
Do you offer any services outside of full planning? – Yes, we do offer design services and have a small inventory of rental items. And of course, our most popular service is Wedding Management.
Do you offer services on non-wedding days? – Absolutely! We get asked about rehearsal dinners and post-wedding day events all the time. So many people travel for weddings now and want to create an entire weekend experience so we are there to assist as needed.
What are your top 3 favorite venues and why? This is probably the hardest question you have asked. Okay, I will list 3, but they are in no particualr order and there are so many others I could say I love just as much.
- Bernard’s Landing at Smith Mountain Lake – What I love about this venue is that they are located right on the water and the venue itself is blank canvas. It is incredible what you can transform that space to look like. And the condos on the property can be rented out by your guests so they can turn your wedding day into a little weekend getaway on the lake!
- Red August Farm in Waynesboro – This venue is not only big, but the views you get, especially in the fall, are breathtaking. They have so many areas for gorgeous photos and the space can really be structured to tailor large events of 200+ people or smaller guest counts without feeling like it’s too much space. The owners are some of the sweetest people as well and so great to work with!
- Corduroy Inn in Snowshoe, WV – I got to visit this venue for the first time in July 2022. While other areas are blazing hot in the 80s and 90s during this time of year, at Snowshoe we sat at a wonderful 60 degrees. The great things about having your wedding at Snowshoe is there is plenty of lodging in Corduroy itself, but you can have your ceremony outdoors and come back to your reception inside their 4th story ballroom. there are not a lot of ballroom spaces that can say they are on the top floor, but this one is. And I am not sure anyone can beat the sunset views you and your guests will get as the wrap-around balcony faces the west for the perfect natural canvas! To top it all off, the staff there are some of the most accommodating and welcoming people you will meet!
What would your advice be to brides who don’t currently have a planner? – My intial response is get a planner. Haha! But in all seriousness, you have to ask yourself the hard “What If” questions. What if a vendor backs out on you the week before or on the wedding day? What if Mother Nature decides to dump rain on your beautifully set outdoor ceremony space? What if the people who were suppose to help you set up got in a car wreck or traffic and they left you short handed the morning of the wedding? There are so many more of these, some not so serious, but these are all things that should NOT fall on your shoulders OR anyone in your family or wedding party. Gone are the days that your Maid/Matron of Honor handles all of these things. You want them to be spending time with you that day and enjoy the wedding WITH you. You need someone who knows your vision and can be the go to when you simply do not have the time or mental capacity to make one more decision. Booking the vendors is the easy part, trust me. What comes after that is when it gets overwhelming and you need a professional on your side!
Why did you decide to be a wedding planner? – I think most people say becuase they love love. And while I truly do enjoy seeing the joy and love on wedding days I personally thrive on the problem solving aspect of the job. A wedding day is like a giant puzzle that needs to be put together and if you don’t have the right piece the picture is wrong. Having all of these edge and middle pieces scattered on the table at the beginning and then slowly seeing the picture come together is so fulfilling for me. I have also always loved bringing joy to other people so what better day in someones life to do that than their wedding day?
What is your favorite part about wedding planning? – Seeing the entire picture come together. When we are onsite and the set up begins it just looks kind of bare. But then you start to see the couple’s personality build in the space as set up continues. The before and after shots always blow me away!
#1 piece of advice for current brides wedding planning: Schedule in planning breaks. Whether that be on a vacation or over the holidays, write it in your calendar that you will NOT do any wedding planning during that time. You need to turn it off and remember to focus on your significant other. That time of your life is just as much a part of the process as the wedding day itself. Don’t overdo it!
Favorite current wedding trend: I am LOVING everyone throwing out the typical wedding trends and doing their own thing. It is becoming less structured with activities such as bouquet and garter tosses and more focused on celebrating!
Favorite drink: I am so not creative in this category. Lol. I am really simple and just like a really good Margarita. And it’s even better if I am having Mexican food with it.
Favorite thing to do when you’re not working? Would sleeping be an okay thing to say? Lol. While that is true, I just love spending time with my family. I have been married to my amazing husband, Devin, for almost 10 years. We have two boys, 7 and 2, so there is never a dull moment in our house. I love seeing them both grow and be creative. They are both so different so I am always being pulled into some new thing they want to do or try. Maybe that is why I said sleeping first. 😄
Thank you Chelsea, for this amazing interview and expert advice from a Virginia wedding planner!! Wishing you the best wedding season!!
You can contact Chelsea and her team here: https://onefinedayva.com/
Brides, are you looking for more wedding inspo? Check these out:
Vintage Inspired Tented Reception
With love,
Katelyn Workman
