Our fearless leader Sarah Adair, was interviewed for Alhi Luxury Destination Resorts and shared some serious insight in to technology that helps make planning any local or destination event easier. Here are the highlights:
Calendly: “We use Calendly to schedule all meetings with our clients,” said Adair. Calendly, a scheduling automation platform, eliminates endless back-and-forth attempts to pick a day/time that suits everyone, instead offering slots that the couple chooses. Event planners and vendors then select from those slots and Calendly sends reminders to keep everyone on track.
Minted: Most couples still mail save-the-date cards and printed invitations, but now they often include a QR code to a site like Minted. “I personally used Minted for my wedding,” said Adair. The bride and groom create a custom website that’s a preview of the wedding, with photos and all the details in one spot. Couples can customize questions for their guests – ‘who is your plus-one?’, ‘do you have any dietary restrictions?’ – and Minted collects the data. “It’s the easiest way to gather RSVP responses,” said Adair.
Cognito Forms: Social Bliss clients fill out a profile on Cognito Forms, an online form builder. The profile captures everything from the bride and groom’s cocktail of choice to their favorite color. “From there, we operate out of Dropbox,” said Adair. “It lets us – team and client – make changes that we can all see live, in real time.” If a client prefers Google Sheets, that can be used instead of Dropbox.
WhatsApp: For destination weddings in other countries, Social Bliss relies on WhatsApp, which uses internet service for phone calls. “WhatsApp allows us to text, call, FaceTime vendors in different countries,” said Adair. “Five of our weddings were destination events last year; WhatsApp eliminated those international cell phone charges.”
Notes: Believe it or not, the basic iPhone Notes app can be used to organize a wedding. “You can share your Note with another iPhone user,” said Adair, “and if they make changes, you can see them right away.” Social Bliss uses Notes to send items like destination wedding packing lists.
Technology may be taking over but nothing takes the place of a real person there to help you get through any chaos or stress!
