No Worries gives a hand to DIY brides on a budget

Dee Gaubert/Image courtesy of Toki Lee Photography 

In the old days recently engaged girls had only two options when it came to planning the big day, go it alone and DIY your wedding, or spend thousands on an overpriced, and sometimes pushy planner. In both scenarios the outcome was often disappointment, whether feeling like your DIY efforts fell short of your day dreams, or feeling like a power crazed planzilla forced you into a stiff, formal affair that showed nothing of your and your grooms true personalities. 

Thankfully those days are passed, as a wedding planning revolution is underway led by Dee Gaubert founder of the Los Angeles based No Worries Event Planning, a company built on a radical concept: get help only when you need it and when you want it. 

This concept is put into practice with The No Worries Menu of Services that includes  everything from the a la cart invite addressing to The Full Monty, which Gaubert describes as "full on event planning."

Thinking back to our own weddings (for the SW team members who are already married), and the many, many snafus, stresses, and near-catastrophes that occurred, we wondered who is this maverick planner, and where exactly did she come from. 

To find out more SW sat with Dee Gaubert to find out more about the business of non-traditional planning, and how she got interested in taking the worry out of other people's weddings.

SW: Pre-wedding planning you were a producer on a popular HGTV show what inspired the career change? 

DG: I actually was mildly traumatized from my experience planning my own wedding!  I did everything by the book, as a good TV producer should, but I didn't delegate enough.  My amazing friend was there for me, helping coordinate on the day of but, the week before the ceremony the venue coordinator called me with all the wrong info about my wedding.  I freaked, and I insisted I'd take care of straightening everything out myself.  Had I let my friend take over all that, I would have had a much smoother week, especially because I pretty much worked at my ‘real job’ producing the show right up to the big day.  In the end I managed to turn off my brain and let go of the stress from the first minute of the festivities, but the lead up was so stressful. After handling all the upheaval of my own wedding, I started coordinating weddings on the side, I think to sort of cycle the 'trauma' out of my system! But as it turned out I loved it, and the skills I had honed on the show, were a perfect fit for event planning.

Kahlia and Kenny's No worries wedding/image: Mi Belle PhotographySW:  Are there a lot of similarities to organizing and executing a tv show, and planning a wedding? 

DG: The experience and job duties are almost identical, including logistics, project management, and timing.  And, for sure, working with all sorts of personalities.  Especially because I worked in reality tv. We were giving women surprise make overs, or tearing peoples' bathrooms down to the studs. Producing the show I've seen all kinds of fear and anxiety in peoples' eyes, and been able to talk them down. In both situations, on the show and planning a wedding you have to totally get rid of your ego, and not have to be 'right' or get in the last word - it's about making people feel calm again, so that you can get your job done. 

SW: What was the most challenging wedding, you have handled?

DG: The most challenging wedding I had was full of special events - the family and friends got together and did multiple performances for the bride and groom during the reception, and shared the entertainment duties with a Big-Band style group and a DJ. It was a ton of coordination, a heck of a lot of moving parts, but was such a blast.  We really knocked that one out of the park, and had a great time doing it.  I'm also working on a destination wedding in Paris, which has been fantastic - but a lot of the vendors take their time getting back to me. This adds a lot of stress because I like to do a ton of work right away for a big event like this, and nail down the big items, like the cake, early. Well my first two bakers in Paris, both of whom were highly recommended would not give me a quote for a cake, no matter how many times I called during their business hours and spoke to them directly, or e-mailed or left messages. I finally gave up and went with an American run bakery in Paris. They were much more responsive to my early planning, I think it’s a cultural thing.

SW: Any words of advice for newly engaged girls who aren’t sure if they want to go the  strict DIY route?

DG: Here's the thing: If you DIY, you need two out of three things - lots of time, lots of help, or lots of money. Clearly if you have lots of money, you wouldn't DIY, so that means you need to front-load the work and get it done EARLY, or, if there are things that have to wait till the week of, secure lots of help and hold 'em to it.  The thing with DIY is it's almost like making jewelry for Christmas gifts to save money: By the time you pay mileage to go to the craft store, buy all the supplies, and spend hours making the damn necklaces, you could have spent the same amount for finished pieces, spent less effort, and enjoyed the holidays a little more.  All these wonderful books and blogs with their beautiful ideas are so inspiring, but remember, you don't have to have the PERFECT wedding and you don't have to do it all yourself.  And honestly, the more you DIY, the more you need a coordinator.  Save on your decor, save on whatever you can, but invest in a coordinator, or a lot of moving parts can spin out of control (family and friends making deliveries, running errands for you, and such, need to be considered vendors and are more likely to be accountable, on time, and on top of things when an outside party is overseeing the whole shebang).  One thing goes awry, and it throws things off - and you'll be the one to have to fix it.  After saving so much money on this one special day and then not even enjoy it to its fullest - you're not getting the most out of your investment.

For a full list of services offered, or to peruse images from No Worries Weddings past, visit the company's official website.