Huyen & Joshua's Asian Inspired Wedding at Moss Denver

Huyen & Joshua's Asian Inspired Wedding at Moss Denver

Huyen & Joshua's Asian Inspired Wedding at Moss Denver

Let me start by saying that this was my absolute favorite wedding this year! Not only did we have a blast but this couple trusted me and my vision whole heartedly and the day was actually completely perfect and surpassed all my expectations. Anywhoooo, Huyen and Joshua are two nerdy Android app developers that were set up by their former boss! They have been together for 10 years and finally tied the knot on August 17th at Moss Denver! Huyen wanted to showcase her asian culture but make it super modern. Huyen had two wedding dresses one a traditional Vietnamese wedding dress complete with a head dress and a bright red body hugging gown with a gold dragon embroidered detail. This girl changed outfits six times during the day, but both looks were stunning. Huyen’s bridesmaids wore traditional Vietnamese outfits and Joshuas groomsmen rocked classic suits. When it came time to walk down the aisle after the couples first look these guys actually danced down the aisle. Each showing off their uniqueness. Like how fun? These love birds were married by the wonderful Reverend Kim and in true nerd fashion Joshua knocked off Huyen’s head dress when he went in for the kiss. Guests enjoyed a long cocktail hour complete with a full Whiskey and old fashioned bar by Oak and Olive. We hired the amazing Arthur at Babylon Floral who we sat with for hours during the planning process while he took everything in and created the most beautiful sketches that blew our original thoughts out of the water! Each centerpiece was assembled on site and each was completely different and unique. For dinner, guests were served a family style dinner of Bao Buns, Shrimp and Grits, and Flatiron steak. The brides mother made all three of her cakes. Not only did she make them but she flew them here in suitcases from Maryland. I know your probably thinking that they weren’t good because of that but they SO were! After the food Huyen and Joshua gave a talk, complete with a power point presentation. This is what they do for a living so they wanted to incorporate it into their special day. Then the bride and groom shocked their guests with a surprise choreographed hip hop dance that they absolutely killllled! After that guests danced the night away and enjoyed ice cream from High Point Creamery and authentic beignets from Footers Catering. Seriously the best day ever!


Here is what Huyen and Joshua had to say about working with Promise Event Planners.

(I think they kinda like us!)

“Payton Bernstine and Promise Event Planners are absolutely amazing. Hiring Payton to do full coordination for us is absolutely the best decision that we made, second only to deciding to get married! I wasn't the kind of bride that had a full vision or even knew what she wanted sometimes, but Payton helped us figure out how to make our wedding uniquely us, and made the whole experience fun and way less stressful. So many times I would turn to my fiancé (now husband) and say, "Hey, planning a wedding is pretty fun!"

Often I would give Payton some vague notions, and she would come back with the perfect vendor for us or an amazing suggestion that we instantly loved. I really feel that she truly listened and thought about what we would like and executed on it.

I'm generally very shy and reserved about expressing when I like or don't something, but Payton made me feel totally safe and free to express my opinions and ask questions, even ones that I thought were silly. She was always encouraging and helpful. She took care of the more stressful details for us and let us know exactly what we needed to do. Payton was also attentive and available, providing prompt responses via email or text.
Just in general Payton is a consummate professional with the skills, knowledge, experience, and savvy. All of our vendors said the same thing: "Payton is the best." And I am saying the same.

We had an amazing wedding. It was everything that we wanted and SO much more because of her.

And just as a person, Payton is fun, smart, and funny. My husband and I already miss her!”

Photography by The Scobeys

My Story & How I Got My Start In Wedding Planning

My Story & How I Got My Start In Wedding Planning

My Story & How I Got My Start In Wedding Planning

(Year Three)

I am here to tell you all about how I got my start in wedding planning. I will start out by saying that the story of how I found my first wedding planning job isn't particularly interesting. I was lucky enough to find the right job at the right time. But we will get to that part of the story in a second...

