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Madison, Milwaukee Wedding Planner

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Vendors We Love: Hampton Inn + Suites Madison Downtown

March 24, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

Last week I partnered with Destination Madison to take part in one of their Madison Minications. This campaign was launched as a way for locals to explore and take advantage of the great hotels our area has to offer and is currently running through April 12, 2021. With Lila turning four this month, we had been searching for an idea to celebrate that got us out of the house but felt safe, and this overnight hotel stay was the perfect blend of both!

While there are many Minication options, The Hampton Inn + Suites Downtown Madison was ideal for us for a few reasons:

  1. We wanted something easy and family friendly. Just having a pool and Lila getting her own bed on the pullout couch would’ve been enough to celebrate, but the downtown parking, hot breakfast, and location ready for exploration really made this for us. Throw in the $30 Food Fight Restaurant gift card and bingo scavenger hunt included as a part of the Minication package and we had an action packed 24 hours!
  2. I refer sooooooo many couples to this hotel for their wedding room blocks! I’ve always been comfortable doing so because of its good reputation and feedback from my couples on their positive experience. However, it makes me feel 1000% percent more excited about it now that I’ve personally gone through a stay there and can speak to my own experience.

Our arrival and check-in process was extremely easy, from parking the car to a smooth and safe check-in at the front desk. As soon as you stepped foot on the property you could tell that they embraced their Madison location and proximity to campus, with tons of local-focused artwork and accents around, including one of the Buckys on Parade (Pucky)! Izzy and Luis at the front desk were extremely kind and even had special birthday treats ready for Lila, which she loved!

We stayed in a King Studio Suite, which included a microwave, mini-fridge, and pullout sofa, on the seventh floor with views of campus. The Hampton has several room options available depending on your needs, and we were extremely happy with how clean and cozy our space was. As you can see below, Lila claimed her space pretty quick! For weddings, the different options and price points would make things easy for anyone on your guest list to find something that works for them.

After unpacking it was time to head to the pool! We were having so much fun I wasn’t able to get great pictures, but this area is perfect for both kids and adults alike. The hot tub has a beautiful waterfall feature and the pool is large with plenty of space for splashing around. The temperature was perfect and we were able to burn a bunch of energy before heading out to dinner.

The Minication package came with a $30 gift card to any Food Fight Restaurant. We opted to spend this on breakfast for dinner at Bassett Street Brunch Club, directly connected to the hotel. While mom and dad enjoyed a bloody mary and spiked horchata (respectively) to toast four years of parenthood, Lila went for the kids menu french toast with a HUGE chocolate milk. Needless to say, we were all pretty satisfied with our choices.

When we returned to the hotel, Luis from the front desk kindly obliged when I asked if they wouldn’t mind showing me their meeting space, which is easily accessible off the lobby. I could tell this would be the perfect space for a wedding party to rent for a hair/makeup getting ready room. That’s a biggie that I didn’t know was an option for this trip, but will now certainly be sharing with everyone!

We ended the night relaxing in our room with a good movie and some snacks. It was the earliest I went to bed all week and felt so good! #momlife

I’m a hot breakfast type of person, which is ALWAYS what gets me excited to stay at a Hampton. They offer FREE hot breakfast to all their guests! When we woke up the next morning I immediately hit up the coffee station upon entering the breakfast area and then we staked out a table to start the morning off right. There was something for everyone, with eggs, sausage, and bagels for mom and dad and Lucky Charms and chocolate muffins for the birthday girl. When we wrapped I sent the other two up to the room to prep for another swim session while I took a minute of peace near the fireplace with my coffee. For breakfast I could tell they had several team members assigned to make sure everything stayed safe and clean, from team members serving instead of self-serve, to regularly wiping down common area touchpoints.

After getting in one last swim, the final thing that we did was the Bingo Scavenger hunt included as a part of the Madison Minication. This was such a fun family activity to complete, sending us all around the hotel to make sure we didn’t miss any unique detail of this place. Definitely don’t miss this part of the Minication package because major prizes are at stake!

I want to thank Destination Madison for the opportunity to take this trip and The Hampton Inn + Suites Madison Downtown for such wonderful hospitality. If you’re a couple hosting your wedding in downtown Madison, we at HUE by Sarah Davidson highly endorse this property as a safe, modern, and comfortable location to host your guests. If you’re into the idea of a Madison Minication and want to figure out which one is right for you, check out this post.

