Meet Event Science: Weddings + Parties!

We love spreading the word about our fellow amazing wedding vendors! Meet Jessica and Tara of Event Science | Weddings + Parties, a Los Angeles-based event coordination & design team offering partial and comprehensive wedding planning packages as well as personalized event design and day-of installation! We recently had the tremendous pleasure of chatting with Tara and Jessica about their business, so read on to learn more about Event Science!

1. What inspired you to go into event planning/design?

Tara:  Growing up, most of the weddings I attended involved a poorly lit church hall, cake and punch, and dozens of paper doilies and honeycomb bells.  Weddings were about tradition and “This is the way we’ve always done things…” rather than being about the couple and their love story.  But when I was 13, my mom’s friend was in the middle of wedding planning and needed help.  After sifting through a mountain of magazines, she let me keep that year’s Spring issue of “Brides.”  I poured over that magazine for weeks afterward, falling in love with a gorgeous (and very 90’s) Monique Lhuillier gown, and planning and re-planning my own perfect day.  It was so inspiring to me, and the ideas in that one magazine changed the way I thought about weddings, and showed me how fun and personal they could be!  Today, in the era of Pinterest and Instagram, I think we may have actually gone to the opposite side of the spectrum.  There are so many cool ideas floating around about how to make your wedding day more unique, and it can be really hard to pare down all those options.  That’s really what inspired me to go into event planning, because I just want to produce beautiful, meaningful events for couples who are too stressed or busy to plan it themselves.  Every couple promising to spend the rest of their lives together deserves better than a Kool-Aid fountain in a recreation room.

Jessica:  My parents love to entertain, so I grew up helping them throw all kinds of dinners and parties.  I always enjoyed working with them behind the scenes and watching all the thoughtful details come together.  As a teenager, I realized I wanted to channel that same energy into wedding planning, through which I could help couples host the most heartfelt and meaningful party they will ever throw.

2. What is your favorite aspect of planning a wedding?

Tara:  My favorite aspect of planning a wedding is dealing with logistics.  There are so many moving parts to a wedding – so many people involved, all with differing ideas and opinions, and it can be hard for couples to put it all together, make it work, and form a cohesive vision.  I love drafting up a solid week-of plan for an event, because it makes things look effortless.  To do this, I always start with a mental walk-thru of the event space from multiple perspectives, that of the planner (me!) and vendors behind the scenes, that of the bride/ groom, and then the guests.  Envisioning how people experience the event and interact with the space helps me to plan for logistics and make sure I’m not missing some glaring issue.  I love seeing all that planning come together on the day of the event!

Jessica:  My favorite aspect of designing a wedding is bringing in details unique to the couple that help to tell their story: elements of their professions, their first date, marriage proposal, etc.  It’s such a great opportunity to make each wedding one-of-a-kind!

3. What do you do to understand a couple’s vision and bring it to life?

Tara:  I just say, “Okay, tell us everything! Tell us all your ideas, show us all your wedding notebooks, secret Pinterest boards, everything!”  I just love sifting through all that stuff to find what is unique and fun about a couple.  Also, I specifically ask the couple how they want to feel, and how they want their guests to feel.  Sometimes people can’t accurately explain what they want their wedding to look like, or don’t know what colors to pick, etc., but they can describe how they want to feel on their wedding day.  That feeling is what we want to bring to life.

Jessica:  Picking up on what Tara said, I think it’s really important early on to discuss the feeling the couple wants for their wedding.  Formal?  Relaxed?  Intimate?  Fun?  Once the overall tone has been decided, we start to discuss colors and design ideas, and the aesthetic elements build off of that vibe.

4. What advice do you have for couples in the initial stages of wedding planning?

Tara:  My biggest piece of advice for planning in the initial stages is to slash your guest list, wait a of couple weeks, and then slash it again!  The wedding budget is directly correlated to the guest list size.  When making the list, you should ask yourself, “Will I want this person in my photos one year from now?  What about in fifty years?  When my grandchildren ask me who this person in the photo is, will I remember?”  If the answer to any of these is no, cut them!

Jessica:  As soon as possible, sit down and have a heart-to-heart with each other about your wedding goals and priorities.  It’s helpful to have these to refer back to when well-intending friends and relatives get involved with their own ideas for your wedding.  Though it can be a stressful process at times, always remember how blessed you are to be in this phase of your lives!  In the end, it is all about the union and commitment you two are making and everything else truly takes a backseat to that.

5. What’s the number one reason you recommend hiring a wedding planner?

Tara:  Take it from someone who’s planned many weddings, including my own – wedding planning can take over your life.  It seriously can become a full time job if you let it, and who wants that kind of stress?  You already have a job/ life/ hobby, you don’t need another!  Also, as event planners, we already have contacts in the wedding industry and we can negotiate with them to offer you discounts and savings you wouldn’t be able to get on your own.  For every wedding we’ve planned, we have actually saved our clients equal to or more money than they paid for our services.  There are honestly so many other reasons, but the last one I’ll mention is that we act as your point of contact on the day of the wedding.  Believe me, being able to wake up on your wedding day and enjoy that time with your friends and family is preferable to running around a half-empty venue with your hair in curlers, wondering if you received the correct amount of table linens.  Don’t be that bride!  And please don’t do that to your friends and family either!

Jessica:  Wedding planning can be complex and overwhelming if you don’t have a good handle on it.  Hiring a professional to guide you through the process means you get to focus on the significance of the wedding day (and marriage!), and let your wedding planner ensure all the details come together.

Looking for a talented event planning team to help you plan your dream wedding? Tara and Jessica from Event Science could be the event planner soulmate you’ve been searching for! Head on over to find more information: Website | Facebook | Instagram