Unconventional wedding planning: meet the Anti Bridezilla!
One of the major risks of being over-excited with your upcoming wedding is becoming so obsessed with the preparations that all you suddenly look like to your beloved ones is an obnoxious, über-adrenalinic freak. You know the word, right? A bridezilla. But wedding planning is all about being whole-heartedly present, keeping calm and staying true to who you are, without becoming a victim of your own perfectionism on the one hand, or having to give up on your most sincere wishes on the other. We had a chat about these topics with Dorian Smith-Garcia, the amazing director of a wedding planning firm whose name says it all: The Anti Bridezilla.
“I own a marketing consultancy with clients and organizations based in Japan that I’ve worked with since 2009”, says Dorian. “My dream wedding was to get married in Japan. And we actually made it: my husband and I had an issue with the original venue we selected (which was in the Carribean) and after spending a week researching, we opted to move our wedding to Tokyo! During this transition, many of my friends kept commenting on how calm I was and how I wasn’t acting like a bridezilla. In fact I was an ‘anti bridezilla’, with the added difficulty of planning a wedding in a non-traditional locale. I wasn’t overwhelmed with the unique challenges that planning my wedding presented: sourcing a venue, managing language barriers, differences in wedding customs, etc. Having those skill sets inspired me to launch my site, The Anti Bridezilla”.
Dorian focuses on planning destination weddings in non-traditional locales and her mission is truly inspiring: “I want bridal couples to know that picking a place other than an all-inclusive beach resort doesn’t have to be difficult or impossible”, she says. “I typically offer two types of wedding & honeymoon coverage. Periodically through on-site media trip coverage I create a locale specific travel article series that highlights not just venues, but fun attractions and activities for not just the wedding couple, and their entire wedding party. I also offer individual articles on specific venues whether here in the United States or abroad”.
Destination weddings beyond the all-inclusive resort are indeed not necessarily expensive and whoever is accustomed to frequent traveling knows it well: “That’s true”, she says, “Coming from New York, which is America’s most expensive wedding city, I knew that it would be cheaper to have a destination wedding. There are hotel properties around the world that offer amazing wedding packages that more than rival all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean. Of course, if you have your heart set on a Caribbean beach wedding, you should do that! But if you want to do something different, don’t let assumptions of expense keep you from realizing your dreams. The Anti Bridezilla focuses on luxury destination weddings, but the awesome secret is many of the places I’ve featured offer such budget friendly wedding packages that they put New York venues to shame in terms of value versus cost”.
Elisabetta Polignano, just like Dorian, has a very creative taste when it comes to styling and she always encourages her brides to express their personality fully. We asked our Anti Bridezilla what she most loves about our brand: “I really love how Elisabetta Polignano seamlessly juxtaposes classic style with modern design elements”, she says. “I have immense respect for Italian fashion because there’s a major focus on structural design which is then enhanced with embellishments that are truly unique. I especially love how Elisabetta really makes her own silhouettes with rich fabrics, couture construction and an overall vision that’s cohesive within each collection”.
Do you have any questions, or anything you would like to add to this story? Let us know in the comments down below!
(Photo credits: theantibridezilla.com)