Until next time!
Sarah

Chief Strategist and Creative Director of HUE by Sarah Davidson, Sarah is a sought after event industry consultant, planner, and strategist based in Madison, WI. Follow her work on Instagram at @huebysd.

Filed Under: Practical Planning, Sincerely Sarah, Vendors We Love Tagged With: consulting, dinner, event planning, events, guests, madison, menu, milwaukee, small business, small business owner, vacation, vendor, wedding, wedding advice, wedding planning, weddings, wisconsin, wisconsin wedding, wisconsin weddings

Advice for Entrepreneurs: Seeing the Bigger Picture

March 3, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

Today, I’m just jumping right in friends!

After a full year of getting kicked around by Covid, what could possibly give me the right to say “Just relax guys! Don’t get stuck in the day-to-day! See the bigger picture!”

Well, nothing really. Except for the fact that it’s probably something many small-business owners (especially those in the hospitality industry) need to be reminded of right now. I know I did. 

“The combination of hard work and smart work is efficient work.”  – Robert Half

A business exists to serve you as the owner, the owner does not exist to serve the business. You should always remember this. Why did you start your business? Probably not because you loved answering emails and phone calls all day.

I didn’t just want to be a wedding planner, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Growing up I was inspired to watch my father trailblaze his own career path instead of climbing a pre-structured ladder. I loved the idea of building a business that encompassed specifically who I was as a person, including my strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. And honestly, I wanted to take a vacation whenever I wanted! 

So what are some steps you can take to separate yourself from the day-to-day, continue to love your work, and hopefully scale your business along the way? Here’s a few to start with:

Photo: XO Azuree

Define the Vision

So what is your answer to why you started your business? When you think about your why and who you are as an owner and a person, do your current services and methods of operating your business line up?

If they don’t, that’s okay! It just means you’re now being presented with an opportunity to reevaluate. I personally started working with a business coach about a year ago, and in our time together I’ve done a lot of reflection realizing that for my first few years of my business I was just going through a lot of motions. I would just sit in front of my email each day and wait for business and tasks to come to me, then address them as they came up. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do next, but figured that if I always just did a good job at whatever came my way good things would happen right?

Some good things happened, yes. I’m very proud of the work I accomplished during that time, and frankly continually proud of having the guts to just start the business. But since about a year ago, when I did actually define and write down real goals of where I want to be in the future.. Wow have things happened.

I build my weekly to do list around my goals, and I work very hard to prioritize those over day to day operations. The day to day still gets done though. It’s amazing how efficient you can be when there is a true purpose of what you’re working towards.

Photo: XO Azuree

Think Ahead

“You’re on time if you’re five minutes early. You’re late if you’re on time.”

While I can’t say I’m in love with this Drumline quote, it’s accurate and applicable here. It’s also been in my head since the January NACE Evolve conference I attended.

As a planner it’s my job to continuously be looking forward to what’s happening next, soon, and later. If the first dance is supposed to start at 8pm and I don’t think about it until 8pm, it’s not happening on time.

So where are there opportunities in your business to be building processes and thinking ahead? Take marketing for example. Many people don’t worry about marketing until business is slow. However if they just kept up their marketing efforts when they were busy, they wouldn’t have to worry about ever being slow. 

Set those goals and have touchpoints along the way to make sure your work is continuously driving those goals.

Photo: Ash & James Photography

Stay the Course

Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. If it was a sprint, we’d all be extremely bored trying to come up with new things to do, since we have no desire to go back to the day-to-day of corporate life.

If you’re still wondering how am I going to make it both personally and professionally through the pandemic, reflect back on what you’ve accomplished. It’s been nearly a year, way longer than anyone thought it would be, and you’re still here. You’re someone who cares enough about his or her business to read this blog and hopefully have some takeaways. That is the attitude that is going to take you somewhere. 

Remember who you are and why you started this business. Did you do something today or this week that put you closer to those goals? Then you’re doing great.

Chief Strategist and Creative Director of HUE by Sarah Davidson, Sarah is a sought-after event industry consultant, planner, and strategist based in Madison, WI. Follow her work on Instagram at @huebysd.

