Today we are getting to know Somer Khouri Bedran (Co-Founder + Event Director) and Lisa Costin (Co-Founder + Creative Director) of A Charming Fête.
Image by Lauren Gabrielle Photography
Please tell us about A Charming Fête and the services you offer...
A Charming Fête practices a highly personalized boutique planning and design approach. We’re dedicated to producing refined (yet original) and thoughtfully designed weddings and events. Each detail is handled with care. We strive to deliver a consistent high-level creative quality with on-point details and seamless orchestration. Creating unforgettable experiences for clients and their guests is our goal! Our range of wedding services is broad, from full wedding planning and design to more limited month-of service.
Image by Lauren Gabrielle Photography
The design aspect of our service offering is where we are working collaboratively with the bride and groom conceptualizing their dream day, refining and editing existing ideas along the way, making the vision more cohesive, incorporating amazing details. Our design and styling services are requested most frequently as we’re very hands on from tablescape design to escort card displays and fabulous dessert tables. Our custom inspiration boards serve as a beautifully illustrated road map, pulling ideas into one cohesive vision. We also help source and curate the pieces of the puzzle to bring the concept to life.
The planning and coordinating aspect is the other huge piece of the puzzle. Assembling top notch vendor teams and managing all of the logistics and vendor communication is key to flawless execution. Sometimes we feel like the “producer” of the big show! All of this takes major stress off of the couple during the planning process and especially on the wedding day.
Image by Emily Millay. Flowers by Molly Taylor & Co.
Please tell us a little about yourselves...
Somer: We are both born and raised in Ohio! Lisa and I both attended John Carroll University and met as Sorority sisters. We were both studying Marketing in business school as well. We really love this city and are so excited to see such amazing things happening in Cleveland. We also both have vivacious little ones! Lisa has two beautiful little girls and I myself have three (two boys and a girl). I travel every other year to my father’s homeland in Syria and Lebanon, a place that has taught me so much about this industry and life in general. I love bringing back new ideas from my travels, this is one of the things that has inspired and driven me.
Image by Lauren Gabrielle Photography. Flowers by Twig
How did you get started in the wedding industry...
Somer: A Charming Fête was founded 6 years ago when Lisa Costin and I merged creative and event management talents in an effort to bring fresh and inspired (yet refined) weddings and events to Cleveland. Over the past 6 years we’ve grown from a 2 woman operation to a team of 10. With both Lisa and I having totally different backgrounds (and using that to our advandatage) the merge was perfect. Lisa, our creative director – has an eye for design (and love and appreciation of styling, art and photography) and myself, coming from a large corporate fundraising background - really understanding the logistics of an event and the traditions of so many different cultures, helped us merge the “creative” with the “coordinating and directing” aspect. We’re not a one-woman show and our planners don’t operate in that fashion either. We work as a team to ensure that each couple is fully tapped into our extensive collective knowledge and experience.
Image by Lauren Gabrielle Photography
Does A Charming Fête have a specialty?
Lisa: One of our core strengths is our ability to see things a little differently from a design aspect, to conceptualize a beautiful wedding or event from start to finish with all the fine details peppered throughout, and having a careful eye for styling and editing (which is so important). We also appreciate a collaborative design process and will do what it takes to realize the vision in the best way possible. We strive to overly exceed expectations. Each wedding is unique and beautiful in its own way and I think you can see that represented consistently in our work. We don’t want to simply “recreate” something that’s been done before but instead dig a little deeper create something original and better or personal to the couple.
Image by Lauren Gabrielle Photography. Flowers by Molly Taylor & Co.
What do you love about your job and the wedding industry?
Lisa: I love the entire creative process from working with couples to define their wedding style, refining and editing existing ideas, conceptualizing a cohesive vision, illustrating the design plan on paper via a gorgeous inspiration board, and curating the pieces of the puzzle throughout the process, adding depth to the design as we move forward. Taking a concept and making it a reality, seeing the vision come to life on the day of the wedding gets me every time!
Image by Lauren Gabrielle Photography
Somer: We also love seeing our couples overjoyed and often emotional with excitement and happiness. We are honored to be a part of so many amazing weddings and enjoy working closely with so many wonderful couples to contribute to the success of such an important day in their lives. We also love building relationships with our couples and are happy to call many of them friends long after the wedding is over. It’s the ultimate compliment to plan and baby shower for one of our past brides or even a first birthday party for their child.
Thank you so much ladies for sharing your background with our readers!
Check out A Charming Fête at www.acharmingfete.com.