More than a wedding planner, Teresa Perdigao is a wedding lover. The idea of Something Borrowed, came to her as she was interning in a Customer Service department. It was there she saw the importance and value of gaining a customer and managing criticism. After earning her postgraduate diploma in Image, Protocol, and Event Planning, Something Borrowed began to take shape.
Teresa is addicted to details, moments, and people. No stranger to persistence, her drive guides her to create unforgettable moments and experiences for her clients. She and her team use their love for travel and tradition to add touches of innovation to their client's special day. By motto, they risk every day to make their client's dreams, wishes, and ideas come true. Keep reading to find out more about Teresa and Something Borrowed.
What inspired you to enter the wedding industry?
I studied Communication Sciences with the idea of working in Marketing and Advertising but, after a while, Events started to seem like an incredibly appealing area to put all my OCD into action. I’ve always loved working with people so, not all events made sense and weddings were what I felt most passionate about.
What inspired you to start Something Borrowed?
For a couple of years, I thought about the idea of making something different from weddings in Portugal. At the time, there weren’t many wedding planners in Portugal and the ones that existed had been here for quite some time with a portfolio that spoke on their behalf. Aside from those isolated success cases, weddings were pretty much organized by the venues and the couples were offered very few alternatives to the pre-set wedding packages these venues offered.
Something Borrowed was born from the challenge of wanting to offer couples what they had actually envisioned. We wanted to do things differently and adjust venues and décor to suit the couples’ vision rather than the other way around.
We wanted to offer a tailor-made plan to all those couples eager to do things differently or just eager to have things their way. And almost 11 years later, we are so lucky to have witnessed an evolution in the way vendors and teams work and how this has allowed us to plan, coordinate, and experience such amazing wedding days!
If you could change one thing about the weddings and special events industry, what would it be?
One thing we struggle with is the lack of knowledge about what a Wedding Planner actually does. We are not caterers, so we won’t compete with the delicious menus you offer. We are not florists and have no idea how to assemble the beautiful bouquets you do. We don’t sew and would be clueless as to how amazing wedding gowns rise out of pieces of intricate lace fabrics.
Yet, we still feel some resistance in our approach to the market, in explaining that what we do can save each of the vendors we work with, precious time and in having couples that a good professional can help them save money, time and truly allow them to fully enjoy a day they will spend months dreaming of.
How does using Aisle Planner help you deliver the client experience you want to?
We started using Aisle Planner a few years ago and both we and our couples love it! We were (and still are) addicted to Excel sheets but, were becoming increasingly aware that these don’t work for everyone and aren’t always easy to store all the information we gather during the months it takes to plan a wedding.
The Aisle Planner platform not only has great features that our couples love – such as the super detailed Guest List, the Check-List, or the Design Studio but for us as planners as it allows us to have live access to all of our information and details with just a few clicks. The fact that all the information is stored and available to both sides saves us and our couples a ton of time!
And of course, given our tailor-made-motto, we love being able to personalize each event's information and details and believe this allows our couples to have a better understanding of all the behind-the-scenes work.
What is your favorite Aisle Planner feature?
Now, this is a tough choice. Are we only allowed to choose one? I'd have to say, we love the Guest List – from my OCD point of view, and how it allows for really detailed information - such as the number of kids attending and their ages, the special food requirements or the high-chair/wheelchair details it included – and the fact that we don’t need to ask our couples to confirm this information because we can easily access it. But also, from a wedding planner’s point of view, we love how the budget is organized, allowing such an easy understanding of estimates, payments, and due invoices and the easy-sync with our calendars so we don’t miss out on any deadlines.
What would you tell someone who is thinking about becoming a wedding and event planner?
We would definitely advise you to choose a platform that works for you as using different Word or Excel files along with countless e-mails is more likely to end up in some missed information you’ll wish you had all in one place: and Aisle Planner is definitely our go-to! We would also encourage you to define your vision, what you believe you can bring into the weddings you’d love to plan. And stick to that!
While there’s a lot of so-called competition, we strongly believe there are enough weddings to go around. We take pride in focusing on the couples that, identify themselves with us, with our vision, with our way of working, and encourage people wanting to become planners to do the same. In the end, you’ll be so much happier, doing what you love!
