Ekaterina Karpenko, head and founder of Karpenko Wedding, a wedding company.
- Katya, it is no secret that today the wedding industry in Russia is developing according to the Western model: it is from abroad that actual wedding trends and traditions come to us. Fashion for the wedding organizer came from there. Tell me, who is working in this field in Russia today and how did you come to this?
- Probably, like many, it all started with my personal experience. In general, I am a forensic lawyer by training. In the 5th year, after 4 years of relationship, my young man made me an offer, and I began to prepare for the wedding. The preparation was lengthy - from April to July. I realized then that there was especially no one to help me. There are no people around who know what accessories to assemble, how to arrange them, what to wear under the dress so that it is not hot. And those who worked in this industry at that time, rather helped to assemble a team of photographers, videographers, and so on. At my wedding in 2012 there were bridesmaids, friends of the groom, I made up the timing of the wedding day, where the work of each specialist was registered by the minute, and everything went perfectly. And after the university we left Tomsk, for a long time we lived in Nakhodka, where I worked in my specialty for three months and realized that I don’t want to do this anymore. Fate so happened that I was offered to become a co-founder of a holiday agency, and I agreed. We held weddings, but in fact, our work came down to the selection of decor and wedding staff. And occasionally I gave brides advice of a different plan. We took 5 weddings for the weekend, and after that wedding summer I developed a persistent allergy to weddings. And then we returned to Tomsk, and after a while I decided to start organizing weddings again: I studied in Novosibirsk, trained and already in 2015 I had the first full-fledged wedding summer at the level at which it should be.
- How did fashion for wedding organizers develop in Russia?
- In Russia, wedding organizers first appeared in large cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, then in Novosibirsk and smaller regions. Usually active young people and girls do this. But in general, good organizers are worth their weight in gold, because they are not just people who take money for their work, but helpers who really immerse themselves in the process, solve a bunch of questions and nuances, save the budget of the newlyweds and help to distribute it correctly. Clients of wedding organizers are usually people who have money, but prefer to entrust the organization process to professionals, and they themselves only enjoy the process.
I’ll say one thing for sure: the best organizer is the one who got married or married, because then he certainly knows all the nuances and “pitfalls”.
- It's time to tell in detail who the wedding organizer is and what he does.
- The wedding organizer does everything that the bride, her mother and friends did before. First of all, he sends the newlyweds large profiles in which they answer a bunch of different questions. How did they meet, what kind of music they like to listen to, what films they watched, what traditions they like, and what they would like to avoid, who their parents are and so on. Then the organizer introduces the young wedding day concept. From my own experience I’ll say that it happens that you look and understand: this is exactly what the guys will do. And it happens that you can’t decide, because the couple is unusual, you have to strain your imagination a lot and turn on your creative abilities to the maximum. I collect pictures, adapt them to our city. I propose a concept.
- Do you also select a team of specialists?
- Yes, this is the next stage, the selection of the team. It includes: photographers, videographers, florists, decorators, master of ceremonies, creative teams, etc. The guys get a huge file with recommendations from which they choose those who are closer to them. Then we meet with the selected specialists all together, I ask questions on behalf of the guys, because they themselves do not really know what to ask. But on the other hand, my experience helps me make contact so that the guys get what they like at the output. A good wedding organizer will never recommend a specialist for whose work he cannot vouch, because the responsibility lies entirely with him. If any difficulties arise, force majeure circumstances, I guarantee that I will quickly find a worthy replacement for the same cost. It is very important.
It is important for me that all the nuances of the wedding day should be thought out by me, and the bride should not go into details like how much, where and how she will be photographed.
And so on - site selection, decor, estimates, timing and much more - this is all the work of the wedding organizer. On the eve of the wedding, the young bring the payment, we lay out the money in envelopes and I carry out all the calculations on the wedding day myself. On the wedding day, I get up at 8 a.m. and return home at 2–3 a.m., and my coordinating team works with me: they straighten the bride’s dress, meet the guests, make sure that they serve hot on time, and so on. I also stay until the last guest, make sure that all food is put in the refrigerator, all the flowers are arranged in vases so that the newlyweds can pick it up the next day.
- Now it is very fashionable to conduct field registration. Tell me in more detail how to organize it so that there are no unpleasant surprises and everything goes, as in the best American films - beautifully and touchingly?
- First of all, I’ll say that I dissuade my couples from visiting the registry office with the guests: this is useless. Exit registration is always more emotions, it is beautiful, it is solemn, touching, the bride feels in the spotlight. It is better to go to the registry office with your parents. A visiting ceremony is necessarily a ceremony master who reads a beautiful text, selects music, conducts rehearsals so that there are no hitches at the wedding itself and everything went beautifully. So that the bride would walk arm in arm with her father to the altar, so that when kissing, the newlyweds would not “wrinkle” their noses, to get beautiful pictures and much more. Plus, in Russia it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the region: a lot where the weather can ruin all plans for exit registration in the fresh air.
