Planner - Oscar Sanchez
- Business: Ambrosia Events
- Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin WI
- Experience: 10 Years
- Profile: Ambrosia Events
- Website: ambrosiaeventsmke.com
1. Introduction: What's your story?
My name is Oscar Sanchez.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Culinary Arts, as well as certifications as a Chocolatier, Professional Ice Sculptor, and Professional Cake Designer.
My love and passion for event planning came from my background in culinary arts and hospitality.
After graduation, I worked at a hotel in Cancun where I assisted with several of the events hosted at the hotel. This sparked my love for the event planning process.
From there, creating extraordinary events became my dream and Ambrosia Events was born.
Making people’s greatest dreams into a reality through the event planning process is my passion. I love sitting down and understanding my client's wishes and making them come true.
2. What's your experience as a wedding planner? How many weddings have you planned?
I have planned over 500 weddings throughout my career and, on average, plan anywhere from 60-70 weddings per year. In addition to this, I plan multiple corporate events and other special events.
Because I have experience in planning events of all types and sizes, I understand what it takes to create the perfect wedding. No matter what the challenge may be, my team and I are always prepared to handle it and deliver what is expected.
3. What sorts of services do you offer (month-of coordination, full-service planning, or à la carte planning)?
We offer full-service planning, month-of coordination (just the essentials), and in-house a la carte services. We offer a large inventory of in-house rentals and decor, anything from linens and drapes to floral designs and lighting. We own all of the rentals and therefore can offer the client very easy and simple full event planning or a la carte services.
4. How do payments work (a percentage of the wedding budget, a flat fee etc.)? What are the different packages that you offer and which one is your most popular package?
Clients will sign 2 contracts and make two separate payments. The first contract is for planning, which is 50% of the budget. The second contract is for all rentals and design which is only 20% of the total budget. All balances are due 2 weeks prior to the event.
Our most popular package is the full event planning service, which allows couples to decide on a specific budget, vision, style, etc. and Ambrosia Events will plan, coordinate, and execute the entire wedding from start to finish.
5. Who else is in your team and how many people on your staff will be at the wedding?
At the wedding, you can expect to see the wedding planner (myself) and the wedding coordinator. In addition to us, there will be staff setting up the wedding decor, transporting items, and preparing all items necessary for the ceremony. The amount of staff depends on the size of your wedding. Staff can be anywhere from 3-20 people depending on the scope of the wedding.
6. What happens if you're sick or otherwise unable to be there on the day of the wedding?
If, for any reason, I were unable to attend the wedding, the wedding coordinator will always be present. The wedding coordinator understands all aspects of the event and schedule. Not having myself, the wedding planner, at the event would not affect the wedding’s success.
7. How many meetings will you have with the couple and how will they be involved?
You can expect a total of 3-4 meetings throughout the entire process. The first meeting is the initial, complimentary meeting which will allow us to get to know the client, explain our services, and brainstorm ideas for the event.
Once a contract is signed, we will schedule the second meeting which is a longer, in-depth meeting to discuss all details and aspects of the wedding. We’ll discuss the couple’s expectations, their concerns, their budget, and overall what is most important to them. It is a long meeting, but from this, I will understand how to deliver exactly what the client needs. Understanding and planning the wedding will be easy from there.
The third meeting will provide updates on the wedding’s progress, explain where we currently are at on the timeline, and what items are still pending.
The fourth and final meeting will explain all the details of how the event will run.
In addition to these meetings, our team remains in constant communication with the clients and always keeps them in the loop.
8. Will you handle the invitations, from wording and ordering to the addressing and mailing? What about guest list coordination and RSVPs?
Our team and the couple work together with the printing company to prepare your RSVPs and invitations. Invitations can be picked up by the client or delivered to our office. Typically, though, the couple makes the invitation order, handles, and distributes the invites.
9. Do you handle rentals? Will you coordinate delivery, arrival and set up times with the photographer, the florist, the musicians and the caterer/banquet manager?
Yes, Ambrosia Events handles all of the rentals, decor, vendors, and all that is involved such as coordination, delivery, and set up. This is our specialty as we own all of the rentals and work with all of the vendors. It is easy and simple for us to coordinate and set all of this up for the wedding. Because we own the rentals and decor, we can easily manage and drive all of it.
10. Can you create a timeline that tells everyone involved in the planning process (other pros, members of the wedding party, to-be-weds and families) what to do and when to do it? How will you make sure everyone sticks to the schedule?
Yes, our team will create a Master Timeline that will provide every single detail related to the entire wedding process. Everything from the very beginning of the planning to the actual execution of the event will be included in this master timeline. In addition to this highly detailed timeline, we divide and prepare separate timelines for all departments, vendors, wedding party members, etc. Each timeline lists exactly what that person needs to know for their specific role in the wedding. The couple will also receive their personalized timelines, which only list the items they absolutely need to know in order to avoid unnecessary stress.
The wedding party can expect to receive specialized timelines for the entire day of the event. There will be text reminders to help everyone stay on time, links to music playlists to help set the mood, and time estimates and breakdowns of their day to help manage their time. During this time, the wedding coordinator and I stay in constant communication and provide real-time updates which help ensure everyone sticks to the schedule.
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