Filed Under: Lessons Learned, Practical Planning, Sincerely Sarah Tagged With: business, consulting, destination, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, event planning, events, girlboss, madison, madison wedding, madison weddings, milwaukee, planning, small business owner, vacation, wedding, wedding advice, wedding design, wedding planning, wisconsin, wisconsin wedding, wisconsin weddings

Top 3 Things to Keep in Mind When Planning Your 2021 Wedding

February 3, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

It’s 2021 everyone! For those of you who booked a wedding in 2020, then put a pause on things as Covid played out, the time has come for you to start making some decisions.

So what are the top three things you need to consider when planning for your 2021 wedding, amidst a never-ending pandemic and unclear guidelines as to what could or could not be allowed on your date? Here are the big three!

Photo: @mr_lanelogan/@maddie_allender

Vendor communication is critical

Remember that all your vendors are going through this right alongside you. Odds are that we’re already aware of everything that you may be weighing and thinking about related to your wedding this year, and we want to be a resource. Please use to talk through what your day could potentially look like, what changes might need to be made, and precautions we are taking to keep everyone safe.

If you are at all considering changing your date, reaching out to make your vendors aware of this as soon as possible is crucial. Our industry has been flipped upside down for the past 11 months, with even more moving pieces than normal, so the best thing that can get us all through this is clear and regular communication with our clients. We want to do everything we can to still try to make this as smooth of as possible for you.

That being said, do not expect date changes to be as easy in 2021 as they were in 2020. In 2020 no one had any idea what we were getting into and what to expect. But now, nearly a year later, Covid and the policies around it are no longer a surprise. In order to keep their doors open both to you and their other clients, vendors are more often finding themselves in the tough situation of needing to fall back on their contracts. We are seeing stricter enforcement on date change and cancellation policies and believe we will continue to do so as this year goes on.

Photo: Thrive Photography + Films

Think about what your covid-friendly wedding looks like

We all hope that things will be “back to normal” by the time your wedding date comes. However, depending on how local ordinances are being handled in your venue’s location, there is still a great deal of uncertainty of when that will happen. 

For this reason, we recommend that you plan ahead and already start thinking about what your wedding would like with covid policies in place. Can your venue accommodate a socially distanced setup? Can your photographer find a system to work in a few safe, non-masked, photos? Are there decor or experience elements that can be creatively adjusted? Can you save money anywhere?

If you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re always going to hear from us that planning ahead is crucial to a great experience. This year, we believe you will have a better experience if you plan for a covid-friendly wedding (even just in the back of your mind) with the potential to be pleasantly surprised than to plan for no restrictions and have to begrudgingly change things at the last minute. If this is still all a big fat no though, see the section above about vendor communication.

Photo: Tim Fitch Photography

Manage guest expectations and communication

Probably the biggest headache though is thinking through your guest list. It’s hard to know what everyone’s various comfort levels could be, not to mention who would make the cut on your ABCD list. When should be your final deadline to send invitations, and what if restrictions change just weeks or even days before your date?

If you haven’t gotten on board the wedding website train yet, there’s no time like the present! Let your guests know that is where all the most up to date information will be and save yourself from responding to the calls, emails, and texts. In addition to basic information, your website should include a list of what safety precautions will be in place, as well as any expectations you have of your guests who attend. If they will be required to wear a mask it will be much easier on everyone if that is known ahead of time, instead of a potential day of surprise. Spelling this all out also aids your guest in making their own decisions if they feel safe attending or not.

And on that note, be understanding of those who decide not to attend because they do not feel safe. We are all human, and it can hurt a lol to have someone close to you miss your wedding. But it can hurt even more to permanently damage a relationship over it, and sadly we’ve already seen this happen a few times now. There are any options today for hybrid events, virtual events, and postponed celebrations that the “all or nothing” approach is a thing of the past. 

Anything else we missed that should be considered? Drop a line below to let us know!

Chief Strategist and Creative Director of HUE by Sarah Davidson, Sarah is a sought after event industry consultant, planner, and strategist based in Madison, WI. Follow her work on Instagram at @huebysd.

