When I got engaged this past June I thought planning our wedding at the Westin St. Francis on Union Square would be a cinch. That’s because I’m the wedding catering manager there, and I personally oversee 50+ weddings a year. Despite having wit...nessed countless brides overwhelmed with the volume of decisions they face, for some reason I thought our wedding would be different. After all, I have my preferred vendors, work with the best hotel staff on the planet, know my venue inside and out, and am surrounded by inspiration every single day. Well, I was wrong.
Just a few days into the planning process, I experienced firsthand how intense it can be. My simple “to-do” list transformed into a spreadsheet with hundreds of questions. Though my fiance and I had a strong vision for what we wanted the wedding to look and feel like, there were still decisions to be made about every tiny detail. I needed to call in the experts.
After taking care of the basics (signing the venue contract, finding a florist, DJ and wedding planner), one of the first calls I made was to Sharon at Napa Valley Linens. No matter how many weddings I see, I’m always amazed at how the right linens enhance the beauty of an event.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Sharon and her team on more than 200 weddings, and there was no doubt in my mind that she was the right person to work with. And I was right. Within a half hour of being greeted by the adorable puppies at her showroom, Sharon and I had selected the perfect variety of colors and textured fabrics I would have never put together without her advice.
Since then, I’ve thought a lot about why Napa Valley Linens is one of my favorite vendors to work with. I think it comes down to five really important things. Here they are:
Quality. I’ve definitely met brides who thought, ‘it’s just a tablecloth, right?’ Wrong. When you choose low quality linens, it shows at the event and in your pictures. High quality linens that are thoughtfully selected to fit your event add depth and beauty to a wedding, setting the tone for all of the other elements like flowers and place settings to really pop. Great linens are the baseline for making sure all of the details of your wedding show through, and Napa Valley Linen has the finest around.
Service. I’ve placed dozens of orders with Napa Valley Linens on behalf of the brides I work with, and I’ve never - and I mean NEVER - waited longer than 5 minutes for a response from Alison, my day-to-day contact there.
Experience. Even though I thought I knew what I wanted for our wedding, when I described it to friends and family I realized “black, gold and blush” didn’t exactly articulate the grand vision. One of the great things about working with the team at Napa Valley Linens is that they know exactly what questions to ask in order to understand what you’re trying to achieve.
Artistry. When you really stop to think about it, creating the perfect mix of fabrics, colors and textures is actually really tough. That’s why we have fashion magazines and experts to help us with what to wear, right? Now combine that all the different elements: season, venue, time of day, event theme, lighting, flowers… I could go on. It really takes an artist to understand the grand vision and make sure every element will perfectly harmonize. That’s what you get from Napa Valley Linens.