Decorator - Finalized

Another HUGE box checked. I would have updated the blog sooner if I wasn't travelling so much for work these days. Work has really gotten to be a bear......and very little time out of the day is left for doing anything wedding related. So, I am VERY VERY VERY happy that we signed on with Fayaz Chamadia from Hub Design as our decorator.

A couple of posts back I talked about the decorator RFP process we had used. We spoke to many talented decorators and narrowed it down between Shawna Yamamoto and Fayaz. We had extensive visioning conversations with each of them, and were really torn between who to go with. At the end of the day, we decided with Fayaz based on our gut feeling - no checklists on this one, guys. We had an absolutely lovely conversation with him, that got me to a higher level of excitement and energy as each moment of the conversation went on. He was able to tap into the theme I had in my head seamlessly.....it's as if he had been in my head all along and was able to take what I was envisioning in my mind and pull it into a cohesive design and theme across all the events. I guess that's what I would say can be the critieria for deciding......after using the RFP process, which decorator is able to give life to what you are envisioning? is the decorators vision seamlessly connected with yours? are you able to see your wedding day come to life with the vision they have drawn up? and lastly, are they passionate about your vision just as much as you are? I think that is the recipe for a great partnership with a decorator because they will be turning imagination into something that can be seen, touched, felt, and smelled.

The one phrase that completely embodies the design I have always imagined (since I was a little girl) was something I didn't put in the RFP.....this phrase has always been "Garden of Eden" where nature and beauty grow wild. I wanted to see if the decorators could pull the same phrase as the capstone for what I wanted to create. Ironically, Fayaz's opening line in our conversation with him was "I envision this being like the garden of eden....something that looks like it is 1000's of years old" ........ could I have gotten anything that was more eye to eye than that!!! His opening line perked me up, and the rest of the conversation sealed the deal!

For my theme, which we all know by now, is grounded in nature - hearing things like:  "I picture a vintage mandaap in a romantic Indian garden, where Heer and Ranjha play" just makes me warm and fuzzy.


Have others experienced this type of instant connection with their decorator? I'd love to hear about others experiences and how you narrowed down your selection.