Ask the Expert: Q&A with North Texas Wedding Planner Heather Lane Events

You said yes, you’ve got a sparkling ring on your left hand – but now what? Heather Coday, owner and lead planner of Heather Lane Events, knows exactly where to begin and the precise steps to take along the way so that your wedding planning process is a breeze. With eleven years of planning and design experience, Heather is truly an expert at helping brides develop a vision and executing that vision beautifully. Today she’s sharing some of her top insight she’s curated over the years!

Photo // Abbie Mae Photography

What is your favorite part of being a wedding planner?

I love witnessing my couples walk down the aisle after the ceremony and look at each other beaming with happiness and say, “We are married!” It’s a small, special moment of the day but so profound. On a larger scale, I love watching a couple dream up their wedding style and incorporate their personality into their wedding day.

What’s the one piece of advice you share with every bride?

I tell all of my couples to enjoy the process. The planning experience can come with a daunting amount of tasks and can often be deemed as “stressful.” But at the end of the day, everything can be fixed or planned with enough advance notice and the help of a wedding planner or day-of coordinator. Keep a spreadsheet of everything you have booked and highlight everything that is tentative. This will keep you on track and see the gaps that need to be filled.

How early do you enact plan B for rain?

As soon as the venue is determined and contracted. Luckily most venues have rain backup plans already built in, but in the event that they don’t, if it’s a seasonally rainy month, I highly encourage getting married indoors. March – May and September – October in Texas specifically, which happen to be the most popular months to get married with our HOT summers in Texas! If you want to take the risk during the seasonally rainy months, you can always tent a portion of the ceremony.

I’m engaged! Now what’s the first step?

Hire a planner! It will make the journey of planning your big day a breeze. I would say determining what venue you want for your wedding day would be my first booking advice. Venues are sometimes booked out 1.5 years in advance, so the sooner you know when and where you want to get married, put your date on their calendars and get it booked. That’s not always possible for some couples who have a tighter timeline.

What current trends are your favorite?

I love incorporating thoughtful experiences for your guests and also love the overall branding of the wedding experience: details like cool escort card displays, installations unique to the couple, custom drinks at the bar or late night snacks. I am also slightly obsessed with the elopement trend lately, if that’s even a trend?! Elopements are so intimate, and to have a small group there for your exchange of vows and ceremony and then holding a reception at a later date for all of your friends and extended family is my new favorite wedding trend.

Engaged and seeking a wedding planner to help with all the tasks ahead of you? Reach out directly to the Heather Lane Events team using her handy Brides of North Texas vendor profile, and they’ll be in touch!