Ashley was interviewed by Greenwich Tent Co.

Greenwich Tent Co. interviewed Ashley recently. Catch it live on their blog HERE or read it below!

It’s an honor to be trusted planning an event that client’s imbue with so much passion and importance. Weddings have only the extent of meaning that the client’s give them and a client that hires an event planner such as ourselves, has high expectations. We love a creative project and a good challenge. Also, there is a lot we take for granted, skills that come easy to us that are intimating or foreign to a client. Details that we discern that clients would not have. Details that alter the planning experience or guest experience or both, that may or may not be visual. There is so much that does not meet the eye because the planning just works out in the end, seamlessly. Lastly, we also know our involvement helps alleviate conflict both between family members and couples. That alone makes our roles rewarding and valuable. Gratitude. 

Their interview:

Event Planners, or as I like to call them the fairy Godmothers of all things wedding and special events related, are really the glue to every single aspect of your wedding day/event. They help piece together your dream vision while giving you ideas and feedback through each decision from the catering, floral designs and guest experience! 

Ashley Douglass Events is the total package with the motto of "seamless planning for luxury events". We have worked with her and her team for the past few years and the work that they have done is stunning and we though you should see it for yourself!! 

Her experience in this industry:

Her previous history is in the professional theatre both in NYC and regionally. She grew up in a professional theatre family and was a serious ballet student all throughout childhood so “production time” was just part of her life. While still in the theater as she got older she worked as a staff trainer for a larger NYC restaurant group. For her it was ideal because when she needed a job, be it for a month or four, she always had a restaurant to be placed into and sometimes was helping to open a new restaurant too. She moved to LA in her late 20s and did the same work on the side and eventually her name started circulated as a subcontracted wedding or event coordinator. That was when she first got the wedding bug. Ashley shadowed some designers as well, laying the groundwork for a future job all the while still performing. She then went back to school to become a therapist and in tandem started to book her own weddings. Without planning it a new career emerged and picked up speed prior to completing her training hours as a therapist so she went for it. That was about 9 years ago.

How she got started and what made her choose this career:

Ashley always wanted to work for herself. That was a must. She says she is for sure right brained but also love detail and a hard challenge. The harder the job the better she will do. With weddings and events, you see the final outcome which is the ideal reward. Ashley also has a few other business ideas up her sleeve but we will get back to her on that!

What geographic areas she services:

She works in NYC, Hamptons, Hudson Valley to the Berkshires, Vermont and Fairfield County CT. She also work where ever her clients take her. They have also planned in CA, CO, FL, TX and Mexico.

For 2020 + 2021 we are also planning for the Caribbean and Madrid is pending. Catch us on Instagram soon. 

Her favorite part about being an event planner:

Happy clients make a happy planner. Ashley feels good to be in a job that you are good at, as silly as that may sound. She is good with people I believe, detail and design.

What Ashley likes about working with a tent for a wedding reception versus an indoor space:

She finds that its important to have a tented event even if you are in a location that does not get much rain, having a main structure calls for guests to focus and you are able to do what you want aesthetically. You can be outside in the woods and have a formal event. She loves lighting and a barren tent gives you options! 

How she discovered Greenwich Tent and why she enjoys working with us:

She began working with us back when we were first only Sperry Tents Greenwich. You're a growing company that still feels and operates like a small family company. Clients value that! 

Some of her favorite events she has done with us!

A New Canaan wedding the night after the Supreme Court ruled same sex marriage as legal. Click Here to see the full story!

A wedding at Glenmere Mansion where the bride actually let her mother do a majority of the planning since she was busy with her career and wanted her mom to have some fun with it! 

And a wedding at The Country Club of Fairfield where her parents got married sixty two years before. Click Here to see the full story!

If you are equally as happy seeing their gorgeous events then pop over to their Instagram!

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Thanks so much to our friends at Greenwich Tent for interviewing us especially during a busy time, Fall!

