When his niece became engaged, Colin Cowie, who specializes in orchestrating red-carpet events, finally got the chance to plan a celebration for someone close to his heart.

Brides Magazine’s Editor in Chief Millie Martini Bratten spoke with Cowie about the experience and got his top tips for planning a family affair.

Get started with questions: I ask the bride as many questions as I can so I understand what her favorite likes are, and what her dislikes are. Can she identify her favorite flower? What is the color scheme? What does she do on a lazy day off? What is her favorite hotel in the world? Does she like casual entertaining or formal entertaining? Then I find out really who they are, and I interview not just the bride but the groom as well so I can represent his perspective.

Add a personal touches: At Leigh-Anne’s wedding, when the guests arrived at this wedding they were each given a two yard piece of silk ribbon and a magic marker, pink or orange of course, to write down their wishes to the bride and groom, and they were all hand tied on the arc that they walked down to at the beginning of the aisle before they walked down. And it didn’t cost a dime to do. We took all of those, we tied them together and we presented them afterwards in a cup and said if you ever need to look back at the wishes of your friends here they are all for you as a gift.

Keep up the pace: The most powerful element of any event is timing and it doesn’t cost a cent. Some of the things that are important are to always plan a cocktail reception for 45 minutes maximum, knowing that it’s going to take about an hour by the time you’ve moved people into a space. Serve dinner within an hour and a half. I think great style and a great experience comes from not necessarily being there too long, but having a great experience in a short period of time.

Keep the menu simple:When it comes to food and wine it’s very easy to impress ten people at a tasting prepared by a chef. I always like to come up with food that I know will translate well, and if I don’t have great confidence in something I always go for what I know I can deliver failsafe and will work very well.

In Leigh-Anne’s instance, when it came to the food, we served a gazpacho, but instead of just serving the gazpacho in a bowl, we served it in a tall martini glass—a frosted martini glass at each place setting—so you took something ordinary and you made it extraordinary by the nature of elevating it.

Get the party started: One of the newest trends that I am seeing today is an after-party. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune. It just has to have music, maybe some sofas or some lower coffee tables, something a bit more loungey, and you go and dance. It is a new breath of air, it is another chapter to the whole day.