Yes, I did it, my first wedding!
I can still remember the day I discovered the job of wedding planner. I was watching the movie with Jennifer Lopez, “Wedding Planner,” and I was surprised to find that this could be a career! If you don’t know yet, I’m French and, in France this job isn’t popular like in America.
But today, the little French girl is on a wedding planning team!
I’d like to tell you about the first wedding I did as a wedding planning intern with Brenda & rest of the Swann Soirees team.
When I woke up, I was very anxious because I didn’t know what steps would take place, if I would understand everything…but Brenda and the rest of the team (Mandilee, Joy and Caitlin) helped put me at ease.
When I arrived at the ceremony venue, I was astounded because everything was so beautiful, the venue was perfect for a ceremony and the weather was beautiful too, but not time to dream I had to start to work. My first step was to check if we had all the flowers, then we had to “QC” the cocktail hour space, I didn’t know what “QC” was, but it means “quality control” – basically, we had to make sure the set-up was correct. As it turned out, the belly bars had mismatched linens and their heights were also uneven, therefore we fixed it and requested the help of the venue staff to correct the linens because they provided them.
I also had to finalize some decorative details, such as making sure that the bride’s instagram hashtag sign was written out nicely (I wrote it on a chalk board sign) and placed bubbles on the ceremony seats- which sounds fast and easy but sometime even the easiest tasks can pose problem, believe me after this I know that even more than ever. When I went to put the bubble bottles on each of the chairs, their size and shape made it nearly impossible for them to stay on the seats, so I tried so many times to find a position in order for all of them to stay. Finally someone give me the idea to put them in the corner of the chair and guess what, that worked! I was a little concerned because I wasn’t sure that all the guests would see them considering the bottles were so small, but my worries were unnecessary, they found them just fine.
After that, it was finally time for the ceremony to start. We invited the guests to take a seat then we went to get the bridal party ready for the processional, I got to hold the train of the bride’s dress, she was so beautiful, it was a honor. We got everyone lined up, music began, and the processional was under way when something I could never imagine could happen took place! The three year old flower girl asked to go to the bathroom! We couldn’t stop because everything had already started, therefore we asked the bridesmaids to walk really really really slowly, very veryyyy slowly to buy us time to take care of the flower girl. It’s was a funny moment and definitely a good memory. Everyone laughed about it, especially the bride since she could see everyone walking in slow motion from where she was waiting.
Post ceremony, the less funny began (obviously it’s like that in any job): clean up the ceremony space and escort people to the cocktail hour area. During the cocktail, I had to make sure guests were alright but mainly the bride and the groom.
After we made sure that all the guests was on their way to the reception, we were ready to join the rest of the team at the reception venue. No, no, it’s not done yet… so if you want to know the following of my experience, keep reading, it’s with pleasure that I tell you the end!
First, we had to clean up decor that was going to be used at the reception, then the personal items form the bridal room to leave it as clean as possible, for we don’t want to leave a mess for the venue if we want to be welcomed back in the future. After we made sure everyone was well on their way, we headed to the reception.
When I finally arrived, at the Chinese restaurant, I only had time to say “Hello” to the rest of the team and I was quickly put right back to work. I started to decorate the stage and other areas of the restaurant with the flowers I brought from the ceremony, I was rather proud of my work! I had never done anything like that before. I was given so much trust to use my best judgement and I felt really good about it.
Then, due to the large guest count, we had to individually escort guest to their table to maintain fluidity. I didn’t feel comfortable because I am always afraid to not understand people or to be misunderstood, but everything turned out great, I think… everyone was seated after all!
At the end of the day, I was very tired and my only wish was to be on my bed. Once on it, I was happy and proud of our job because I could still remember the smile of our beautiful Bride and Groom!! I can’t wait for our next wedding!!
xxo!
Elodie, Swann Soirées Intern
