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Dear Industry Professionals :: A few words from a Wedding Planner
Written by, Cicely Rocha.Miller – Owner and Senior Consultant of Life Design Event Planning

#3 :: Client says, “I don’t need a wedding planner, the venue has one on site”.

I have had the opportunity to work with many amazing and wonderful Directors of Catering (DoC) or Onsite Event Coordinators (OEC) and honestly if it wasn’t for one in particular, I would not have been given the chance in the industry that I have now. To start off, I do want to mention one thing, wedding planners are here to help, make you look even better and relieve you of performing more than you are expected to. So many times, I hear from potential inquiries, “I don’t need a wedding planner, the venue has one on site” or “The Director of Catering said she would help me plan my wedding”. I need you to A. stop doing and or saying that and B. communicate to your clients that you are there on behalf of the venue first. Let me expand. The hundreds of hours that wedding planners put into making the clients day everything they imagined is not something that you get paid enough to do. I hope I am not being insulting because I have no idea what your salary is but the amount of work that you do currently is plenty. I constantly see DoCs buried in work. They have so many events they are juggling at once and it seems to be that way all year round. It puzzles me that you would want to communicate to your client that you will help them plan their wedding. What I see that ends up happening many times is that the client thinks they don’t need a planner because they have you, then the emails and phone calls start rolling in. “Do you think I should go with an ivory or white gown? Do you think this shade of flower will match your linen? Can you proof my invitation? Where do you think I should sit my divorced parents? What song should I walk down the aisle too? Why isn’t my {insert vendor here}calling me back?” and it goes on and on and on. Pretty soon, the client is more than you wanted to handle (not saying this is something you can’t handle, because I know and have seen you do it). So why not, from the get-go, suggest that a client hire a reputable planner from the beginning of their planning process. Express to the couple that you will do whatever needs to be done to make their day beautiful but you do have limitations and are ultimately responsible for the decisions made that is connected to your venue. Any DoC or OEC will tell you that when they have a positive experience with a planner they love it and do refer them. Help us make this true to all sites. It’s better for me, for the client and for you.

Top 12 List of Things I want to Change or Communicate Better in this Industry

 12.  The wedding day’s experience is just as important as the process of planning one.

11.   Always come with solutions, not problems.

10.  Invitations are important. They set the mood of the event and it gets the guests excited.

9.  Wedding planners aren’t just about pretty tables.

8.  DJ’s aren’t given enough credit for the job they do.

7.  Videography should be included in the budget. Hearing someone laugh (or cry) is different than seeing it live.

6.  Décor is important and gives an entire sense of style and feeling for the event. Guests may forget exactly what the flowers/rentals, lighting/etc. look like specifically but won’t ever forget how all those elements together made them feel.

5.  All vendors should be fed at events but please make sure to do it in another private room and please don’t   go through the buffet line.

4.  Wedding planners need to stop being so bossy and controlling. Trust the vendors to do their jobs or don’t   refer them. Do you really want to work with a vendor you don’t trust, you have to control or micromanage?

3.  Be about “flexibility with structure” on the wedding day.

2.  Lighting is everything for photographers so give them a little more light when they ask for it.

1.  Give the married couple 10 minutes alone after the ceremony. They are forever united and took a huge    step in their relationship and deserve a few moments to relish in the moment.

 So, let me step off my soap box for now as my throat is a bit hoarse. Many thanks to Curtis, the members of the Wedding and Event Network and to the readers of this blog for enduring my rant. Again, if you want to discuss any of my thoughts further in person, over the phone, via twitter, Facebook, Skype or maybe in another group format I will buy the first round for everyone.

Thanks for listening and caring about what I had to write.

 With all that Life has to offer,  Cicely

www.lifedesignevents.com

I was situated adjacent to a caterer who prepared some food for the occasion and who, in a stroke of brilliance, brought a grill to the show so that the aroma would waft on the breeze to the surrounding space. Potential customers could smell and taste some hot and delicious samples of what a paying customer could expect at a wedding or other event.

                                                                                                              Photo by Kym Ventola

I noticed that several vendors also got in line to help themselves to a sample.  It sounds harmless enough doesn’t it?  Fellow vendors are a good source of referrals too right?  If the food is great, they will refer paying customers.  The problem was that the caterer had rightly planned for the predicted headcount of brides and their attendants/grooms/mothers. The caterer ultimately ran out of food with about 90 minutes of brides left and it turns out that the predicted headcount would have been perfect. Not only did the extra vendors take food intended for customers, they added to the wait time of those customers and additionally, the caterer was being engaged in conversation by these vendors and that was attention diverted from customers.  

Many bridal shows provide a vendor lounge or a boxed lunch and if not, arrangements should be made for our own food and drink.

