Destination Planning Tips From a Wedding Planner Who Tied the Knot in Coastal NC
About the Couple
Chelsea Cooper works as a senior associate planner with Chad Biggs Event Planning & Design. A native of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, she grew up helping with her mother’s floral design business. She later worked part-time on the catering team at Rose Hill Estate, and connected with wedding planner Chad Biggs (also owner of The Distillery) when his team planned her cousin’s wedding. She joined Chad’s business in 2018, and has been planning weddings full time for more than five years.
Chelsea married Matt Cooper on May 3, 2024, at the Beaufort Hotel in Beaufort, North Carolina, where the couple got engaged. The pair met at their neighborhood bar, and Matt joined the Chad Biggs Event Planning & Design team as a venue manager in 2023.
Perspective from a Pro: How a Wedding Planner Made Choices for Her Own Event
As someone with lots of experience in the world of weddings, did you feel confident planning?
It was definitely different being the bride. One thing I knew would be tricky was choosing an in-state destination, since we were planning our Beaufort wedding from Raleigh. We also paid for majority of the wedding ourselves, so balancing the budget and making sure everything still looked the way we wanted it to [was a challenge].
If you could turn back time, is there anything you’d do differently?
I would’ve put more thought into videography or content creation. I think I would’ve enjoyed having a content creator more than a traditional videographer — I’m 29, so that’s what I’m consuming constantly. I enjoy and value working with [traditional] videographers, but content creation is on the rise.
We also had a private dinner, but looking back, I would’ve spent more time walking around and being in the room with our guests. Everyone says the day flies by, and it really does. However, we had a great day. I value looking back and not feeling regret over anything. As a wedding planner, I see a lot of things go wrong, and I tell my clients not to sweat the small stuff. You don’t want to look back and remember [little things that went wrong], you want to look back at the day as a whole and be [happy with it].
Advice from a Wedding Planner: How to Personalize Your Wedding Day
What were your wedding colors and theme?
Blue, black, soft whites and a deep plum. There’s something very elevated about a pop of black/deep tones in a color palette. While we love the coast. we didn’t want our wedding to be very sand and seashells. We also incorporated coastal elements in accents – rattan chairs, a crab motif and [throughout] the food and beverage selections.
How did you incorporate your personalities into the wedding day?
We included our dog, Abe, and Matt designed hot sauce bottles to put on each table [made from our] homegrown peppers. We made labels that matched our decor and the crab motif we were incorporating. People loved it!
Were there any traditions that you sought to modernize?
Since the wedding was slightly beach themed, we chose a message in a bottle. Instead of having folks write in a book, we had glass bottles that guests placed their handwritten notes inside. We have those messages to look back on.
What choices were you happiest with in the end?
We DIY’d the stationery, but I’m really happy we outsourced a good bit. I see a lot of people take on tons of responsibility and ask their families to do the same. I valued the role all my vendors played in the day. People went above and beyond for us.
Matt was very happy with the venue and food. Having a view of the water was important for us, so Beaufort Hotel was perfect and the food was phenomenal. We went to the island directly across from the hotel to take portraits – I was happy to spend that time with Matt and have an extra moment to ourselves. The best decision we made was extending our night by an hour since we had a band, and that was very worth it to us.
Tips for Destination Wedding Planning: How to Help Out-of-Town Guests Feel Comfortable
Did you do anything special to help guests plan for traveling to your destination, or to feel comfortable navigating the area?
There’s a lot of groundwork to put in for a destination wedding, like making sure to send save-the-dates no later than nine months in advance and offering different levels of accommodations. Beaufort Hotel was a great choice for any guests who preferred to be on-site, but we made sure to tour hotels at different price points and locations, too.
Etiquette tells you that anyone who travels over an hour should attend a rehearsal dinner – that was everybody for us, so we opted for a welcome party. That allowed us to see people who had traveled in and removed pressure to sit and have conversations with everyone on the wedding day.
We provided transportation the day of for guests traveling between Beaufort and Morehead City. We also arranged for valet parking. Providing as much information to people through the wedding website is important, such as things to do at different locations and price points, as well as the closest airport and how people can get from A to B.
Any other advice you’d like to share with engaged couples?
Trust your vendors. You hired them for a reason; rely on them. I love using social media, but it’s hard to stay trendy without being too trendy. Stay in the moment and don’t get too caught up in trends.
