VIP Vendor | Tina Boucher | Decorator

In the first flush of euphoria after your engagement, you’ll most likely start scouring magazines and wedding websites …  and soon feel overwhelmed by a mountain of checklists and an overwhelming cluster of choices. That is the point at which you and your fiance may need to consider contracting an expert wedding organizer / planner / decorator.

Great thought! Contingent upon your financial plan and needs, you can contract:

• a full-time organizer to mastermind each subtle element
• somebody to aid you just in picking your wedding area and vendors
• a day-of organizer (which truly implies 30 days prior to your wedding)

Since they’ll be your go-to person along the way, you’ll need to discover somebody who is composed and an expert, and also makes you feel calm- someone who you trust to have your best interest at heart. The first meeting ought to truly be a conversation – an expert will have a lot of inquiries for you as well, to make sense of your wishes, needs, level of upkeep, budget, and extent of creative wishes. Whomever you decide to run with, don’t enlist an expert who doesn’t listen, is bossy, tries to persuade you regarding what’s best for you, critiques your ideas, has no references, or won’t consent to a written contract.

Lucky for you, I happen to personally know an amazing wedding designer right here in Madawaska, Maine. I have worked as a vendor at a number of weddings she has produced and they are truly works of art. I get excited when a client tells me they’ve hired her! (I even offer a discount to her clients!) She just launched the Grand Opening of Interior Accents’ new storefront on Main Street on January 10, 2015 and I was contracted to shoot the event for her. We are all truly excited for her and this momentous occasion!

To help get the buzz out about her new studio, I’ve set aside time to interview her for this showcase. Without further ado…

Tina Boucher – Owner & Designer at Interior Accents in Madawaska, Maine.

Interview:

Britney Layne (BL) : What type of design education have you had and are you accredited in some way?
Tina Boucher (TB) : I have degree in Interior decorating and Interior Design, with a concentration in Kitchen and Bath Design. I am also an Accredited Events Designer and I am a lead Instructor for an Event school. To let you in on a little secret… I am working on getting my Masters in wedding planning and Event design as we speak to even better serve my clients!
Britney Layne (BL) : That is awesome, Tina. Congratulations on the degrees and good luck with the Masters!

BL : What services do you offer and what scope of work is covered during planning stage, during the event, and post wedding?
TB : I offer every service you can imagine. From the first initial contact to the completion of the design. I sit down with the potential client and once the date is officially booked, I go to work on a custom design plan. All rentals provided by Interior Accents are set up and taken down so that the bride and groom can enjoy their day without having to worry about the décor.

BL : What makes you unique?
TB : I always give more to each client irregardless of their budget and I strive to give each bride something different so that it makes their wedding unique and it doesn’t look like everyone else’s design.  Custom design is my specialty!

BL : Imagine I am a client asking you to host an event for me; what kinds of questions would you ask me?
TB : I would first ask you on the date of your event, your venue, location, how many guests, if you have a theme in mind, etc… those are basic questions that are really important to planning a successful event.

BL : What’s the cost of the average wedding you plan?
TB : I do all kinds of events with all kinds of budgets. To respect confidentiality, I choose not to answer this question as it is very difficult to put a price tag on events. It all depends on what kind of services, rentals and how many guests.
BL : Fair enough.

BL : What are some of your favorite ways to enhance an event on a budget?
TB : Draping and lighting… it softens everything and changes the whole feel of a venue!

BL : Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client. What was the result?
TB : LOl… Oh my… Brides can get very emotional and a little stressed out on their big day. The worst one would probably have to be a bride that had a $1200 budget for 450 guests with the venue being an arena… and thought she was going to have a wedding like princess Diana. That didn’t work out very well. However, it was my job to make sure she would get the most for her money, so I went to work and applied her budget where it would matter the most and make the biggest impact! In the end… she turned around and was happy 

BL : How many weddings do you do in a year?
TB : I average 65-70 events in a year.
BL : That is a ton of events! You must work a pretty tight ship over there.

BL : What is the average size of weddings do you plan? Do you have any experience in destination/yacht/intimate/large/ministerial scale of weddings?
TB : I would have to say that 250 guest is pretty much the average around here. I don’t do destination weddings. I also have done events for high profile clients that unfortunately I could not mention anywhere on publicly because of confidentiality. I have another high profile client this year. Those are really big events and very important to my portfolio! But, for me, all the events that I do, I treat them the same, it doesn’t matter who you are. If you book with Interior Accents, you will be treated like royalty!

BL : Do you carry personal liability and professional indemnity insurance?
TB : Absolutely… I am fully insured in every way possible. That is another piece of mind for our clients.
BL : I think a lot of people over look insurance. It’s is very, very important to have!

You can get in touch with Tina by phone : 207-436-3142

by email : interioraccentsdesign@gmail.com

or by stopping by the shop : 385 Main Street Suite 107, Madawaska, ME 04756

Interior Accents