Hello! Thought I would officially start my blog with a little introduction to Keepsake Events.

If you’ve made your way here, you are either planning your wedding and looking for some tips, wanting to find out more information on what Vancouver wedding planning (or really any location) looks like or quite likely you are one of my dear friends or family members! If you’re contacting us for any wedding needs, you will be communicating directly with me, Mel, the Lead Planner and owner of Keepsake Events and I’m happy you are here. I am committing to starting this blog and will do my best in posting consistently so let’s see how this goes!

A little bit about me…

If you have already read the about section of the website, you will know that I started my delving into event planning from my time spent in the Sales department of a downtown Vancouver hotel. I worked with several different markets coordinating things from conferences, corporate meeting spaces, hotel room blocks, and eventually events surrounding our corporate loyalty program. It was through these events that I discovered my passion for putting all the pieces together. From start to finish, there were all the aspects that mirrored a wedding… invitations, RSVPs, décor, themes, food, beverage, entertainment. You name it, we did it! Creativity was the name of the game and my most memorable event was an evening reception reenacting The Price Is Right! I got to actually make some of the games from the show and you know I had the mountain climber in there! We themed it all out from start to finish and complimented the game show aspects with great food displays, a bar with specialty cocktails, prizes and even a row of massage chairs to really pamper our guests. These events were all about our loyal clients’ experience of what great care we put into making them feel special and appreciated!

From those beginnings, my brain and I guess my heart always craved more creative outlets to continue. I started getting asked to assist at some weddings – just lend a hand and help make sure things ran smoothly. Well, just lending a hand is apparently hard for me to do! Although I am totally fine taking direction and someone else having the lead, I do things with all I have to give and love every moment! Eventually, I was asked to help fully plan friends’ weddings, then planned my own and realized how much I loved planning for (and with) others even more!

The start of something great

Keepsake Events came to fruition in 2014 and I went all out taking on as many weddings as possible, gaining lots of experience along the way. Growth and development are always on my mind and I’m proud of where KE started and how things have been refined since then. With well over 50 Keepsake Events weddings planned, I feel so fortunate to have worked with couples from around the world on making their wedding dreams come true.

Things I pride myself on when working with a couple on their wedding:

• Getting to know YOU. Each of you as individuals and as a couple are so important to my process. It’s the best feeling when I know that I get you and get what you are after with your wedding. Then I can really hunker down and connect you with all the right vendors to bring your special day together.

• Keeping calm in the face of crazy. You never know what’s going to come up on a wedding day and I have seen A LOT happen. I believe it’s all in how you deal with things and approach them that make them manageable. Many couples have commented on my calming presence on a wedding day and I like to think that surrounding yourself with that can help make things more enjoyable.

• Creating a detailed schedule that accounts for as much as possible while remaining flexible to whatever comes up. You can’t plan for everything but having a solid foundation is a great guideline for the day’s events!

• Sourcing the best vendors to suit your needs. Everyone’s needs are different and priorities can be all over the place. If you look at the first bullet point, it’s important for me to find the right fit to bring whatever those priorities might be to fruition and having the right wedding vendor team to bring it all together is so important!

• My personalized spreadsheets! These are a continuous work in progress for me as I feel that everything has room to improve. That being said, from my experience with working with all sorts of wedding planning couples, I feel like this shared tool has served well and once customized touches have been thought through and added, I’m always excited to share!

Although the majority of our clients are locally based in Vancouver, British Columbia, I have been fortunate to have worked with clients who plan their weddings from abroad as well. To date, these have included those living in Seattle, Toronto, New York, Ottawa, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Keepsake has also planned a couple destination weddings. A tented Chateau wedding in Whistler and a second rustic wedding in the same city, a beautiful Okanagan vineyard wedding in Penticton and management of a destination wedding in a Palace in Vienna, Austria!

Past couple love

Another big yay factor is that the majority of the wedding couples we work with are from referrals from both past clients and vendors we have worked with. Due to the nature of the industry, we aren’t getting any repeat business from our couples directly, but we have been fortunate to see our couples at multiple weddings as they have referred us to their friends and family. We also get guests who have attended a Keepsake wedding who has reached out and booked us based on the fantastic time they had. This is the best as they have already witnessed first-hand what we are capable of and the style and service they can come to expect.

The future is now

I thrive on adapting to my couples and the environment and use what is available to me to achieve the best results possible. I can’t wait to see where the future in this exciting wedding planning industry will lead. I’m thankful for the couples that have trusted me with one of the biggest moments and events of their life and I hope you will enjoy continuing to follow me on my journey through this blog 🙂

When meeting and working with couples planning their wedding, many of the same questions pop up. I will be blogging on some of the frequently asked questions, wedding planning tips, and real wedding features that Keepsake Events has fully planned. If there are topics you are interested in reading more about, feel free to reach out!

I also love talking to others in the wedding industry and am a firm believer in community over competition. If you are in this industry and ever want to chat, get in touch as well 🙂

xoxo Mel