Ashley D. and team

GQ + Sam | Kontokosta Winery, NoFo Wedding

Genevieve, also known as GQ, and Sam, could not be more suited for one another. They have figured it out. The planning journey with them, as well as the entire wedding weekend, was filled with laughter and good spirits. They both walk through life with humor, perspective and gratitude. The love they share for each other makes spending time with them pleasant and all the more special.  All of these wonderful characteristics of GQ and Sam were palpable during the wedding and amongst their family members as well. Overall, the wedding weekend was fun, relaxed and filled with love. 

Below are just a few of the many details that shaped Genevieve and Sam's choices for their wedding. 

They wanted the weekend to be easy for their guests and for guests to be closer to one another, which eliminated some of their initial venue choices in the South Fork/Hamptons. They also wanted their ceremony at waterfront. While they loved another venue on the South Fork very much, the choices of pairing The Soundview and Kontokosta Winery together on the North Fork, Wine Country, made for a more communal weekend and bonus as they got that waterfront wedding ceremony they hoped for. 

When planning their wedding, Genevieve and Sam left their parents and friends out of the planning process and worked with ADE on their own.  With the help and guidance of ADE, GQ and Sam were able to make choices that ensured their wedding weekend would be fun and relaxed for everyone involved. 

When they got a bit behind during planning, they did roll with the punches and gave up control when they needed to. In order to keep sane with everything else going on in their lives, they were able to make time for important elements of the planning process.  We were lucky in every regard. 

Shout out to Groom Sam who has called meetings with our team “Wedding Therapy” more than any other client or person. 

Having an upscale wedding that was also approachable was important to them and was a success at the end of the weekend. They both love decor and are eager to provide their own opinions. They were sensitive to the question of enough. What would be enough for them, for balance in the tent, to not distract people from conversation, etc. I think we nailed it on the head. What do you think?

Many thanks to Carats & Cake for featuring this beautiful wedding. We would plan this type of wedding again in a heart beat. 

Genevieve and Sam’s Kontokosta Winery Wedding Gallery

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Planning + Design | Ashley Douglass Events

Venue | Kontokosta Winery

Tenting | Stamford Tent

Band | Elan Artists - Ground Control

Photographer | Sarma & Co.

Florist | Sag Harbor Florist

Lighting | Social Decor Lighting

Hair | Brandon Michie

Make Up | Danielle Librizzi

Caterer | Art of Eating

Ceremony Musicians | Iconiq Strings

Invites | Sam Clarke (the groom himself!)

Rental Company | Party Rental LTD

Rental Company II | Nuage Designs

Rehearsal Dinner Venue | The Halyard at Soundview

After Party Venue | First and South

Hotel | The Gallery Hotel

Hotel II | The American Beech

Charitable giving through your Wedding | an overview of some charities

Special Gift, Special Day

It’s 2019 and culture is changing. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and instead apply this idea solely to the context of wedding registries. 

Many couples are making charitable giving a part of their wedding plans. This may mean the couple donates funds to an organization in lieu of wedding favors, food at their after party, upgraded napkins, or any other detail they feel they would have otherwise included if they did not consider the charitable gift more worthwhile. 

Commonly, and most meaningfully, these donations might be made in honor of a loved one who has passed, or a family member or friend who has faced a significant challenge. 

Additionally, the average age of couples getting married has risen and has always been higher in the New York area, where the greater majority of our clients reside. Couples have already made a life for themselves that obviously includes flatware and bedding, so they are forgoing signing up for wedding registries, instead suggesting places where guests can make donations in the couple’s name, or in their own. Furthermore, it is uncomfortable asking people to purchase things for you at the quality you would perhaps purchase for yourselves. You also do not want to accumulate more stuff just to accumulate more stuff, that does not feel good, especially if you live in a NYC apartment. 

