Janie Glade
Old.New.Blue
Old.New.Blue offers full wedding coordination, wedding consultations and day-of wedding planning and sells wedding accessories, lingerie, veils and ceremonial objects for weddings in five major religions.
How do you differ from other wedding planners? I’ve been planning weddings and special events for 20 years; when people ask me what I do for a living, I often answer that I’m in the business of making dreams come true. I take that responsibility very seriously. Pitting one wedding planner against another isn’t a great idea.
Everyone in the wedding industry in New Orleans has talent. It’s important to find someone that you click with. You’re going to be working with them for the better part of a year. Honesty and transparency are important qualities and a good planner should have a decent list of references. Because I also have a retail store, I’m able to offer my clients options for their wedding accessories at discounted prices. I can also put my hands on just about anything a bride can think of. I also don’t take a commission from vendors, so I’m not obligated to work with any specific vendor over another.
What does your job entail? The biggest part of my job is listening. I use the information given to me by a bride-to-be and her fiancé to help them choose vendors who will be able to fulfill their requirements while staying within their budget. I set appointments for site visits, floral visits, photography selections, dress and bridesmaids’ dresses selections, invitation selection, calligraphy, music and every minute detail that makes each wedding unique to each couple. I negotiate contracts and make sure that any additional requests from clients to vendors are taken care of. I coordinate all of the information acquired through the planning process and turn that information into the dream wedding of the couple I’m working with.
What’s the best advice for a stressed-out or overwhelmed bride? Put the wedding down! Walk away for a few days and spend time with your future husband. The planning will be there when you get back.
What is the biggest dilemma you’ve had and how did you solve it? The biggest dilemma I’ve had is a minister who wouldn’t perform a ceremony because she had lost her notes right before the wedding. It was very stressful watching this woman just wither because she couldn’t find her notes. It caused a 20-minute delay in the start of the wedding. We finally found the notes; the ring bearer had made a paper airplane out of them and didn’t realize the scrap paper he thought he had was actually the minister’s notes. Whew! The service went on later than planned but no less sentimental or official. The next day I got ordained online and filed my paperwork with the Parish of Orleans so that I would never be in that position again. If the minister bails … I can marry you!
What is your favorite part of your job? My favorite part of the job is always when the bride and groom come down the aisle as a married couple. That’s what the whole ordeal is about: getting married!
For more information:
6117 Magazine St., 655-0863, info@OldNewBlueShop.com, OldNewBlueShop.com