Filed Under: Lessons Learned, Practical Planning, Sincerely Sarah Tagged With: 2021, 2021 wedding, communication, consulting, covid-friendly wedding, downtown, event planning, events, guest expectations, madison, madison wedding, madison weddings, milwaukee, money, planning, small business, small business owner, vendor, wedding, wedding advice, wedding decor, wedding design, wedding planning, weddings, wisconsin, wisconsin wedding, wisconsin weddings

We Can Do This Better, Together

January 6, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

Earlier this week, the Wisconsin State Journal and The Cap Times each shared extremely well-written stories about what the Dane County event industry has been facing these past nine months, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are grateful for this coverage. In writing these articles, I was asked to share my thoughts and observations on the situation, as well as an overview of our local wedding and events industry. There is so much to tell and obviously not every detail could be included, so today I wanted to share with you my full original response to these requests. I am so fiercely proud and deeply invested in our industry, and we need as many people as possible to understand what we are facing right now in order to maintain hope as we enter 2021. See below for the narrative.

Photo: Dutcher Photography

Small but mighty, vibrant but understated. The Madison and Dane County wedding and event industry is composed of many unique venues and vendors, capable of pulling off high-end events week after week, year after year. We take pride in our ability to create one-of-a-kind gathering experiences, and love working with event hosts to bring their vision to life. Having these two values taken away from us for these past nine months, the two main functions our entire industry is based upon has been extremely devastating.

Thanks to Covid and local messaging, the word “wedding” has now almost become a bit of a taboo in our county. People are hesitant to mention anything about planning to have a wedding or attend one, out of fear of being shamed for even considering such a thing. Data snapshots generalize how many cases have come from “weddings” without any further details such as location or circumstances. What was once one of the most joyful sectors of our local hospitality industry feels extremely heavy right now. And knowing what I do about our event community and what keeps us all in this difficult business, this truly is one of the hardest parts.

Photo: Thrive Photography + Films

Dane County has over 100 venues that host events and over 500 wedding and event vendors in total, made up of photographers, planners, florists, DJs, caterers, and dozens of other categories, that all team up hundreds of times together during normal years to deliver start-to-finish unique event experiences. Many of these vendors have made this their full-time career while just as many, if not more, offer their service as a passion project, in addition to still working a day job. A common thread for most though tends to be “stumbling into” the industry in one way or another. They weren’t necessarily seeking it, but once found, they’ve never wanted to leave. It can be exhausting, thankless, physically, and emotionally demanding, but the high of bringing people together has an energy that cannot be beaten.

From May-October, our local wedding season is in full swing. The reasons why someone wants to get married in Madison are endless, but most of them come down to the hosts’ connection to our beautiful city. We have everything they want, and they can’t wait to show us off to their guests. Many of our venues book up for the season and the average guest count is between 150-250 people. These people are not only here to attend these weddings, but in turn stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, take in our sights, and experience the city. While weddings still take place in our colder months as well, our offseason is filled with holiday parties and other local celebrations. We are ready to cater to any needs, any time of the year.

And of course, the same thing could be said for the many other different types of events that are hosted in our city. People fall in love with Madison and want to share it with others, so they chose us to host their shows, conferences, and sporting events here year after year.

Except this past year, and if something is not done quickly, possibly for years to come.

Photo: Tim Fitch Photography

Events take time to plan. The current lack of guidance on what a reopening plan will be for the events industry is already impacting us well into 2021 and will continue to do so, as we see things regularly drop off our schedules week after week. New orders being released with just 24 hours notice on a seemingly ad hoc timeline does not work for someone trying to plan any sort of event, let alone a wedding. These plans require communicating with guests, ordering perishables, and coordinating with multiple vendors. These factors have understandably led some couples to already make the decision to postpone their 2021 wedding, with that feeling like a more favorable option at the moment than a state of constant limbo. We vendors of course understand the position they’re in and do our best to accommodate because it feels like the right thing to do for everyone. But we also take a bigger hit each and every time this happens. With each postponement, there is both lost revenue from the originally anticipated event date, as well as the lost opportunity of new business that could’ve come on the new date. For many of the smaller, independent vendors, each and every booking can go a long way to make or break their business and personal goals.

Photo: K. Rosales Photography

Weddings are the main type of event that has still been trying to make things work through this, because they are so personal. All corporate type events originally on the books for venues, many held at the same location year after year, have essentially all been cancelled for the foreseeable future until things seem safe. It’s understandable why, but this again is all lost revenue that will never be recovered. And those planning large scale events from a distance are certainly considering right now if Madison is even a viable option for 2022 and beyond, given the state of uncertainty around how we will be allowed to run events well into the future.

I don’t say all this to gain sympathy. What’s done is done, but we must do something right now to stop this from getting much worse.

