Last week, we hosted our first monthly evening out– White Nights. We had the privilege of hearing Neillie Butler from Mariée Ami give her top wedding planning tips and tricks and we wanted to pass along the advice to those newly engaged girls that couldn’t make it!

Co-owner and executive planner of Mariée Ami, Neillie Kirk Butler, has been in the event planning industry since 2002. Neillie was born and raised in Mountain Brook, Alabama and attended The University of Alabama in hopes of being an event planner one day. Neillie began her business in the basement of her home, and took any event she could get, just to get her name out there as an independent event planner. It wasn’t long before one event turned into wedding after wedding. Neillie’s basement business was growing faster than imagined with each new client being a referral from a previous client. It was then that she and Laurie Grantham joined together to create Mariée Ami. Neillie’s dream of one day planning beautiful weddings for deserving brides is now a reality. She prides herself on doing whatever it takes to make sure her clients enjoy every aspect of the planning process and that the wedding is a seamless and detailed affair.

The White Room asked Neillie a few questions about the wedding planning process:

WR: What are the three most important tips/tricks for planning a wedding?
MA: First, I have never met a vendor that doesn’t love their job and has chosen to work in the wedding industry because it is their passion. Therefore, hire professionals you trust and then have fun with them. Wedding planning is suppose to be fun for everyone. Trust the vendors, treat them with respect and I bet they will go above and beyond for you! Remember they love what they do!
My second tip would be that lighting, drapery and linens really do make a big difference. You will get more of a bang when you include these three elements than only doing flowers.
And number three–remember your guests. Re-inventing the wheel is not always the best thing to do. It is fun to be creative but don’t get creative when it comes to parking, seating and logistics. Make things easy for your guests and they will remember how wonderful your wedding was.

WR: What is the one thing NOT to do when planning your wedding or on your wedding day?
MA: Over stressing or over planning doesn’t make your wedding any better. It will actually do the opposite. Have a good plan and go with it.

WR: What is the one thing that every bride forgets that they should make sure to remember?
MA: The wedding is about your parents as well as you. Typically the wedding is being paid for by the parents and therefore you want them to enjoy themselves. It is their opportunity to host their friends in their daughter’s honor. Let them be the proud parents they are and let them have a few things that are important to them as well as you!

Stay tuned for more advice from local wedding vendors–

March is the month of flowers and we will have Carol Riley, from Lillie Jane’s at our evening out– March 3rd– to give us lots of helpful hints when it comes to wedding day florals!

April is all about your bridesmaids. We will have the girls from Bella Bridesmaids with us to show off the top trending bridesmaids looks! Having trouble finding that perfect bridesmaids gift? We will have a few local stores host a pop up shop that night with the perfect bridesmaids gifts! Bring your girls along and enjoy a night of champagne and shopping!

May is our last White Nights month for the season and we are finishing it off with the wedding day finishing touch– hair and makeup! Will we have FREE hair and makeup tutorials for everyone! Not sure what lip color looks best or if you can pull off that smokey eye? We can help!