Danielle Bouchat-Friedman

I’ll admit: I never quite understood the purpose of a wedding planner. As a bride, you choose your flowers, your cake, your dress—you are, essentially, your own wedding planner, right?

Well, my thoughts and feelings about wedding planners have definitely changed over the past few months. I had Nikki Chambers, wedding planner and designer, of élevée events & paper, help me plan and execute the photo shoot that you will see on the cover of and in this issue of Delaware Main/Line Bride. It was something I had been dreaming about for a while and for a second, I thought I could pull it off on my own. Luckily, this brief moment of insanity disappeared and I decided to reach out for help. A friend recommended Nikki and I shot her a brief email detailing my vision. Then we talked on the phone and within six weeks, we had a photo shoot lined up at the Covered Bridge Inn in Lewes, a gorgeous bed and breakfast and popular wedding venue. What impressed me so much about what Nikki was, despite our brief communication via email and phone, she was able to capture my vision so perfectly. On the day of the shoot, I was practically speechless. (Those who know me know that this is quite rare!) Not only that, on short notice, she was able to wrangle an extremely talented group of vendors who were more than willing to sacrifice their time and energy to make sure every detail was perfect—from the flowers, to the food to the place cards.

I hope you are inspired by the ideas and efforts that were organized by such talent—such local talent. All of the beauty in this issue can be yours—there is no need to travel far and wide to have the wedding of your dreams. Our hope at Delaware/Main Line Bride is that we can help you find that distinct thing that will make your special day pop—or at least help you realize that if you need help pulling it all together, hiring a wedding a planner is never a bad idea!

xo,
Danielle Bouchat-Friedman · Editor