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What Dreams May Come

“Never marry the one you can live with, marry the one you cannot live without.” – Unknown

In an ideal world, when one finds true love, there also seems a desire to join together in a way that honors this love. Weddings have long represented this union, as the joining of two people, but also as a way to celebrate great milestones in one’s life. Weddings tend to make one reflect upon new beginnings and also ways to honor old traditions. An act of love to bind and connect not only each other, but also new friends and family.

Most of us have attended weddings (perhaps we’ve even had one or two of our own), but what is it that makes one wedding more memorable than another?

There seems to be a host of converging factors; perhaps it is a unique venue or season, an intimate ceremony or a giant fete, or maybe a sprinkle of festivity and celebration. Yet, there is one often overlooked important piece in the nuptial’s equation: a wedding planner.

Erin Olson of Dreamer Events, knows a thing or two about making a wedding memorable.

Olson recalls, “I started doing this [wedding planning] unpaid, long before I was getting paid for it. Whether it was with family and friends or through different church and school projects, I was always drawn into organizing and putting on events. And then when we moved to Boise in 2014, was when I got into wedding specifically. And from there it has just taken off.”

Drawing upon her years in color guard and the dance/flag team for marching band in high school, Olson channeled this early passion of dance into coaching, coordinating, and choreography for fifty girls – and their families – which also included traveling, scheduling, and organizing.

Says Olson, “That is where my organizational aspect for group things kind of started.”

Perhaps coaching isn’t part of the traditional ropes a wedding planner takes to earn her wedding badges but her experience has proved invaluable in keeping all systems go during a ceremony.

Olson laughs, “I figured once you can manage ‘band moms’, you could pretty much take care of anybody.”

After working with different weddings, and events for friends, Olson’s good friend started a wedding business in Boise and encouraged Olson to join her in Idaho.

Olson explains, “I thought about how much I love people and weddings and organizing, and thought it would be a perfect fit for me.”

Once making the move, Olson quickly settled into the Treasure Valley and brought her gifts and talents with her. Always one for creating special moments and an eye for detail, Olson shares her vision for planning with each and every client. And also, the ability to incorporate each client’s unique needs and desires.

“It’s interesting how certain weddings stick with you. We get to plan for a lot of different cultures when it comes to weddings, so we meet a lot of different people, from different backgrounds.” Olson continues, “We had a family that was able to coordinate their religion into the wedding and all different aspects on the three-day journey that we took with them. You can see this couple in love – but who also love their family’s history and honoring the traditions that embody who they are - it was more than just than just the wedding day. It was more about joining these two families together.”

And though weddings are generally complicated affairs, fraught with many moving parts and pieces, one aspect is steadfast with Olson. Being resilient.

And resiliency in 2020 and 2021, has proven to be more than a commendable trait. It is an absolute necessity.

Though not an invited guest, Covid-19 seems to have decided to crash many a wedding plan during this last year and into the next. The impact of postponed weddings during a pandemic has not only greatly affected the wedding industry but has taken an emotional toll as well. Reverting into coach mode has been a boon for Olson to help calm and redirect many a frazzled bride.

Says Olson, “This year has definitely hit the wedding industry. Differently and emotionally. Our main is goal is to help educate our clients on all of their options, to be able to help them make the best decisions for them, and for their family and friends.”

This has included weddings that look a little different than ceremonies of the past.

Olson adds, “We’ve done the ‘mini-monies’, elopements. We’ve done hundred-plus weddings and ten and under weddings, all during Covid. So, we have really seen the span of it.”

In order to maintain health and safety protocols, but also make sure each couple was able to fully enjoy their event, required some creative measures. Something the former coach and organizer deftly resolved with some quick-thinking ingenuity.

Says Olson, “We really needed to make sure that each aspect of the families is covered. Things like spacing out familial seating, creating ceremony seating that do not look like straight rows anymore, they’re more like clusters. We used a colored-wristband system; red: do not touch, yellow: getting closer but maintaining space and not hugging, and green; good for a hug.”

An additional tool has been the use to combat pandemic woes: technology. An unexpected blessing that allows options like live-streaming for guests who are unable to make the wedding.

Olson describes its usage, “We’ve turned to live-streaming for those family members and friends who are not comfortable coming to gatherings. This has been a huge success for them and for the couple because it feels like people can still partake and participate and not miss the event. Our goals are to keep things special, even in the midst of Covid.”

Now that Covid has become more of a familiar presence, Olson has been able to continue wedding planning in stride, including advice for anxious brides and grooms to be.

Olson remarks, “My best advice is – and I try to tell this to our couples – educate yourself. Don’t just go off of a dollar amount. Talk to vendors. Ask for referrals and recommendations. And most importantly, ask friends and family what worked and what didn’t. What they wished they would have done. We have a bunch of clients who would love to talk to other clients, so we have a list of people who are willing to have that honest conversation about what was so great about having a planner.”

One more helpful note:

“We save people time, money, and most importantly, stress.”

For more information, go to https://www.dreamerevents.com/

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