We know there are many nonprofits and charitable platforms out there, so ADE is here to help you get a head start on choosing one! JustGiving.org, crowdrise.com and CharityNavigator.org are all search engines to use to start your search if you are in love with the idea of setting up a charitable registry but still need to find an organization. You can give back, or encourage your guests to give, to any charitable organization you love, such as Charity: Water, OceanX, FeedingAmerica, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and American Cancer Society just to name a few we love. You can do this quite simply by making a mention of this donation on the bottom of your menus, on the back page of your ceremony program, on your website, on the details card within your invitation suite, or by making an awareness table that shares literature about this organization. An awareness table can be placed near the entrance and exit of your venue. We have seen couples forgo the awareness table and instead include the literature for the organization in their hotel welcome bags. You may also opt, instead, to put literature about this organization out at brunch the day after your wedding. 

Below are just a few organizations, or companies, that sell products that give back. These items can be given as favors as well.  We write “organizations” because nowadays not all companies that give back are necessarily non-for-profit. Some are for profit, so that they can sustain themselves better while giving back. They can hire more capable talent for their teams, and those teammates can be grateful for being paid what they deserve, while also having work that is real. They can hire employees who need salaries themselves to get back up off their feet and enter the workforce again. The Giving Keys is an organization that does just that. Ashley herself has a few of the long necklaces from The Giving Keys and gave them as holiday gifts to vendors in 2018. The terrain of ‘give back’ companies is changing and, with for-profit companies sprouting up, perhaps giving back will become part of the norm and soon we can all do our part to contribute to closing the opportunity gap in this country and beyond. 

4Ocean: This organization was created by two surfing friends, Alex and Andrew, while away on vacation in Bali, a small fishing village in Indonesia. Simply constructed, fisherman remove plastic out of the ocean with their nets, so that they can save their livelihood, the fish.  The cost of each bracelet, made from recycled materials, helps to clean up 1 lb of plastic from the ocean. 

The Giving Keys: This company was created on a social impact employment model. Instead of raising funds through the products they sell they sell products that provide jobs to those transitioning out of homelessness - hence giving keys; keys to someone’s future. 

Truffles for a Cause can help you create the perfect wedding favors that will give back to a charity of your choosing! Within their box of chocolates is a charity card which provides details of a charity.  This can be a small but rewarding detail to add to your special day.

One Hope Wine was created over the love of wine but also to bring communities all over the world together. “To date we have made more than $3 million in donations, provided 46,000 people with global health care, 49,000 forever homes for shelter animals, 1.8 million meals for children, 163,000 life-saving vaccines and much more.”

Repeat Roses is a wonderful for-profit organization that we have worked with many times since its inception in 2014. It is a no brainer - you pay a fee for their staff to pick up, rearrange and deliver your flowers to a nearby organization of your choice. With this service you have the opportunity to claim a good portion of your flower bill as a charitable donation. If your flower bill is high enough, it is a win-win. You are even sent pictures of your flowers the next day, in their new location, making someone else’s day a bit brighter and albeit fragrant. 

Some more non-for-profits we love and want to shed some light on are as follows….

Wish Upon A Wedding “has helped over 125 couples say ‘I Do’  since its launch in January 2010.” This particular non-profit provides couples who are struggling with serious illnesses with grants for weddings and vow renewals. 

Changing the Present is a company that helps to channel funds to nonprofits through a donation given in a friend’s name. Instead of purchasing a birthday gift or a wedding gift, this company seeks to make the experience of donation feel like a rewarding gift. 

Vow to End Child Marriage is an organization started with the assistance of Girls Not Brides, The Ford Foundation and Hive. The mission of this organization is to end child marriage by raising funds that support local organizations across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Both Vow and Girls Not Brides are active in working to end child marriage across the world.  

The charities listed above are only a few of the many remarkable organizations you can choose from. We applaud your choice to add charitable giving to your special day and hope we can help you find an organization that best fits your vision. 

Happy Planning!

Ashley Douglass Events Team! 

