The big day is a celebration to remember. But preparing for one isn’t a romantic story. To walk down the aisle beautifully, a perfect wedding can be a union of two souls, plus a wedding planner — who helps orchestrate a fuss-free soirée while the bride and groom can start their life living together happily ever after.
Setthawut Naruemityarn.
Setthawut Naruemityarn is one of Bangkok’s top-booked wedding planners who has turned many dream weddings into a real-life fantasy. At 28, he has already planned some 200 weddings. As his name became synonymous with glamorous nuptials, he set up a small wedding management business wittily called Wedding Is Me.
“The first wedding I helped organise was when I was in Grade 8,” recalled the wedding expert. “Back then, in Thailand, a wedding planner wasn’t a job. It didn’t exist.”
At the age of eight, unlike other kids who typically collect toy cars or dolls, Setthawut kept wedding invitations and souvenirs as a hobby. When he was 14, he assisted one of his relatives in ordering invitation cards, renting a bridal gown, selecting a choice of flowers and designing ice sculptures. It was the very first time he got involved in wedding planning, albeit unofficially, yet he started to get to grips with all things bridal.
Having a very big extended family, Setthawut remembers himself being a frequent wedding guest of his relatives. He benefited from his direct experience and keen eye for detail by sharing insightful knowledge on a local wedding internet forum where he began to become known as an expert.
“When people held conversations and shared ideas about their weddings, I provided them with informative advice from my direct experiences and personal opinions — what the pros and cons of this hotel’s function room were, for instance. Then, people started to send me private messages and MSN chats to ask for more insightful details. Some of them even asked me to help arrange their weddings. It became my hobby. I didn’t get paid for doing that, but I sometimes received a cash gift from some of the couples.”
Later, Setthawut learned that there was an actual job as a “wedding planner” when he got to know Jitti Jittimaporn, one of the pioneers in the industry, and also after watching Runaway Bride and The Wedding Planner on the big screen.
The young bridal guru was then recommended by the late make-up artist Chorapas Opasphan to organise such special days for socialite Janista Lewchalermvongse and actress Pakjira Wanasut. Setthawut made a name for himself thanks to these celebrity weddings, even before he finished high school.
Since professional wedding planning is not a major in school, Setthawut chose to drop out of university after one semester. He opted for a two-year diploma degree in hotel and tourism management, while fighting for his own calling against his parent’s expectation of seeing their son holding a bachelor’s degree.
“I believed in my instincts. I simply didn’t want to study. I wanted to earn a living,” he said.
Setthawut broke into the business and became a professional wedding planner at the age of 21. He’s proved himself to his parents and feels proud as he was able to get the family out of debt and buy a house for all the family members to live together.
When planning a wedding, the specialist says that setting the date on an auspicious day is very important for Thais. The next step is to turn to a wedding professional and seek a perfect location. Normally, it takes between three to six months to a plan schedule while some of his clients book him up to a year-and-a-half in advance.
With the duty of executing a stress-free special day, a wedding planner provides full-service planning, orchestrating the entire wedding day with consultations from beginning to end. The checklist includes everything from the venue, theme, decorations, cards, souvenirs, costumes, make-up, entertainment, food and photography.
“It all starts with initiating conversations with the bride and groom — listening to clients’ ideas of a dream wedding, their personal preferences and their lifestyle. The couple’s hobbies, unique personalities, favourite hangouts and common interests can be turned into a celebration that tells their story. Also, at the same time, it’s important to meet their parents’ expectations,” Setthawut said.
“It’s my job to translate their visions into reality. The challenging part is how to get the theme right. It’s homework that the planner and the clients work on together. In some cases, I ask the bride and groom to each select 20 photos of a perfect wedding. I will narrow choices by finding what those 40 references have in common. That can be how I start to shape the style and direction of the ceremony.”
For Setthawut, “patience, creativity and a service mind” are three ideal skills a wedding planner must have. “It’s their once-in-a-life-time event. I want the bride and groom to enjoy the experience of getting married. I want them to feel happy and relieved every time they see me,” he added.
“Before reaching this point, since I started from a very young age, some think that I’m too young to handle big events. But I take that as an advantage because clients as well as their parents consider me to be their young brother or son. It’s been my main intention, since the start, to treat them like family. Most of my clients end up becoming my extended family after the weddings.”
Throughout his years in wedding planning, Setthawut finds that every wedding is unique and memorable. With celebrity brides from Morakot Kittisara, Amy Klinpratoom, Yossinee Nanakorn and Chutima Teepanat to countless high-profile couples, Setthawut has earned praise for, according to his clients, his attention to detail and ability to pull off seamless and fabulous events.
“I never compete with anyone,” he said. “If the couple wants to choose me, they come to me. A planner-client relationship is about chemistry and trust and my wedding planning service is born out of love.
“When I was younger, I used to feel afraid that I might become jobless because there are so many planners in the business. However, I’ve learned that as long as you live up to your standards and keep improving your work, you are a good planner who will always be hired.”
Setthawut planning a wedding.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.