Wed and Prosper UK – a wedding planning company recently planned a wedding in 9 days which took place on the island of Isle of Wight in Ventnor Botanic Garden. The company is run by the Calmond sisters, Carrie and Rachel, who are Wedding planners, stylists and prop hire specialists. The sisters said that it was a task for them to plan a whole wedding in less than ten days.
Wed and Prosper have been at the forefront of the Isle of Wight wedding world for more than five years now but have more than 30 years of experience as their owners worked within the events industry worldwide. The Calmond Sister said, “We have grown as a business & now have freelancers who work for us doing events and weddings The Wed & Prosper Way.”
While describing how they managed the wedding this soon, they said, “As a rule, we spend over a year planning a wedding; we did do one in 7 weeks for a couple during covid. But 9 DAYS? This was a new one for us! When a groom contacts you because their reception venue has let them down, the church and guests are booked, and cancelling is not an option. You know you need to say yes!”
They added that the Ventnor Botanic Garden became the new venue, but it needed a marquee which wasn’t in plan A. A marquee wedding requires lighting, power, furniture, and design.
“That’s where we stepped in. Within hours we were on the phone. @coastandcountrymarqueesiow could help due to having a large team. The fantastic @stagegear was our next call and was super helpful with all the lighting and power needs. Catering, another call to one of our recommended suppliers, and we had @allaboutcateringiow onboard,” added the sisters.
They then set to work redesigning the whole style and concept of the wedding reception, liaising with the florist to change the brief. It was their first time working with ‘The Flowering Cactus’, and immediately she made it into her recommended supplier list.
They designed all the stationery, arranged printing, and planned the marquee layout and the tablescapes. They further said, “This wedding was a challenge not just because we had nine days to pull it off but because a marquee wedding requires a different budget to a hotel wedding, and this meant we had to be careful with menu choices to limit the amount of kitchen equipment which needed to be brought in when you’re in a marquee you need to build a kitchen in a tent! You don’t need power and lighting in a hotel or furniture, so every penny had to be monitored.”
Once all suppliers were in place, they then needed to write their schedule for set up and the day itself, and they allowed more than a few days normally for this piece of work.
On the day of the marriage, Carrie coordinated the day. The couple didn’t see the marquee set up until the reception started, and they loved it. The bride had her brothers as her Bridesmen, and the bridal party entered the marquee dancing; there was drinking and lots of dancing, emotional and funny speeches and lots of love.