Let's back track this story to baby Payton's childhood. I have always been an entrepreneur. When I needed money for whatever reason (still not sure what a 7 year old spends their money on) I would type out a list of assorted chores and services I could offer to my parents with pricing off to the side and ask them what service they would be interested in purchasing. In 5th grade I would buy wholesale press on nails and put them on for girls in my before and after school program for $10 a set. In sixth grade I bought 250 Livestrong Bracelets from China (Thanks Aunt Kristl!) and sold them at school for three dollars a pop. When I was cheering in high school I made giant cheer bows and sold them to the girls in my gym. This business thing has always been my thang. 

Planning my birthday parties for example, Luaus, roller skating parties at Skate City, and Slumber parties had a strict schedule. Menus, game plans, themes, and once we had a cake for a sleepover party that was made to look like a bed with the faces, identifiable by differences in skin, hair, and eye color, of all my attending friends peeking out of the top of the blanket (God I miss my Mimi and her baking talents!)

When I went to college, I was a little lost in Boulder. I had planned on getting my Psychology and Education degree with the hopes of becoming a teacher or school psychologist to mold young minds and all that amazing stuff. After my student teaching, having 4th graders bully me for not wearing make up, and current teachers saying "Don’t do it!", I knew that this wasn't the right place for me. I distinctly remember siting down with myself in my sorority house bedroom and writing down all of my favorite things. I loved making things pretty, Pinterest, making people happy and hearing their stories, love, serving others, planning and scheduling things way too far in advance and big, impactful events that give people something to be excited about. I then started googling jobs that had anything to do with the list that I’d made. I was searching for Event Planning jobs in Boulder and stumbled upon a listing on craigslist. Like what are the chances? I interviewed in the hotel lobby of the Boulder Westin and got the job just minutes after interviewing for an intern position. I remember my first few weddings so well and the day that my mentor told me to run a ceremony rehearsal on my own last second. I freaked out, almost cried, and then lead the rehearsal for a 12 person wedding party like I had done it a million times before. Within 6 months at the company, I was planning weddings as a Lead Planner and absolutely fell in love with this life.

(Year five)

Once I graduated from school, I got some business cards, built a website from scratch, and started my own company on August 10, 2015. I guess you could say the rest is history but this story is still so in the works. I didn't go to school for this, I'm not "formally trained", and I don't have a certificate somewhere that says that I am a certified wedding planner. I did the work, worked for a LONG time for free, and gained experience in my own way. I have now had the pleasure of planing at least 50 weddings and events for the people who have trusted me enough to let me do so! We have now been in business for five and half years and 2021 is the most busy year I have ever had as a business owner. The pandemic has brought with it a whole bunch of new challenges that even as professional planners we could have never predicted. My goal for this year is to hire my first associate planner, maybe even two. That means I have to create training manuals and teach other woman to do what I do. But mostly that means giving up control so I can continue to scale this business and be better and stronger as a team. Learning this industry is hard and I have, and continue to, mess up a lot. It is hard to navigate situations where the hours are unpredictable, emotions are high, and there are lots of dollars being spent. Somehow I have thrived in this high stress environment and learned how to turn my personal anxiety, that was so crippling for so long, into a service I can offer to help others. The life of a wedding planner is crazy, stressful, beautifully creative, and will make you question what the hell you are doing but the end result is just...the best thing ever. Welcome to my world and thank you to everyone who has supported me and Promise Event Planners along the way! I couldn’t love y’all more!

 

What is Included in a Wedding Day Timeline

What is Included in a Wedding Day Timeline

What is Included in a Wedding Day Timeline

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Vendor Arrival and Departure Times: To me this would be the most important aspect of a wedding day timeline! Knowing when your vendors are arriving makes sure that we aren’t wasting valuable set up time! This gives us the ability to reach out if someone is late or running behind. It is also critical to know when your vendors are leaving. Some photographers will leave during a long dance party so it is important to know that so I’m not running around looking for them for whatever reason!

Important Songs: Sometimes the DJ or Band may forget what song you are walking down the aisle to. These guys are busy and have to keep a lot of songs in their heads so I get it! Having all the important songs on your timeline can remove this stress from everyone. On your wedding day timeline will be processional and recessional songs, grand entrance song, cake cutting song, first and special dance songs, and the final song of the night that will leave the night off with a bang!

Sunset Time: You want to know what time the sun will be setting on your wedding day. This is the perfect time for your photographer to take the couple out for some last minute newlywed shots during the best lighting of the day.

