After 13 years in business planning weddings and events in New England, we have finally decided to write about the mishaps, confusion, logistical switch-ups, and the fulfillment we experience first hand as planners. Being a wedding or event planner is not for the faint of heart or for someone with high blood pressure. Our encounters as planners have been, well let’s just say there is never a dull moment, and it’s always an adventure.
Lesson number one: You cannot negotiate with Mother Nature
Rain plans are a must on our outdoor tented events or beach ceremony agendas. If I had $100 for every bride who said “it won’t rain on MY wedding day” I would be retired on some tropical beach somewhere. Yes, we have done weddings on rainy days and even in weather best described as monsoons. But I will say that two tents teetering on the verge of coming down on the same day required just a bit of Perfect Plan troubleshooting. Phone calls to tent companies to tell them to rush over like yesterday, us trying to move dishes and glassware to safety and then once the tent is secured having to set up with minimal time and finishing just in time for our bride’s arrival, all done meticulously without our brides knowing the chaos that occurred on their wedding day. Key to Success: A good team of Planners all with one goal in mind, driven with a passion for what they do, and an amazing team of tent vendors who make the impossible possible.
Lesson number two: Be prepared for anything, everything, and nothing.
Anything: Well that could be ANYTHING, things are thrown at us at the last minutes, like “oh did I forget to tell you that you need to assemble all my flowers for the tables” Well okay…guess its good that my team has some floral experience, sure we can make boutonnieres out of corsages, and move florals from the church.
Or yes we can certainly let your puppy out before we head over to the reception, we are dog-friendly planners Best Man forgot his shirt, okay no problem, we can try to find him an exact match as all the groomsmen, as we are the best at shopping and know all the great local places for the goods.
Everything: Yes we can find you a venue, a rental house for family, a caterer, a band, dj, photographer, espresso cart, ice cream truck, florist, a babysitter, a dingy for your grand exit from the reception, candy jars, restroom trailers, theme props, a contractor to build a white satin runway for your beach ceremony, a landscaper, mosquito sprayer, a gondola boat, a honeymoon tree house, an officiant on a week’s notice, relocate your event for 200 in summer on Cape Cod with five weeks notice, operate a generator, flip a tent three times in one day, coordinate transportation logistics with two different companies for 200 guests from 8 hotels, one designated pick up parking lot and getting everyone to ceremony on time, coordinate a groom arrival by boat onto the marsh, sew a bridesmaid COMPLETELY into her dress the morning of the wedding, coordinate a canon to be shot off at the first kiss during the ceremony, cut your wedding cake, find you an officiant who speaks french, a planner who speaks spanish, setup a yoga workout for your bridesmaids, etc…..etc…..etc…………etc……
Nothing: Yes Nothing: This is where we execute events without the proper information from clients. Please let us handle your rentals, we know what you need…. we rely on information and communication to properly service our clients, we often are managing without knowing pertinent information, without contracts from your vendors we cannot adequately do our jobs, we need your seating chart and not the morning of the event, more information is better than little or none. Changing your venue, vendor, time of the event. TELL us
If you have family issues we need to be aware of, tell us. Problems with a vendor, tell us.
Lesson number three: Always work with a planner that has compassion, a gift of hospitality, ethics, integrity, meticulous with detail, is passionate about her work, will listen to your vision or help you find one, is honest with her clients, gives advice when needed, can talk you off the wedding cliff before you get there, has grace and a good business foundation. The Perfect Plan was founded on these characteristics, every bride deserves to have a flawless and memorable day, our goal and desire are exceed expectations and create not just an event but an experience to last a lifetime.
