Taking My Own Advice

Most couples who have been planning (even if they have a planner) find one or two tasks that just seem impossible or as far away from being enjoyable as they can be.  It is bound to happen, it can't all be fun all the time.  If it was, do you think you would enjoy the good times as much?  (Not sure why I had a sort of zen moment)  Anyways I can almost always pick the two things each couple won't want to do after they start, of course each couple is different.  

I find myself saying often "it is okay", " this is just a bump in the road", "think about the big picture" , "take a deep breath" and then walking them through the issue until we find a solution that works out best for them.  I have to do the pep talk first though, I have to bring my couple back to a point where they are listening, calm and ready to honestly tackle the task at hand.  The last few weeks have been interesting here at ESTOccasions and even I, have moments of "what the hell" though depending on the issue, there may be other words in that phrase. Most of us wedding professionals work for ourselves.  It is a balancing act (which for the most part I love and makes me good at what I do.   Example: Delaying the bride by 10 minutes to ensure the rental company truck won't be in any photos as they deliver a working oven this time to the catering company, all while smiling and letting her know that we are just waiting for a few guests to sit down.  Which was true and thank goodness for last minute folks.)  I have to balance between running two businesses, a household, a family and time to just breath.  It is what I love but I found myself this morning in a bit of stress.  The boys needing one thing, only have instant coffee in the house (bad choice but better than none), a full email box, appointments later today, deadlines and thinking how in the world was this going to work today.  So I took a deep breath, reminded myself that everything really is OKAY and I need to look at the big picture.  Slowly just went back to checking one thing off at a time and being thankful that I get to do something I LOVE every single day. Now I remember why I say these things to my clients.  :)

So if you find yourself this weekend, stressing while trying to figure out your long list of wedding tasks, remember to take a deep breath.  Tackle one thing at a time.  Know you can't make everyone happy and always, ALWAYS look at the big picture.  Your friends and family are coming because they LOVE you, they want to share in this moment with you, and maybe remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing.    This zennish moment has been brought to you by instant coffee, 5 hours of sleep and a happy wedding planner. :)

5 years

The big 5...for me this was a huge deal.  5 years ago I found myself thinking why not plan my own bridal show. I had plenty of reasons why not to plan one but none of them seemed like a good enough reason.  I reached out to a few great local wedding professionals who had become friends with and pitched the idea.  No one laughed, (well except my mother but she said it was a supportive laugh:) the idea was born and forward I went. 

From the tented affair of about 65 or so to hosting over 200 guests this weekend, I really can't complain.  It seemed a bit unreal to be honest.  I love this different part of my business, and I love the vendors I get to meet.  We always have a mix of vendors who have been with us before and others who are trying us out for the first.

 The point is never to be the huge expo style event, since I've taken many of clients to these style events and really did my best to listen to what they liked and hated.  From there I took these ideas and created them into my show.  It doesn't work for everyone of course, but for the ones it does, it works well.  

There were a few delivery issues and a few missing vendors due to lack of power and damaged trucks but overall an outstanding turnout.  I thank everyone for their support, for coming out and the amazing vendors I get to call friends. 

From a simple idea, this part of the company has really grown.  We have wedworks, which are just networking nights for the vendors, a spring show, and now working on a Winter show at the Mark Twain House for 2012.  I hope to continue.   

No power, no problem.

It will be awhile before anyone in Connecticut forgets the snow storm we had the last weekend of October.  While I'm a snow lover, just love it, I have to admit it was unexpected how much damage this storm caused.  I think most of the state now has power 10 or so days later but not everyone.

I spent the storm snuggled in by the fire, thinking whew no wedding. I didn't think it would cause an issue for my couple the next weekend.  I was WRONG.  The venue was without power, then again most of the town was without power.  While this was greatly upsetting on Monday, and even Tuesday, we thought there was no way it would continue to be an issue.  Of course it was, CL &P was expecting to have power to the town of Glastonbury until the Monday after the wedding.  The hotel didn't even have power but thankfully by Wednesday they did.

We spent a few hours looking for different locations, seeing what we could do. Could we move it, could a place be found that could handle the food requests and could it be done.  Now I'll admit my bride might have been a TINY bit upset but she handle herself like pro. Upset yes, but she kept moving forward. She kept looking while we were looking and never giving up. Okay so her hair trial couldn't be held the day she wanted due to lack of power, she still found a way to make it happen.  It really was one thing after another but at the end the hotel were the guests were staying, did their best to help us out.  They gave us a ballroom, we informed all the guests and well they got married of course.  Thankfully their church was PERFECT, and had no issues. While it might not have been the wedding Maryann & Keith had been planning with us for so long, it was a wedding to remember.  They were surrounded by friends, family and so much love.  We wish Maryann & Keith only happiness and joy for the rest of their lives together. 