The caterer had paid for the food and had paid for the booth. You can bet they didn’t get a refund for the remaining 90 minutes even though the booth became less effective for it’s purpose without the food.  I think most caterers or florists or other vendors would be happy to impart any leftovers AFTER the show had ended, but not before.

More on this subject:

In writing this, I realize that I may have been guilty of the following offense in times past and if so, I apologize.  Each of us should stay in our booth during show hours!  You never know when the “million-dollar” customer/bride is approaching and I’d hate for the opportunity for that contact to be diminished by a fellow vendor talking shop. I’d hate more to be guilty of having diminished the opportunity for my fellow vendor who paid a price for the exposure to that customer.

I always enjoy seeing my industry mates and hearing a few war stories and of their successes and all about some new techniques they are trying, but if those conversations happen at all while customers are on the floor in the given time, they must be restrained to lulls during fashion shows or before or after the show and one must be very conscious of approaching customers and excuse oneself promptly. (Shameless self-promotion ahead– Save the conversation for a WEN meeting!)

I notice that most shows require participating vendors to be set up well in advance of the official start time. This allows for each of our cars/vans/trucks to be moved from the preferred parking spaces, those up close to the venue,  to parking spaces further out before customers arrive.  Side note- some vendors have identifying monikers on the sides of said vehicles and probably would not want to be noted by customers as having taken up the prime parking spaces- happy customers spend money. The point I’m making is that the hour or so before the first customer arrives at a show should be the time to catch up with our industry mates.  

Best regards, Curtis Whipple

480 250 4111

FADE IN:

EXT. HOTEL FRONT- MORNING

The sky is desert-bright over a bustling scene – music fades in … flowers arrive in bucketfuls, a vehicle pulls up with the bakers bringing a magnificent cake.. it is lifted, carefully, out of the vehicle.

INT:  HOTEL – BALLROOM

The team carries the cake in slowly, there are sounds of caterers setting up and decorators scurrying, a lighting crew hoists and adjusts cans into place. 

INT. BRIDE’S HOME / INT. GROOM’S CONDO

There is a flurry of activity and constant ‘chatter’ between the attendants and the bride. Gowns are being carried and put on, hair and make-up checked. The bride is now dressed and ready. Her mother leans over to give her daughter a kiss before they leave for the ceremony. The groom clowns around with his friends while they put on their finest. 

INT. CHURCH & EXT. CHURCH – LATE AFTEROON

The moment arrives, music rises, the grand procession begins and proceeds down the aisle to the altar, where the officiant prepares for his service, and the groomsmen are assembled. The emotion and happiness of taking one’s vows, and the witnessing of this, shows on the faces of the couple, the attendants and the guests. Bride and groom walk back down the aisle, acknowledging guests.  The music crescendos… doves are released and fly up, flower petals drift, friends emote.. there are sounds of laughter, congratulations, ‘chirps’ of joy – someone screams and giggles. The bride and groom are escorted into a car.. the door closes and the car pulls away….

INT:  HOTEL – BALLROOM

The reception space is now transformed – breathtaking, as the couple arrives to join their guests in celebration. Sounds of fountains splashing and ambient music come from ‘somewhere’. Water features splash and glisten, colors and lighting dance on the faces of everyone who has attended.

THE DANCE. Lighting and sounds have softened.  The music is personal. . . something secretly shared..

It’s their first dance together – taking their first ‘steps’, as it were..  The party goes on . the wedding party celebrates, everyone is beautiful!  

FADE OUT. . .   

This is the most important day of their lives .. the day they made the commitment to begin an entirely new loving, and spiritual life together. It is to be captured and held as a reminder, and so that others who could not attend may experience this wonderful event, and so this day can be experienced again and again over the years.

THE SCENE AND THE UNSEEN:

How is this to be done?  Through Photography, of course, and more recently, Videography, almost as popular – a motion picture with sounds and conversations, invites one into their lives and a heart-grabbing glimpse of something so deeply personal. As technology evolves, media becomes more sophisticated, more emotional, compiled as an electronic wedding album, that may tell a complete story – from proposal to honeymoon.

THE MIX;

Photo stills, with select video footage, script, speech, theme, color, effects, and carefully chosen music. What you have now, is the most beautiful ‘treasure’ of this day that far outperforms the ‘usual’, and shares with others anywhere, anytime!

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Explanations are unnecessary when you view the work of a ‘master’, like Mr. Jan Johnson, video/film editor, and story teller at Creative Video Montage.   He has produced DVDs and CDs for me, my clients’ homes, realtors, home sellers, family events and weddings.  When you view this exceptional work, you’ll want to have tissues present !   Planners and photographers can now serve their clients in a way, which, until now was not possible, and that they never imagined.

www.allenhewlett.com