Ahhhhhh weddings. Matrimony, a celebration of love, 'The Big Day', tying the knot, romance, love, candles and fun.
Yeah, not for a wedding planner and often times not for the couple involved either. The lesser spotted Bridezilla is a thankfully rare phenomenon in my line of work. 99% of the time I work with some of the loveliest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Simple, sweet, couples whose main concern is that everyone just 'has a great day'. They often put the needs of their guests above their own specific preferences. Everything from seating plans to the choice of chairs are carefully weighed and considered so as to give Auntie Mary the optimal back support during dinner or that the cousins who haven’t talked in 10 years are kept on opposite sides of the room. They want it all to be FUN. And helping them achieve this is incredibly rewarding and also fun. What nicer way can you spend the work day than discussing flowers or table decorations or even better...tasting desserts. Yes I am a very lucky person.
I kind of fell into wedding planning. For many years I worked in the drudgery of the corporate world. It really wasn’t for me. Any time I told people what I did they were always surprised. I was too creative for a job like that, I was told. I’m also TERRIBLE at maths which caused no end of problems working in finance. So after taking voluntary redundancy I started working in a beautiful venue and low and behold, with the increase in people wanting to marry somewhere a bit different, my new career fell into my lap.
Several years’ later things are going fantastically well. Bookings are on the up; in fact I just booked a wedding for 2018 yesterday. And I am one of those very lucky people who can say I love my job. And I do. Every day is something different. A new request, a new plan, a new challenge and I thoroughly enjoy it all.
Bridezillas, however, are a different matter. Something I have learnt with this job is that there is a vast difference between what you tell a bride and what the bride hears. This perplexes me no end. You meet the couple, show them around, tell them costs and options and they go away bubbling over with ideas. I can normally tell within 5 minutes of meeting a couple if they are going to book or not, regardless of the cost. And it’s a great feeling to see them head away thrilled with their venue and knowing they have found the place where they will marry. Then the emails start. “We saw a Chandelier on Pinterest we really liked, could you cost one for us?”, “A friend of ours is going to sing but she wants a grand piano, can you source one?” or “There’s a lot of moss on the roof, can you scrape that off!”. One bride I dealt with emailed me weekly for 6 months with question after question and then in the end didn’t even book!
I completely understand that the Bride and Groom want everything to be just so but to all the couples out there reading my sage words, please realise it can’t ALL be perfect. There is so much beyond your control that has the potential to 'ruin' the big day and the trick is to learn to rise above it. You need to be flexible, things will not run on schedule, it might rain; Yes, some moron might put the heel of their shoe through your veil. But trust me; it will be anecdotes like THAT that will make it the most memorable day of your life. That, and of course, you have married the love of your life. Focus on enjoying it and all the rest of it will fall into place.