Written by Christina Madden, Spring 2019 Intern and Ashley Douglass

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Only real friends should be your wedding guests

Couples who have been married only a few years often remark how there were so many people at their wedding, or even bridal party, who they no longer speak to. They have fallen off the face of the Earth since the wedding. Maybe life shifts, attentions divert, people move away. For the most part, included in this group are people with which your bonds may have been superficial. 

Do not invite certain people to look good. Do not fear you will look less than if this or that person does not attend your wedding too. So what if they were in your fraternity - be the cool discerning outlier and do not invite everyone. There are other innovative people in your alumni association that will accomplish more and be a better contact for life, and they do not care about being invited to your wedding. Similarly, do not invite people that will attend your wedding just because they too have FOMO. Your wedding day is too meaningful for that. 

Do not invite work friends that are not going to be friends after you change your job. Invite no one for work. If anyone asks say it was your in-laws rule. Just think how much less annoying it will be if you plan on keeping your job. No endless stories for years to come about your gross cake (joking) or the time Timmy decided to use the bushes to relieve himself and your grandma saw. Joking again or maybe not. Additionally, your parents should not be allowed to invite their work friends either, and that goes for both sets of parents.

Lastly, in the New York City and surrounding suburban areas it is really hard to find many attractive venues that have a guest count at or exceeding 250 people. There are enough venues that push their max capacity to be more attractive to more couples. If you doubt how comfortable their max capacity would be for you and your guests, then you may want to ask your coordinator to tell it like it is - is your guest count pushing it? Maybe ask for some photos of past weddings with a higher guest count or stalk instagram.

Having problems with your guest count? Ask yourselves who really will be there for you in five years. Those who are there for you for the long run do not need an event or milestone to take place in order to stay in touch and vice versa on your end as well. Plus, a smaller wedding makes for a more intimate wedding, which often times equates to a more relaxed atmosphere.

True friends = wedding guests

NICOLE + ROSS | Blue Hill Stone Barns | Tarrytown, New York | October 2017

This wedding was a joy to plan. During the planning process, Nicole and her mother had somewhat different tastes in aesthetics. However, it was their combined love for the beautiful venue at Stone Barns coupled with our own ability to be not only diplomatic but also showcase ideas that they would both love which, in the end, set them up for success.

One element of their design that was different than most of our weddings is that they both favored paper that had considerable detail. They both moved forward with intricately designed invitations and save the dates a bit on their own and had good renderings early so the over all design fit into the paper details.

Being cohesive was super important to them both and, in particular, the Mother of the Bride. The family entertains enough at home and had learned from past experience that they love consistency. There are many details you cannot see in their photography. Details such as the ribbon and name tags on the flip flops and blankets. Other details like their specialty coffee and hot cocoa station, their enormous and cool outdoor lounge with plenty of games for those less inclined to dance.

You never know what is going to stick after a wedding. The couple’s adorable and memorable first dance, well rehearsed after months of classes, made the whole room tear up. Then the best man speech had so much love you wanted to hug your neighbor. The surprise, albeit less emotional, was the guest’s love for their linens and napkins. Multiple guests asked the Mother of the Bride where their beautiful La Tavola linens came from and they also asked about the dinner napkins, which also came from La Tavola. In fact, two ladies called us separately asking where to purchase their velvet ecru linen lined napkin!

We anxiously await July of 2019 when we will be back at the one-and-only charming Blue Hill at Stone Barns for another buyout!

Happy venue shopping and congratulations again to Nicole + Ross.

Photography by Craig Warga Weddings

Planning + Design | Ashley Douglass Events

Venue | Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Band | FAZE 4 Orchesteras LTD “Scott Yunney Band”

Photographer | Craig Warga Weddings

Videographer | 15 Minutes of Frame

Florist | Blade NYC

Photobooth | New England Selfie

Lighting | Pegasus Productions

Hair | Indulge Salon

Make Up | Hope Landry

Bridal Attire | A Little Something White

Rental Company | Nuage Designs

Rental Company II | Party Rental LTD

Rental Company III | La Tavola