Photo: Audre Rae Photography

We are asking for the opportunity to work together with our local officials, to define a clear reopening plan for the events industry, to put into effect when the time is right. Safety is the number one priority and we know that large scale events won’t be realistic for some time. But we must start strategizing together today to define what our industry is capable of. We can have conversations of what appropriate metrics could be realistic to aim for, now that we know so much more than we did in July, when the original Forward Dane plan was released. We can have conversations about science-backed measures that are seeing success around the country and how we can adopt them locally. We can have conversations about the expected path moving forward, now that a vaccine exists. We must start these conversations now.

Doing this together would allow us to develop a plan that directly addresses public safety, while letting our industry begin to serve again. Instead of being caught off guard with every new order that is released, we could be better equipped to advise event hosts on what their event could look like a few months down the road. This would allow them to feel more confidence both in us and in their leaders. It would allow us hope to slowly come back. We in the world of mass gatherings can be a part of the solution, not the problem, if only given the opportunity.

Photo: Heather Cook Elliott

A secondary ask of these conversations would be for a further breakdown of the data that exists. Right now, “weddings” is the generalized term that is blamed for a number of local Covid cases. However, we need more details. Did that wedding occur at a commercial facility? Did it occur in someone’s backyard? Did it occur inside our county per our guidelines? Or outside the county, out of our control? Did it involve professional, licensed vendors? We ask all these questions because we believe there should also be a distinction made between mass gatherings at private residences versus commercial facilities. Commercial facilities can require a number of safety guidelines in place for their event, while those hosting events at private residences are less likely to take these measures. Commercial facilities have greater square footage and better HVAC systems at minimum, and we should be working to guide people towards those spaces for their gatherings, not away from them.

Photo: The Still Life Photo

Finally, more aid is needed. All of hospitality is suffering greatly, but the world of private events is being left in the dust. After seeing financial relief distributed to restaurants, hotels, theaters, and community spaces, our sector is the one remaining that seems to not have been seen. Venues that function specifically to host private events still have huge holding costs each month. Vendors that can travel, such as photographers or planners, have been forced to put themselves in unsafe situations this year and work weddings with loose restrictions, simply because they need to survive. No specific distribution has come to the private events industry, one that was the first to shut down and will likely be one of the final to reopen fully.

I share this all because our tight-knit event community, one that works year round to keep our city a vibrant destination, is suffering immensely. There is no perfect answer to any of these circumstances of the past nine months, but we know that we can do this better, together. Please give us the chance.

Filed Under: Lessons Learned, Practical Planning, Sincerely Sarah, Vendors We Love Tagged With: consulting, madison weddings, wedding planning, wisconsin weddings

Welcome To A New Era: Introducing HUE Business Coaching & Consulting

February 18, 2020 By Sarah Davidson

You all have been so supportive of this new era in my business life lately and I cannot thank you enough, but once again, thank you.

And with this post, I’m excited to introduce a service that now aides in supporting the other side of my audience, small creative business owners and vendors in the event industry! This has been a long time coming and we’re excited the day is finally here.

Introducing: Business Coaching & Consulting by HUE

Photo: Tim Fitch Photography

The launch of our business consulting branch is the brainchild of nearly a decade of experience in the event industry, as well as the following facts about myself:

  • I enjoy working with vendors just as much as clients
  • I’m pretty good at effectively pushing creative ideas forward
  • I love my life as an entrepreneur, and want to share the love with others who are also following their passion

From there it was a pretty simple question. What can I offer that encapsulates it all?

Photo: Audre Rae Photography

So who is this service for? I’m looking for creative entrepreneurs and event based business owners who:

  • Have business ideas that they want to develop but need help or don’t have the time
  • Need help organizing their systems and processes to stay on track with business goals
  • Need someone to brainstorm with, bounce thoughts and ideas off of, and provide accountability on a regular basis
  • Have general business administrative tasks they’d like to hire someone for, but they don’t want to have employees
  • Are looking to break into or grow further within the wedding market

Do you fit one of these criteria? If so, take a peak for more info here.

And let’s all work together to keep moving Wisconsin Events Forward.

Featured Photo: Tim Fitch Photography

Filed Under: Lessons Learned, Sincerely Sarah, Vendors We Love Tagged With: business, coaching, consulting, entrepreneur, madison, small business owner

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