Notes: We talk about A LOT of tiny details throughout the planning process. Including notes on all these details is critical when laying out a wedding day timeline. Sometimes these notes include whether we are cutting or saving the top tier or of the cake or how long the couple wants to dance to their first dance song. It’s the little things that make the difference people!


There are obviously way more items that go into your wedding day timeline but this is just the tip of the iceberg! By the time this document is done it is about 12 pages long and full of details! A wedding day timeline is included in all of our packages so those tiny details wont get missed!

How to Balance Business and a Personal Life by an Entrepreneur That's Trying Their Best

How to Balance Business and a Personal Life by an Entrepreneur That's Trying Their Best

Any Day Can Be a Weekend: During wedding season I make Mondays a “weekend"! I am usually working Friday and Saturday and even sometimes taking meetings on Sundays to work with our clients busy schedules. Since it’s rare that I get a real weekend I give myself Monday to get my life together and do basic things like grocery shopping and Laundry. In the Winter I sometimes take a day in the middle of the week to get myself out of the house and doing something that gives me life. When you make your own schedule any day can be a weekend.

Schedule Time to be Social: If it’s not on your calendar it wont happen. Treat seeing your friends and family like a business meeting and put it on the calendar! If you don’t you might never leave your house. Like ever. I try to schedule meeting friends for drinks of taking family time a few times a month so I make it a priority in my schedule! Same goes for if you have a significant other. Make some rules with yourself that will make your partner feel important. Things like getting off your phone when your person gets home, eating dinner together (No Phones!), and scheduling date nights!

The FOMO Will Happen: Working for yourself and not having a typical 9-5 job means you will miss out on things. You’ll watch your friends weekend Instagram stories and wonder why you do what you do. It is okay to feel that way sometimes, but remind yourself why you selected this life for yourself.

Give Yourself Grace: If you need to take an extended break or vacation listen to your body and do that. We put so much pressure on ourselves as entrepreneurs to always be busy but that isn’t healthy. Staying up late, working long hours, and having hustle are all part of the gig but people need rest and sleep. Be kind to yourself y’all! This is the life you wanted. Relish in it! 

Work to Live, Don't Live to Work: I cannot preach this enough! We were not put on this planet to work! We were put on this planet to experience life, places, people, art, food, and everything else this world has to offer! Being an entrepreneur is meant to give you the freedom most people will never get to live their best lives and their big ass dreams!


Like I said I am just a chick trying her best to figure out this whole work life balance thing! Its not easy and is obviously an ever changing thing! Don’t feel like you need to master this because I don’t think any entrepreneur truly has it figured out but hey heres a start! Before we know if wedding season will be over and we will be forced to dig into what makes us, us again!

What is Included in Month Of Coordination?

What is Included in Month Of Coordination?

So What Exactly is Included in our Month Of Coordination Package?

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To start out this little blog I will say that we do not do Day of Coordination at Promise Event Planners. Being in this business for 6 years, I don’t believe that Day Of Coordination is a comprehensive enough package! I would never want to not have enough information to do my job or have anything fall through the cracks on the biggest day of your life all because of a short planning period. Because planning a wedding is so much more than just day of, we have our Month Of Package! Month of Coordination is a complete lifesaver for a bride and her family and any bride that has used a professional coordinator will tell you it is the best money they have ever spent! Our Month Of Coordination Package allows you to do a majority of the planning yourself, but have a stress free wedding day with the help of me and my team. Here is what is included in our Month of Coordination Package!

  • We will set up a meeting with you and your fiancé to discuss your wedding, all the details & your needs.

  • Creation of a detailed timeline for the day of the wedding - Our 10 page bible for your day

  • We will be the main point of contact for all of your vendors prior to the wedding and on the day

  • We will handle management of deliveries and set up

  • We set up & tear down your personal items (you know the things that make your wedding you!) at the ceremony and reception site according to your instruction

  • Attendance at the final walk through

  • Running of your ceremony rehearsal with the help of your officiant

  • All day support & coordination on the day of the wedding - We are the first ones in and the last ones out!


Does the Month Of Coordination Package seem like a perfect fit for you and your needs? Book us now whether you are two months from your wedding or two years! I Promise, you wont regret it!

Promise Event Planners offers a variety of services in Colorado, including