What do you think will change about the wedding and special events space over the next five years?
Well, this question would have been a lot easier 6 months ago but it’s quite a challenge to answer now amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe within the next couple of months we will have recovered part of our confidence in meeting people while still keeping safe and we’ll have gotten more creative in finding ways to keep celebrating such important moments.
Perhaps wedding ceremonies will be held with fewer guests but, we’ve always loved small and intimate weddings so, maybe that’s a good thing. We strongly believe these times have had us rethinking some things and feel like couples will focus more on what really matters to each of them at a celebration like this. The phrase, “less is more” will probably have a nicer touch to it.
What’s your personal philosophy on becoming a great wedding and event planner?
I wish I could say I haven’t made my share fare of mistakes but I’d be lying. I think you become better when you are open to learning when you take the chance, and mostly, when you listen–whether to honest feedback from your couples and teams you work with, or from someone whose work you admire.
I also believe you need to be acutely aware of the details as this is not just an event but it’s one filled with expectations and emotions that have probably been built over the course of years. That’s something that you really need to care about to be able to understand what’s expected from you at each moment.
Finally, I’ve always defended you need to love what you do in order to want to do it better and better every day. Being a Wedding Planner is a demanding job with long working hours and sometimes crazy schedules. Love what you do, that’s a great starting point!
What lights your creative fire?
We love having our couples share their story: where they come from, how they met, what they love. You’ll often hear us say that when your guests leave, at the end of the party, they should be able to know you a little bit better. So the more you make this day about the two people standing in front of you, the more they will feel like it’s theirs and not just some magazine cutout wedding that could be anyone’s party. I think that’s what drives our creativity: how do we make this day amazing while keeping it a vision of who our couple is?
Is there anything you are particularly excited about working on this year?
We had couples coming in from so many countries this past year and we're excited about each of the weddings we were planning since each had something special planned. It was heartbreaking having to postpone weddings to 2021 due to COVID-19, but we are sure it was the right decision and are even more committed to making sure all our couples, who had to deal with this incredible setback, have an awesome celebration next year! So looking at this from a Brightside? We have a little extra time to plan a few extra surprises!
Just for fun
What’s the most used tool in your emergency kit?
Safety pins and hairspray!
I’m dying to design a wedding or event in…
Up in the North of Portugal because we love the northern wines and food and you have some beautiful Wine Cellars and Boutique Hotels we’d love to explore more!
What’s one trend you hope to see more of?
Destination weddings? We love showing off what Portugal has to offer whether its castles and palaces, whether its food and drinks, whether just how cool it is to travel the whole country in a few hours and witness such diversity. We are passionate about our country and love sharing its secrets with our couples and their guests.
Your favorite shoes to wear on event day?
We wear a super comfortable pair of tennis shoes which look really cute and fashionable with our blue jumpsuits!
If you could go back in time, what’s one thing you would change about your wedding?
I’ve actually been dating for nearly 10 years now and… I’m not married, yet!
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever created for a wedding or event?
We’ve actually had to create a structure to have acrobats hanging from a ceiling pouring champagne for the guests. It was an idea we blurted out during a meeting while we were all laughing and joking about how to surprise guests and our couple loved it!
During your time as a wedding and event professional, what’s the biggest mistake you made and how did you recover from it?
In one of our first weddings, there was a last-minute venue change that implied having the wedding a week before the original plan. Out of all the teams involved, the photographers didn’t notice the date chance and we didn’t double-check. They didn’t show up on the day and we needed a last-minute photographer. Fortunately, it wasn’t one of those hectic high-season weekends
If a client gave you an infinite budget, what would you do differently?
Probably invest a bit more in décor because that’s not always our focus. While we love a beautiful setting, we believe people will remember the food, the venue, and how they felt throughout the whole experience.
Given an infinite budget, we might even suggest somewhere amazing to close for a few days and turn into a “wedding villa” for all the guests and family to share more than just the wedding day!
Hero image courtesy of Pedro Costa Photography
Want to find out more about Teresa and read more about Something Borrowed? Check out their website here: www.somethingborrowed.pt
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