I did it! I did it!
Last weekend, I was a wedding planner. And it was awesome!
As mentioned in previous posts, since I was a teenager I aspired to be like Jennifer Lopez. Well, Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner. Although, my behind has always been a little JLo.
I digress.
I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but my last job was awful. I was very miserable in the role and honestly, I was knocking on depression's door. I had to do something to get out, so I figured I'd do something to put me in the direction of my dream. I posted an ad on CraigsList and laid all my cards on the table. I had little experience beyond planning my own wedding but if someone would take a chance on me, I would plan their wedding for free.
I got a call.
I knew from the beginning this was a really great situation for me. I spoke with Bride originally in March and she sounded super organized. Actually, she sounded a lot like me. She didn't want to give up any part of the wedding planning but recognized she needed help staying organized on the day of her wedding. That's where I would come in. Her wedding wasn't until November but I offered to help her every way that I could in the meantime.
I met her a couple of times in September and October so that we could figure out how the day should go. I created a timeline. Even just that felt like such a great accomplishment. I was doing it!
Last Friday afternoon, I headed to Houston to attend the rehearsal. I was out of my element there. Everyone in the wedding had these big personalities and their were small children running wild in the church--this was one of the reasons I did NOT have small children in my wedding. The truth was I really went because I wanted to get a feel for it. Chances were I wasn't going to be at the church for the ceremony. There was a chance that I would be able to stop by while the women were getting ready but beyond that it was in the wedding party's hands.
I woke up on Saturday at 6:30 AM, earlier than I do on a work day. I showered, got ready (I only every do my makeup on occasions I think I need to look like a grown up), and ate a filling breakfast. I grabbed my AWESOME emergency kit that I put together the night before and away I went.
I made it to the reception hall at 9 AM moments before Bride. It was a really neat venue, an old fire station converted into a hall. There was a large piece of plywood where there should be a beautiful custom door. It was in the center of the room where the cocktail hour was to be held. And in my first moments as a wedding planner, I had a bride have a meltdown.
I didn't have to face the meltdown on my own. There was a group of Bride's friends there to help decorate. Together we all talked her off the ledge. We began decorating. Bride was so organized and had such a great eye for party decorations. We put everything out as she had designated.
When we were done decorating the downstairs room, one of the women who had worked at the venue had someone come and drape cloth over the plywood. While this wasn't a wonderful fix, it took away attention from it and Bride was satisfied with the solution.
We headed upstairs and began decorating the reception room. We did everything from the linens to the floral arrangements. It all looked beautiful!
As we were wrapping it up, Bride mentioned that she had to run to Kinko's to get the signs made for the reception. Whaaaat?? I explained to her that was why I was there. It took some convincing but she handed this task over to me. Yes, one of my first successes as a wedding planner.
Away the bridal party went to lunch and away I went to Kinko's.
I stopped in on the bride while she was getting her hair done. Then I went back to the reception hall and began meeting all the vendors.
First, the baker arrived and delivered the cake.
Second, the DJ arrived.
Third, the photographer arrived.
Finally, I ran to get a bite to eat. No matter how busy I am, I never miss a meal! I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner on my wedding day even when everyone told me I wouldn't get a bite. Yeah, those people don't know me.
I came back to the reception hall to meet the caterer at 4 PM.
4:05 PM No caterer
4:10 PM I called the number I had for the caterer. No answer. I left a message politely asking if they needed directions.
4:15 PM I began to panic. See, I had trouble getting a hold of the caterer to confirm they were coming. When I Googled the company, it came up that the owner marked the business as closed. But she called and confirmed earlier that week so I disregarded what came up in the Google search. I was NOT prepared to deal with the caterer not showing up for my very first wedding. Pure panic.
4:25 PM A young man came in and told me that he was one of the waiters and the caterer was on her way.
PHEW!!!
Late, but phew!
I never made it to the church because I had to essentially babysit the caterer. But that's what I signed up for, right? When needed, I will be a babysitter for whoever needs it.
At the stroke of 6 PM, guests began to arrive for the cocktail hour. AND IT BEGAN!
Everything went relatively smoothly. At one point, I had to run out and get plastic knives. Overall the caterer was a disaster. Right down to that they did not bring any knives. As I was LITERALLY running into Kroger, I thought, "Yeah, I LOVE this."
At the end of the night, a group of friends, family, and I cleaned everything up. By this point, I was exhausted. I panicked one last time. I thought it would take us hours to get everything cleaned up and packed away in their cars. But I pulled myself together and began working as fast as I could. In just an hour, we had everything cleaned up and I made it home at about 12:45 AM.
Long day but totally worth it.
So this experiment worked. I loved it! I just have to figure out how to get more clients now. I'm on it!
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