Polka Dots is a rental company founded by the Owners of Cake and Champagne Event Planning to bring the design, concept and execution of your events together. We are Heidi Johnson and Megan Micek – cousins, best friends and owners of Polka Dots. After working in the industry for a combined 10 years, we saw that there is a need for not just securing the items for your big day, but helping to bring your vision to life. Below, we will share practical tips for wedding rentals and creating your dream wedding with any budget.
Q. What is the ideal timeline for couples from booking a consultation to the day of their wedding?
Ideally, right after you have booked your venue, since you can start to envision your wedding day design. We find it most beneficial for couples to come in after their date is booked so they can start dreaming with us. Once you are in the Polka Dots Event Rental Shop, we can look through pieces, pick out main items you like so we can then use our design and planning expertise to dive into the finer details of their wedding day. Even if you are later in your planning process, we can still jump in and help tie all of your details together, we feel it’s best not left for last, but we really can assist at any point.
Q. What is the biggest misconception that couples have about rentals for their wedding day?
That couples will be able to find everything they want in time and just order it! Then are left making last minute plans to fit the details into their wedding budget. That buying your decor which you will only use for your wedding day will be more cost effective than renting. When purchasing your own decor, you are creating more tedious tasks to accomplish before, the day of and after your wedding. Even our DIY couples find that renting pieces to add into their overall design can be more cost effective than doing every single piece of it by themselves . If you would prefer to let a professional, rather than you or even family members take on the planning, designing, set up and take down then working with a local rental and planning company will make more sense for your day. We work to take the stress off of couples by providing a service that allows you to relax, as much as you can, through the process of planning, day of and after your special day.
Q. What are the building blocks of creating your design aesthetic for your wedding? What pieces do you start - build and finish with?
When we are meeting with a couple for the first time, we will start by talking about your vision. We ask couples to come into our shop so we can sit down to talk. As Wedding Planners, we know it is crucial to ask the right questions and ensure you have thought of everything down to the smallest details. What are your colors, theme, vibe? Are you wanting a modern, classic or vintage wedding aesthetic? We then want to establish what design pieces have already been checked off your list including lienes, tables, plates and cutlery. Once we have this information we can look at the detailed items that may have been forgotten. Do you have a cake stand? Is there arbor for your ceremony backdrop? Did you want to add signs for your bar menu? All the small details.
Then the fun part starts. We will start by picking items that are within their design theme and start previewing them on a table to make sure they all mesh. We are here to help with the whole process. If you decide to add additional pieces, we are more than happy to help!
Photo: Olivia Tarkowski Photo
Q. Tell us your top 3 tips to get the MOST out of your event rentals?
- Work across all of your vendors – does your florist provide the bud vases? Does your venue have linens included or someone they get linens from? What is included with your catering?
- Be open to the creative process – your design isn’t always going to end up exactly how you envisioned it the day you got engaged. It will inevitably change throughout the planning and designing process and things evolve and come together. If you are open to new ideas, it will always come together, just as beautiful.
- This is the funnest part of your wedding planning process! Don’t sweat the small stuff and know that on your wedding day you have a team behind you that is working to make your vision come to life.
Q. As a Wedding Planning Company as well, how do your companies work together hand in hand?
As a planner in general, we can offer logistical insights throughout the whole process and most importantly between the design and execution and understanding the complete logistics of your plans. You may come in thinking you are picking out candle centerpieces but once we have talked through the details of your wedding plans, you may find that there are pieces missing you haven’t thought through like if your planner will set up items for you or if you need to assign a family member to gather your belongings at the end of the night. From the big picture to the smallest details and design, we want to ensure your day is effortless and you enjoy every moment of it.
Working with both Cake and Champagne and Polka Dots Event Rentals, we can offer multiple benefits. As a wedding planning company, we started this to fill the needs we saw in our couples weddings. Since we know the ins and outs of every part of your wedding, we know exactly what you need to help make your wedding beautiful. The bonus is we already have it for you too! We know if you need a cake stand or a basket for your programs, so those smaller details don’t go overlooked. We are able to offer the full services of design and execution of your day.
As the planner – we know the finer details. It allows us to troubleshoot beforehand so the day of there aren’t any issues. As a rental company, all we may know is that you want 4 bar signs. We don’t know where they will be placed or what those drinks may even be. As the planner we know that those bar signs will not fit on that certain bar or will fall over if they are placed on a rooftop and it’s windy. We can double check each item to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Photo: Copper Tree Photo
Q. What is your favorite part about what you do?
Our favorite part is working with clients who come in open minded and not sure about what they want to do for their wedding day design. Once we have spent some time looking through the options, trying various designs, colors and pieces, we are able to find exactly what they want and to see their excitement for their wedding grow. It really is a super fun process and we love getting the chance to work with our couples through all the details, seeing the couple gain confidence in their choices as we go.
We would love to also point out that we do offer a range of services – couples can come to the shop, choose what they like and we will have it boxed up and waiting for their pick up the weekend of their wedding. Typically, pick up on Friday and return on Monday. But we also offer design services and decorator services as well as delivery and pickup.
HEIDI JOHNSON & MEGAN MICEK
COMPANY: POLKA DOTS EVENT RENTALS & CAKE AND CHAMPAGNE
Polka Dots is a rental company founded by wedding planners. We are working to set ourselves apart with our service focus - we invite you to come to our shop and tell us what you invision for your day.
Banner Photo: Copper Tree Photo
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