One of the most rewarding moments you can have as a wedding planner, is receiving a referral from a previous couple who you’ve had the pleasure of working with previously. Knowing that you’ve done such a good job that they recommend you to their friends is such an amazing feeling. Richie & Candy were married at a private villa in Samui in March 2017 and introduced me to their close friends, who were looking to get married in Hua Hin. I’ve never done a wedding in Hua Hin before, and hadn’t even actually been there before either, so a lot of faith was put in me when they decided to book me as their wedding planner. But fear not, I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, and before long, the venue was chosen as the wonderful Putahracsa Resort.

Usually it is the wedding couple that don’t get to see the venue before arriving in their chosen destination, but this time the tables were turned and it was myself who didn’t get to see the venue until arriving in Hua Hin. Neither myself, nor the couple were phased by this as they had full faith in my abilities. I made sure that I received many videos from the team at Putahracsa, I scoured over floor plans and photographs and ensured that all of my thoughts and ideas were sense checked by the guys on the ground before running them past J&S. It’s always hard doing a wedding at a new venue, as every venue works in different ways, and we did have challenges communicating with the staff. This is what I like to call ‘character building’. Life would be boring without challenges and we worked our way around these challenges to ensure the most perfect day was had.

I arrived in Hua Hin 5 days before the big day to give me sufficient time to make sure everything we had planned would work, and everything was ready for the wedding day. Thankfully, my research and hard work had paid off, as everything was as expected. I was able to have a couple of days relaxing and exploring Hua Hin and enjoying all of the hotel’s fantastic facilities until the hard work began.

All of the girls had so much fun getting ready together, and it was very clear to see that they were the best of friends. There was so much love every time I walked into the room. The guys in typical guy style relaxed until early afternoon until a few nerve calming beers were had, whilst I coordinated the set up and made sure everything was perfectly in place.

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It was awesome to have Richie, who introduced me to J&S acting as the Celebrant. Having a friend act as your Celebrant is always a really special thing to have at your wedding and the ceremonies always end up having more personal meaning and usually end up in more tears (from myself as well!) Guests received thank you hand fans to help keep them cool during the hot Thailand sun, personalised with the couples hashtag and a thank you note.

Post ceremony, guests were treat with refreshing drinks whilst we conducted the group photos and we did a balloon release as everyone gave a special wish for the Newlyweds.

As the guests sat down to dinner, the Newlyweds were announced and entered to Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars We started with the moving and funny speeches from the couple’s nearest and dearest before digging into a wonderful buffet dinner. A pineapple theme spread throughout the day and into the table centrepieces.

Once everyone was well fed, and getting well on the way to being well watered as well, we did our cake cutting of this delicious cake. It was almost too pretty to eat!

We then got all the guests to line up along the aisle, to give J&S a wonderful entrance to their first dance. The bride is a huge fan of sparkles, so what better way to enter for the first dance than to an archway of guests with sparklers!

After first dance, we got the party started with my favourite DJ, Simon from Koh Samui Events who travelled all the way to Hua Hin to DJ the wedding. Simon was also the DJ for Richie & Candy, so it was a no brainer he would be there on the night for their close friends. Another fantastic supplier who travelled to be with us in Hua Hin was Sound Solutions Asia. Without amazing suppliers like these, weddings in new destinations would be made much more difficult, so I can’t thank these guys enough. We’ve now worked in 3 different destinations with both of these fantastic suppliers and I am so happy that they are there for me on the day.

The party went into full swing, with lots of fun, lots of laughter and an awful lot of drinking! Unfortunately, the party had to stop at 10pm due to local regulations, but that didn’t stop these guys from partying, as they headed to one of the villas to continue as a pool party!

I can’t thank this wonderful couple enough for putting their trust in me with a brand new destination and a brand new venue. I am so thankful that you had the most amazing day and I wish you all the best for your future together.

Of course, the day could not have gone as well without all of the lovely new suppliers that helped me as well;

Hair & Make Up : Patsron

Photography & Videography : Koro Films & Koro Studio

Flowers, wedding cake, firework volcano’s : Putahracsa Event Staff