Personally, I always warn my couples that there should be three plans for organizing registration in nature. Plan A is if the weather is the way we dreamed. Plan B - if it suddenly began to rain. You need to cover the benches for guests with polyethylene, pick up cute umbrellas or go into the room. And plan B is if winter has suddenly come in the middle of summer, this also happens. It is necessary either to leave the room again, or to somehow warm the guests.I try to dissuade from open air ceremonies, or immediately warn that surprises with the weather directly affect the budget. And in Siberia, for example, when going to the forest, you need to stock up on tick and mosquito repellents - sometimes it takes up to 8 Reftamida jars for one ceremony.
If the couple says to me “oh, come on, under our responsibility”, I don’t undertake to work, because the guests do not care whose fault they stand knee-deep in the water at the registration, and my reputation will be stained. The organizer, as a psychologist, must explain to his couple that when hiring a team for their wedding, they should trust their experience, and not rely only on their opinion.
- Tell me, are there any other risks besides weather conditions that help minimize the work of the wedding organizer?
- Of course. Those guys who organize the wedding themselves have a risk not to take into account many nuances. To come up with a ceremony on the street, but not to come up with how to “power up” the sound for the DJ, where to put the tent in the forest, what the bride’s dress and groom’s trousers will look like after the rain. When organizing a wedding on their own, guys often go out of budget. As a rule, the organizers have discounts on the services of various specialists, which significantly reduces costs. And there are still such trifles: where to put the DJ so that he does not flicker before the eyes of the guests? How to feed your entire team, because if it works for more than 6 hours, this is necessary. What will the photographer, videographer, DJ, presenter and other specialists work in? I always have a dress code, and my entire team of coordinators works exclusively in a specially tailored form. The bride and her relatives do not want to think about all these trifles in the process of preparing for the wedding. The bride wants to choose a dress, put on a dance, try a wedding cake - and that’s it! The wedding organizer is an opportunity to experience the holiday! Or, for example, a manicure before the wedding ...
- And the wedding organizer should talk about this ?!
- Of course! I even have an article on this topic. The bride often wants such a jacket with white-white tips and a peach-pink plate. I have to say: no! The nails of the bride should be plain, flesh-colored, or in the event palette. Wear peaks - forget it! Only oval nails, square or rounded square.
Underwear for a wedding dress should be worn not at all that the bride has prepared for the wedding night: it will be stale by the evening. I am not shy about telling my brides what shorts to wear for the wedding: cotton slips. And they are grateful to me for these subtleties. No stockings: this is inconvenient, they fall off, it is impossible to fix them in a long dress, and sweat irritation appears under the silicone rubber. You need to wear flesh-colored knee-high socks, and if the shoes are open, go without tights at all. Pedicure should only be nude.
A separate topic is tanning. Before the wedding, only a little tanning bed and be sure to hats with brim so as not to shine with a pink face at the celebration. To know this and much more, to tell the brides about it is the work of the wedding organizer.
“That is what brides obviously need.”
- And not only. I remember my feelings when I was going to get married: I thought two weeks before the wedding, why do I need this. The wedding organizer for the bride is also a friend who can call on the night before the wedding, cry, say that you don’t want to marry, and she will console, support and cry with her. The most important thing in my work is that I really cry with every couple, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart. Because it is not just work - it is my favorite thing.
- Tell me, are there any trends regarding the organization of weddings and, conversely, what is hopelessly outdated?
- People today are moving away from classic weddings that cost a lot of money. Moreover: if the guys have a small budget, I dissuade them from the classics, because it will look very modest. Many make beautiful soulful weddings for 35–45 people. Fine art, loft - the most popular styles this summer. The trend is when brides and grooms do something for the wedding with their own hands, if they can, of course. I always dissuade guys from pseudo-trends - a wedding of some color, a wedding of some fruit. Why is this all? This does not apply to the couple in any way - the guys should read in their wedding. Riding guests at a wedding is a pseudo trend, it is expensive and everyone gets tired, and there is a risk that the banquet will turn out to be boring. I dissuade from ransoms - it's ugly, the groom gets tired, nervous. It is better to organize the groom's gatherings so that the picture of the wedding day is not only filled with the bride. Come up with his style, find a stylist who will tell you how long the sleeves on his jacket should be, what buttons are unfastened. But I never discourage traditions like a loaf, a rushnyk; I believe that this can be done beautifully, stylishly, and it didn’t work.
- How much does the wedding organizer cost?
- As a rule, either the organizer puts a fixed amount, or takes 10-15% of the budget. I chose the first option, because regardless of the budget, my work and my services are the same for all couples. Whether or not to use the services of a wedding organizer is, of course, up to the couples themselves, but I believe it is very important to make a positive decision. This will prevent mistakes, save yourself from unnecessary fuss, and most importantly - get unforgettable emotions and impressions of the holiday. A wedding is one of the most important days of your life, so entrust its organization to professionals, and let it turn out really amazing!
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