Been awhile

I often find myself thinking, I should blog about this. Or I should really catch up, or blog or sleep, so sleep had been winning the battle.  We have been in FULL on wedding season rush.  Every time I thought to blog about a wedding, I started to thinking this was one we were submitting to a magazine or a website.  Or this is great but I'll wait for the photos. 

Now I start to sort through all the topics we wanted to discuss, all the weddings and I'm looking at what I can start to share with you all. So many things, and I have to say I'm excited to start doing this part again.  The next blog will be a wedding that will never be forgotten

A loving Vote

My Sundays are usually spent recovering from an event or off to another event, not for wandering through the Coventry Farmer's Market, as much as I would like too.  Last Sunday was one of those rare open days for me (been on a quest to balance between work & family) and of course I packed up the family and went to the Flea Market in Mansfield, followed by the Coventry Farmer's Market and finished off our adventure by meeting friends for lunch at Fay's Place.  
 

The market was PACKED!!  We gathered up the fruits and veggies we needed for our new juicer, said hello to a few llamas and onto lunch we went.  What I loved about our visit, was how almost every vendor had the Great Barn Giveaway on their tents, friends of the market were sharing high tech Q code cards for voting and it was a great sense of community.  This barn will benefit the farmer's market of course but also the Nathan Hale Homestead.  As a business sponsor (my second year, granted last year I was only a friend of the market.  I missed the deadline, yes it even happens to us planners at times.) I want to see them succeed.  So many really go beyond what you would expect to make sure this market runs as smoothly as it does.   

Please take a few seconds, vote, pass along the information to your coworkers, your wedding professional friends, your mommy and me groups, and anyone else you can think of.  Let's show everyone how Connecticut wins!  http://www.greatbarngiveaway.com/
Vote today!!!!

Before you say YES

You know it is coming, your good friend gets engaged and shortly there after you are asked to be part of the bridal party.  Before you say "YES", take a few things into consideration.

•  You will have to spend money!!  Maybe on something you don't love, and can NEVER wear again.  If you are lucky, you may love it and be able to wear it again but don't count on it.
• Odds are you will have to work with others.  A bridal party can be a mix of siblings, cousins, childhood friends, roommates & you may not all get along.  Don't allow this to EVER be an issue for the couple getting married.
• Remember your role in the wedding.  If you are the Maid of Honor or Best Man, you have responsibilities. If you aren't sure what they are, then ASK.  You will be helping put together a shower, or a jack n' jill and bachelor and bachelorette parties.  Other bridal party members should offer their assistance. Help could be offered money wise, time wise, or in a labor sense. 
• There will be certain weekends, nights and other times that will be designated for the wedding.  It is a given, between engagement parties, the showers, and just helping, there will be times that you.

Be honest with your friends, if you don't have the funds to be a part of the wedding, or you know that your business is sending you on business trip every other month, say something.  Being honest right up front will ease things for everyone!!! Once you say yes, then be the best friend you can be. 

Just a few friendly tips!  :)

5 things as a planner I've done (and no one knew)

Why this discussions came up, well I'm not 100% sure. Though I'm often doing my best to explain what we planners do beside the normal things. There are always things you just can't plan for 100% but the goal is to be ready for them and do your best for the client.  Here are a quick 5 and stay tuned this week for more.

1.) Late Spring, NYC (hot), both myself and the wonderful catering manager from Josh's catering are attempting to scrub off the glue from where the florist glued down the aisle runner. Mind you we are in an Orthodox Synagogue and most items were priceless.  Even though we had asked them not to glue it down, they still did and within 1/2 hour we got all the spots out.  (Both of us had babies no more than a month old at this time too, so it was a nice bonding moment for us. lol)

2.) One of the shuttle vans became stuck on the dirt road to the wedding venue. This van was blocking other vans from moving up and down the road with ease and had to be unstuck right then and there.  With a bunch of groomsmen on the back giving weight, and 2 up front with me, I helped push it out.  I of course had to kick off my high heels at this moment but it needed to be done.  Nothing better than hearing all the bridesmaid cheer with joy!

3.) Removed advertising from the wedding cake.  I wish I was kidding. On the 3 tiered cake, where the ribbon connected they placed a bakery sticker. With care, I removed the stickers and turned the seams to the back just so no one knew.

4.) Different wedding, 4 tiered cake, and the catering crew is REFUSING to cut and serve the cake.  First they say they weren't paid for this, then they tell me they can't get to the cake since it was tucked into a corner.  In a quick moment, I picked up the WHOLE cake and carried it to a cutting table and proceeded to cut until the catering manager took over.

5.) Dried off 56 chairs due to a spot shower and then placed an umbrella onto each chair for all for all of the guests, just in case. (Yes they needed them, and yes we were able to purchase 56 all black umbrellas from the local WalMart that morning. Okay they weren't all black but pretty damn close)

Stay Tuned for more....