You’ve asked and we’ve answered! Welcome to your weekly column ‘Planning Your Happily Ever After’ with wedding consultant Shikima Hinds.

What is a luxury wedding?

The phrase is so often used, especially for the wedding industry marketing, but is the definition truly known?

There are people who have truly knocked some socks off with amazing weddings or destination weddings at high-end venues with no expense spared. But many seem to think that having an open bar and giving people a three-to-four-course plated dinner is luxurious.

I’m always curious to know what the word “luxurious” denotes. How does one define a luxury wedding? The popular opinion defines it as a six-figure affair that boasts magazine-worthy attire, food, décor, and details. The bride walking up the aisle in a designer gown complete with the attendant drama, haute cuisine catered by a celebrated chef, maybe a Grammy Award-winning singer, and a guest list that’s a veritable roll call of the global fabulocracy.

Shikima’s Personal Definition of a Luxury Wedding

We all have our own relative definition of luxury. I hesitate to use the term luxury to define or describe any wedding, but rather to describe a higher standard of quality that is required and is important to the wedding couple.

A luxury wedding is a wedding where the entire experience is handled with professional and high-quality service and products. The goal of a luxury wedding is to provide an experience that makes the guests feel special and the couple feel celebrated, in an ambience of elegance and extraordinary detail.

That said, a luxury client places high priority on the guests’ experience. A luxury wedding isn’t always about being over the top and opulent; it’s never just about the way a wedding looks, or how much is spent to create a certain look. It’s about the way a wedding is felt, lived, and enjoyed. Therefore, the work related to a luxury wedding is highly tailored to each couple’s unique preference, personality, and hosting style. Almost everything is customised and preferences are blended with the planner’s expertise and experience with the couple’s wishes and dreams to create exceptional results.

However, just because a luxury wedding may be out of reach for most, do high-end items make that much difference to the overall success of a wedding? Here are some points to note.

Luxury weddings are more expensive

No, it’s not just about price! Spending lots of money isn’t the only thing that makes a wedding “luxurious”. There’s also a big emphasis on refined details! Luxury weddings are more customised. A large part of what makes a wedding luxurious is the inclusion of details that go above and beyond the average. The expense is usually associated with anything that is customised or personalised.

The clientele

Luxury clients’ expectations are higher. They usually strive for perfection and therefore pay close attention to detail and style. Because they are investing a much larger sum of money into personalising and customising many aspects of their event, a luxury wedding clients tend to be much more demanding.

For example, rather than using place settings provided by the venue, a luxury wedding will feature special plates and utensils and use refined linens for tablecloths. Where other clients might choose to save costs on certain decorative items in favour of prioritising other aspects of the wedding, luxury wedding clients will most often choose to invest money in all aspects of their wedding.

The décor — flower power, Illumine lighting, and top-of-the-line linens

Flowers are one of the easiest ways to cut costs for the budget-minded bride. However, for the bride who wants her affair to be elevated, flowers have the most impact in creating a breathtaking space.

Hanging florals and rows of beautiful blooms are used to create over-the-top centrepieces, bouquets and other out-of-the-ordinary ideas.

Lighting effects may not even be a consideration list for some, but if you want to create an ambience that can rival all others, lighting is the way to go. Precise accent lighting can create a dreamy high-end appeal. Oftentimes, creating the illusion of light in all the right places is worth every penny.

Much like lighting, linens are a sure way to make your wedding look luxurious. Crisp linens and yards of draping can make a reception dinner worthy of ohhhsss and ahhhs. Basic and boring tablecloths reflect the budget.

If you’re hosting a luxury wedding, a planner of the right calibre is a tremendous asset to have in your corner and can help maximise and protect your investment in literally every facet of the wedding. In my opinion, no single other vendors will pour more time, thought, expertise, or hard work into your wedding celebration than your planner who will advocate for you or your overall vision.