Why a Consultant Hired a Consultant

{Photo of the Met Gala from Vogue}

I'm always so excited when we take on a new client.  Meeting them for the first time, hearing all about their plans, pouring through ideas and inspiration.  Hearing them breathe a literal sigh of relief after handing over the organization, the tracking of details, the coordination of all of the vendors, permits and timing so they can enjoy the fun parts like cocktail and food tastings.  It's been a pleasure all these years to be a part of our client's successes and to see what a difference we make in planning a wedding or designing a fundraising event.  

This year I had a chance to experience it from the other side and I'm so happy to let a professional take the reigns!  I hired a college consultant for my high school senior to help us through the process.  I'm obviously organized, love a spreadsheet as much as any planner and am at my happiest when checking off my to do boxes but the idea of sifting through some 5,300 colleges and universities in the middle of a busy event season started to seem like not so much fun.  During our initial conversation she shed more light on college admissions in five minutes than I could have sussed out in probably two months of constant research on my own.

A few reasons why consultants are the best:

1.  Expertise - a consultant has a specialized skill set and the experience of years of projects like yours under their belt to give guidance every step of the way.

2.  Support - in addition to organization and design skills one of the biggest things our social clients appreciate is having a support structure in place when planning such an important event in their lives.  Having a friend, confidant, tie-breaker, sounding board, and general back-up is just as valuable.

3.  Time Saver - a consultant can accomplish in a very short time what may take others hours or days to finish.  Delegating some of all project aspects to a consultant saves you time to focus on other work and life responsibilities. 

4.  Problem Solvers - we've kind of seen it all, if we haven't we're accustomed to thinking on our feet and quickly.  There hasn't been a problem yet that we haven't found a solution to.

5.  Fresh Set of Eyes - someone looking in from the outside can often see what others have missed or look at processes in an organization from another perspective. 

Autumn Literary Gala

I am a big fan of a simple and clean palette and anything with gold and wooden accents so when this event theme evolved into all of the above we enjoyed crafting every minute. Since the building where the event is typically held was under construction we used that as our inspiration and incorporated the actual blueprints into the theme, blueprint blue became the event design base.  Textures and subtle modern pattern were woven throughout and lots of cozy throws were on hand for guests as the night got chilly.  I always enjoy branding an event.  Pillows were made with the event logo, all signage was custom made and waiters wore canvas construction aprons with the event logo embroidered on each one.  Above are some of the getting ready photos that we normally don't even get a chance to take!  Got a few of the team setting up this time.

{Image Source: Mary Harris Events}

We carried the blue print theme into custom made wraps for the candles above.  Guests were led into the party by La Vie En Rose and Upbeat Elegant French Jazz Band and settled into play games set at each coffee table.  Just like home at our house!  It was one of the last truly gorgeous evenings of the fall.

{Image Source: Mary Harris Events}