What differences are you seeing in the weddings you’re planning since Covid as opposed to before? The main difference is the number of guests, which has been reduced dramatically. There’s also an extreme amount of personalisation along with a massive focus on a great guest experience. It’s easy to make an intimate day with a small guest list every bit as special as something more lavish with hundreds of guests. You just need to pay more attention to individuals and their needs, to make sure they have a fabulous day. Consider things like personalised information such as the drinks they like, what food they love so you can cater to all their needs. I also feel guests become more engaged and involved with the formalities of a wedding like cake cutting and speeches. You don’t get anyone chatting in the back row! I think it’s essential to keep all the traditions of a wedding as these are the highlights in enhancing the guest experience and are integral parts of the day. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t do them in a different order or another way to make it more exciting and fun for yourselves and your guests. Our readers are all eagerly planning their big days at the moment! What key advice can you offer to help them out along the way? Get a good wedding planner! It’s the secret of a successful wedding day. Some of the most important aspects of organising a wedding though are keeping it simple. For example, please look at the logistics of travel for the family and guests, is there parking available? What is the distance from the family home to the venue? The whole travel time from start to finish needs to be super-seamless. Next, and this is an absolute must, have a contingency for rain. You can’t deal with this on the day. Yes, you can plan outdoor events and weddings, but contingency must be put in place as the weather can destroy your wedding day if it hasn’t. Finally, try not to experience too much as this can cause an immense amount of stress on the day. When judging on The Ultimate Wedding Planner, what are you looking for in the competitors? What makes a great wedding planner? Dealing with situations under pressure is a telling sign of a great wedding planner, as is having a logistical brain and being able to flow chart the day including supplier schedules, and the de-rig. And then, overall personality; being able to smile and look confident when it all hits the fan. What’s next for you and Silverfox Events? We aim to become much more of a global events company, executing amazing weddings worldwide and all celebrations and cooperates. We recently changed our website to reflect this and are very excited about the launch this year of our Dubai office, which should catapult us into Asia and Middle Eastern countries (we still have America as our next challenge). Find out more at www.silverfoxevents.com. You can follow Raj on Instagram at @rajsomaiyaofficial INTERVIEW 57
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