Bridal Club Magazine

Planning Your Tauranga Wedding From Overseas?
Carrie & Jamie married at Bay of Plenty venue Old Forest School
in February 2016. They planned their New
Zealand wedding while living in London and booked some of her
vendors two years out from their wedding day. This included
Carrie securing her makeup with award-winning Tauranga-based
makeup artist
Lillybeth. Carrie said she wanted her most important suppliers
locked in early so she didn't miss out.
After her wedding, Carrie wrote about her makeup: "It was a
gamble booking a makeup artist from pics online only and I didn't
have my trial until three weeks pre-wedding. Despite the
previous worry, Lillybeth was fast and responsive to all my
questions and following my trial I was sure I'd made the right
choice."
If you're planning your New Zealand wedding from overseas and
aren't visiting the area of your venue beforehand, like Carrie, you
might feel booking your vendors without meeting them in person is a
gamble: You could 'win' and get fantastic service and results
- just what you want - or you could 'lose' and get an
unprofessional 'don't care' attitude or someone taking your money
but not turning up to do the work…
If this sounds like you, know you're not alone. About a
third of the brides who book their wedding makeup
through Lillybeth live overseas - most are in Australia -
and they communicate with Lillybeth mostly by email. They
don't meet her or their chosen makeup artist until weeks or days
before the wedding. Sometimes this is a gap of almost two
years, like Carrie.
The good news is most wedding professionals are used to dealing
with couples by email (or even facebook message) alone. And
some suppliers - especially celebrants - will chat with you over
Skype or FaceTime to see if they're a good fit for the style of
wedding you're wanting.
But there's even better news. The world wide web means
planning from overseas is almost like living just down the road
from your wedding venue. Sure, you can't attend the local
wedding shows or check out venues in person, but these days you can
more easily source honest reviews from past customers - gold!
Let's say you're looking for a reliable makeup artist.
Apart from viewing examples and photos of their work online, you
can usually find honest reviews posted online from past brides or
grooms. I'm not talking about testimonials on the official
website of the business, but reviews on independent websites like
facebook, weddingwise, google places, yellow and yelp. Grab
your list of potential wedding suppliers and look them up on these
review websites to see what kind of experience past couples have
received. Most of these reviews and ratings are unedit-able
by the business, so you know you're getting honest, unbiased
feedback.
Finally, If you get stuck and are struggling to fill a gap or
find a supplier you like, ask the ones you've already booked.
If they've been serving weddings a few years, they should have good
local contacts to offer you, or the insider information to help you
choose between the suppliers on your list if you're having trouble
choosing. Ask your professionals!
In the end, here's what Carrie said about her makeup:
"Mum is very insecure and had never had hers done professionally
before, but we organised a trial for her too and everything went
seamlessly. She was gorgeous - we all were. The best
part is that it lasted the whole day despite it being 28
degrees. I had hair down and a ballgown dress with a lot of
layers so I had expected [the makeup] would smudge, but it didn't
let me down at all."
Lillybeth is Tauranga-born and bred. From her rural home
she enjoys serving brides marrying in the Bay of Plenty - whether
living overseas or just down the road - with super speedy email
replies. To experience her hassle-free communication for
yourself, contact her though her website.