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Madison, Milwaukee Wedding Planner

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wedding design

Michael + Lucie: Backyard Wedding – Milwaukee, WI

August 4, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

Whenever a couple tells me that they plan to host their wedding at their own home, I always like to kindly ask them if they are sure about that 🙂 For all the reasons listed in our blog post about backyard weddings, it can be a huge undertaking that may or may not be worth the payoff in the end.

But when it’s done right, it can really be something magical. And let me tell you, Michael + Lucie did it RIGHT.

As the couple dressed for their special day, so too did they dress their home for the occasion. From table settings to food displays to lighting – attention to all the details added up into something perfect.
Introducing structure with different areas to encourage mingling added to the transformation. Thinking outside the box, literally, including outdoor lounges brought about multiple layers of comfort and style.

Congratulations Michael + Lucie!

The Dream Team: 
Wedding Coordination: HUE by Sarah Davidson
Photography: DJDAHL Photo
Catering: Hidden Kitchen MKE
Dessert: Miss Molly’s Cafe and Pastry Shop
Floral: Avenue Bloom
Vintage Rentals: Relics Rentals
Band: Professor Pinkerton and the Magnificents
Hair/Makeup: Beauty by Michelle Senuor

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, Real Events By HUE, Vendors We Love Tagged With: backyard party, backyard wedding, events, floral, milwaukee, milwaukee weddings, outdoor wedding, planning, rentals, vendor, vendors, wedding, wedding advice, wedding decor, wedding design, wedding dinner, wedding planning, wedding vendor, weddings, wisconsin, wisconsin wedding, wisconsin weddings

Madeline + Ben: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art – Madison, WI

July 7, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

Summer is heeeere and we’re feeling good, especially as we reminisce on Madeline + Ben’s contemporary wedding day in the heart of our beautiful city. Pups? Peonies? Prosecco? What more could you want!

Make way for bright and inviting hues at Madison Museum of Contemporary Art! The greenery, light brown wood paired with the white and light pink peonies transformed and softened this contemporary venue both for the rooftop ceremony and reception. The reception included an abundance of natural light through huge windows overlooking Madison. 

Now let’s talk about the food that went with that prosecco, catered by Fresco. Hand-passed hors d-oerves, decadent dessert, and dancing all under the same roof (more like on the roof!).

Congrats Madeline + Ben!

The Dream Team:
Wedding Coordination: HUE by Sarah Davidson
Venue: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
Catering: Fresco 
Photography: Heather Cook Elliott
Rentals: A La Crate
Floral: Daffodil Parker
Strings: Yahara String Quartet
DJ: C’est La Vie
Hair: Bella Station

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, Real Events By HUE, Vendors We Love Tagged With: contemporary, contemporary wedding, flowers, madison, madison wedding, madison weddings, vendor, vendors, wedding, wedding decor, wedding design, wedding planning, wedding vendor, weddings, wisconsin wedding, wisconsin weddings

Nina + Tommy: Fluno Center – Madison, WI

June 23, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

U Rah Rah, Wisconsin! Today we’re diving back into the details of Nina and Tommy’s early June nuptials, the first wedding that we were lucky enough to be a part of at the Fluno Center, in the heart of UW-Madison’s campus. It was easy to tell how much love was in the room for these two!

Red and white vibrant hues of love and romance as well as UW colors were seen accented in their cake, ceremony, and all table accents on their special day. We find that floral arrangements made this wedding richer and brighter. Contrasting the deep wood of the interior with white linens, fabrics, and cake really made them stand out. Of course, the stars of any wedding are the family, friends and the happy couple!

Congrats Nina & Tommy! 

The Dream Team:
Wedding Coordination: HUE by Sarah Davidson
Photography: Lewis Photography
Venue: The Fluno Center
Florist: Sweet Pea Waunakee
Cake: Gigi’s Cupcakes
Rentals: Madison Party Rental
DJ: Jukebox Bandstand
String Trio for Ceremony: Lucia String Quartet
Transportation: Gallant Knight Limo

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, Real Events By HUE, Vendors We Love Tagged With: events, guests, madison wedding, madison weddings, milwaukee, planning, Reception, university wedding, wedding, wedding decor, wedding design, wedding planning, weddings, wisconsin, wisconsin wedding, wisconsin weddings

Alexandria + Nathan: Caribou Bay Retreat – Coloma, WI

April 28, 2021 By Sarah Davidson

A blog 3.5 years in the making, Alexandria and Nathan, I am SO excited to finally share the details of your beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods wedding!!

Alexandria and I first met back in 2017 at a different wedding where I was the coordinator and she was the photographer. At that wedding, when all the vendors were hanging out and eating dinner together she asked for my card, so she could reach out when she started to make her own wedding plans. And then low and behold, she actually did! I was ecstatic! 

Although the weather was touch and go — it was literally about to rain the entire day — everything was able to go on as planned! And oh there were several fabulous things planned for their big day. Their dog, Kida, was a stunning ring bearer with a gorgeous floral collar and Nathan’s mom expertly sewed Alexandria’s dress herself.

After the ceremony, celebrations commenced and the party truly started. No one went hungry between great Wisconsin fare from Moose Inn Supper Club and pie for dessert, provided Nathan’s Grandma Carol.

By the way, these two are trained ballroom dancers, so for their first dance they pulled out all the stops — wardrobe change, dance moves, and all. It was crazy fun to watch!

Congrats Alexandria and Nathan!

The Dream Team:
Wedding Coordination: HUE by Sarah Davidson
Photography: Brooke Alania
Videography: Bella Hill
Venue: Caribou Bay Retreat
Catering: Moose Inn Supper Club
DJ: You Had Me at I Do
Beauty: Kasha Rodig
Rentals: Wautoma Rentals

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, Real Events By HUE, Vendors We Love Tagged With: ceremony, event planning, events, guests, madison, madison wedding, madison weddings, milwaukee, outdoor wedding, planning, small business, small business owner, vendor, wedding, wedding decor, wedding design, 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

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