Why hiring a wedding planner in Copenhagen is the best idea ever for a stress-free, relaxing and bespoke wedding day!
It is time! You and your partner are getting married in Copenhagen!!
You’re finally done with your wedding paperwork, and now it is time to start planning how to celebrate your love story… you want to infuse love, care and attention into every detail, as well as make sure your guests have a wonderful time… except, you don’t know where to start!
Planning a wedding, especially if not in your country of residence, can be very complicated. It takes a big or small amount of time, energy (and often stress!) spent in planning, coordinating, texting / calling vendors, crossing out items on to-do lists of various sizes… perhaps not even in your native language, in an environment you don’t know.
However, you don’t have to give up on any of the beautiful details, personalized decor or stunning venue you have in mind! In fact, it is definitely possible to plan your special day in a completely stress-free way, so that you and your partner can be properly pampered, just be excited, and enjoy it to the fullest.
In this blog post, I have interviewed a sweet and talented wedding planner based in Copenhagen, Andrea Cecilie, and asked her more about how she can help in your wedding planning journey.
Contents:
Hi Andrea Cecilie! I am so happy to have you here on my blog!! I do have a ton of questions, but let’s start with this: tell me more about yourself!
What brought you to become a wedding planner? What passionates you the most about your job?
I got into wedding planning when I was 19 years old. I had a job as a catering waiter, at a very fancy, really beautiful wedding venue in Copenhagen. I particularly remember one weekend, when we had a Danish-Iranian wedding on Saturday, and then 400 Indians coming in for a wedding ceremony on Sunday! It was just so beautiful! I was told that my quest for the day was to take care of the bride, and to make sure that nobody saw her and that nobody went into her room… and I was a waiter, so that was a bit odd! I was really fascinated by it… and that’s when I realized: I love planning, I love weddings, so why not make it my job?
I used to read wedding magazines instead of fashion magazines as a teenager, as I found out quite early that nobody can tell you how to become a wedding planner, so you have to pave your own way! I went to London and lived there for 3 years. Wedding planner is not a protected title, but there I studied to become a wedding planner. I came back to Denmark 4 and a half years ago… time passes by so quickly!
I’ve had my wedding planning company for a few years, and now it is starting to take shape. For example, I am starting to really understand what type of customer I am attracting.
Speaking of: what type of weddings do you specialize in?
So far, I have embraced any type of customer that wanted my help. I have had customers ranging from really young couples (21-22 year old) to couples in their 50’s, getting married for the second time. However, I found out I really enjoy more intimate, elopement weddings, where couples come to Copenhagen from abroad to celebrate with just few of their nearest and dearest.
I am very proud of showing off my city: I love it, and I know every corner and every alley. I get to show foreign couples something that’s completely new to them, as they have never been here! I definitely enjoy that a lot.
During this type of day, what do you do? What does your figure look like?
In these cases, I set the mood for what the couple wants and I make a schedule for them.
For example, I planned a wedding where the couple had done all the paperwork and had been at the Town Hall on their own. I then greeted them in Frederiksberg Garden with a mini-reception with their guests, including prosecco, wedding cake, and their first dance. Then, I planned a day of sightseeing and a nice meal at a fancy restaurant for them. I wasn’t with them during the day, but I made a schedule for them. That would be my role on a day like that.
What is your process when you work with a couple, from the initial contact until the wedding day?
Normally couples come to me. Sometimes they have already picked a date, a place, and started inviting people. If they haven’t, we always start by picking a date and a venue, and plan everything else around that.
I have a meeting with the couple to know what they want, what is important to them, and how they want to spend their money. Then, I can get a sense of the style of the couple. If possible, I like to visit them at home, so I can see what do they have, how do they decorate, and get an even more personal feel. Then, I usually make a moodboard, where we can work with some elements, and I make an overall budget of the main costs. I start working to get the vendors in the order that makes sense and we have a few meetings throughout the process to see where we are and if any new ideas have come in from the couple, that I have to take in. And then, depending on the involvement on the wedding day, I will be there from morning until night, to make sure that everything runs smoothly. They simply need to be guests at their own wedding.
How long in advance would you recommend couples to contact you?
Ideally, 9 months to one year before is sufficient to ensure a nice and smooth process, and it makes it much less stressful compared to a short notice! But that’s not always possible… I have planned elopement weddings with a 3-weeks notice, whereas people have come to me 2 years in advance (which, however, is not too early either, as it leaves enough time to have specific vendors booked in, if needed).
Do you have any favourite venues?
Rather than a specific one, the best venue for me is one that just hands you the keys and leaves you complete freedom: you can bring your food, your bar, there are no neighbors around, and you can shape it as you wish. An example is Teaterøen: you can arrive by boat and have the venue available for 36 hours, and do whatever you want with it.
This is also what makes the most sense, if you hire a wedding planner!
If you pick a venue that already have all these things, they usually have someone who takes care of the planning. These places usually have packages which you have to fit in, which is really convenient, but you can’t have it exactly as you want. Obviously, I can still help with invitations, flowers, and other non-venue specific things :D
Imagine you’re talking with a newly-engaged couple: what would you tell them, if they asked you why coming to Denmark to get married?
The main reason is that it is really easy to get married here. The paperwork is really easy, even though you’re from outside EU, which makes it different from other elopement destinations, where you might need to get married multiple times, or go through complex paperwork. You come here and it is all sorted out :)
Denmark is also very diverse: you get beautiful city life, amazing architecture, both industrial and old-style buildings, as well as nature, which you can find quite close to the city. Therefore, you can mix-and-match, if you want different moods during the day, or you can pick just one of them.
What would be the major challenges they may encounter, while planning their wedding in Denmark?
I guess the only challenge about coming here is the weather, therefore if you plan an outdoors wedding day, do have a rain-proof plan as some sort of alternative. Even as a wedding planner, I can’t stop the rain!
What type of wedding could they have in Denmark?
I obviously need to know a bit more about what you want for your wedding day, so I can start painting the picture of your day. Speaking about mood, we’re also quite lucky to have all seasons, from fresh spring, to hot summer with blue skies, to some crispy days of fall, and sometimes we do get snow as well! Therefore, we can at least try and plan a day for any kind of mood you want.
Finally, what are your best tips for a just-engaged couple, who is about to start their wedding planning journey?
My number one tip for any couple, no matter if you’re eloping or if you’re staying home: decide what you two want! Planning a wedding that suits everybody else is just not recommended… plus, you only have one wedding day! So let’s make that one perfect and personal for your needs, instead of everybody else’s expectations on money, guests, and so on….
The second tip, although it’s not so much fun, is to be realistic about your budget! You will have a far better wedding day if you don’t have to wake up to an overwhelming bill on the day after. It’s a lot of pressure to put on yourselves, if you spend money you don’t have.
Finally, trust the process, and trust that your wedding planner can do the job! It is so much more relaxing, and you actually get the most value, and full experience, of hiring a wedding planner. Instead of trying to do the job and then coordinate with me, let go, enjoy, and trust that nothing will be done without your permission.
Find out more about Andrea Cecilie, and how she can help you plan your wedding in Copenhagen, through her website (https://andreacecilie.dk/) and instagram profile (@weddingplanner_copenhagen)!