Part 3- What Does A Wedding Planner Really Do?

Meanwhile, back at the hotel the other half of the Willrich Bridal team is busily steaming dresses. Most of the bridesmaids were from out of town and gotten their dresses badly wrinkled during their trip into Greenville. After the steaming was complete and everyone was dressed, two of the bridesmaids stepped on the hem of their dresses and pull out some of the tiny tucks in the skirts. Lucky for them, some of my team sews and the damage was quickly repaired.

Earlier we had picked up the body flowers (florist term for flowers carried or worn by a person) at the church and delivered them to the hotel (another thing the florist forget to mention he didn’t do). Once everyone was dressed and the photographer had arrived the flowers were passed out and pinned on by my team. When the bridal party had left to go to the lobby and take some quick pictures, my team started straightening up the room and gathering up the bride’s clothes and bags so that we could take them with us to the reception and pack them in the get away car. As soon as this was completed it was time to go watch for the two limos that were coming to pick up the bridal party. Pictures were finished and bridal party limos arrived. The bridal party was placed in one limo and the bride and her father in the other. Once they were prepared to leave, my team jumped in their car and hurried to the church.

By this time, the whole team was back at the church. The groomsmen arrived and were placed at the doorways to greet guests and usher them to their seats. This particular church had two entrances, one the front main entrance and one on the side nearer the parking lot. Since we wanted the guest to enter by the front entrance only, we stationed a team member at the side door to send guests to the front entrance.

At rehearsal it had been carefully explained to the groomsmen and ushers, exactly where the family was to be seated and where guests where to be seated. Unfortunately as the church filled up, apparently one of the ushers forgot and filled the grandmother’s row with guests. We quickly and quietly moved in and asked the row to please slide over into the next section of seats. Disaster averted.

At this point, the minister had been mic’d and somehow the sound person had forgotten to turn the mic off. I suddenly hear the minister’s voice over the prelude music. Quickly we rush to find the minister and have the mic shut off.

Now it is time to line the wedding party up for their trip down the aisle. The bridesmaids are back in the bridal room happily waiting for their grand entrance, groomsmen are busily directing guests, but wait suddenly the bride’s limo (which had pulled up earlier) is gone. Now this is one of my biggest peeves with brides. I understand not wanting the groom to see you before the wedding, but there is no tradition about bad luck if a guest happens to see you. Do not worry about a guest seeing you in your dress. BIG DEAL. But because guests were walking near the limo, she had decided to drive off rather than come in as planned thus throwing off the whole schedule.

I now have musicians wanting to know if they should start the wedding music. A mother of the bride panicking that the bride is not in the room where she was supposed to be, we are behind schedule and no way to contact the bride since neither she, nor her dad, nor the limo driver have a cell phone with them. I decide to go ahead and line everyone up. Hopefully the bride has read her own invitation and knows what time this wedding is to start. I tell the musicians to just keep playing until we have a bride, my team lines up the wedding party minus bride and father. Luckily just at the time the mother reaches full panic mode the limo pulls up. We race down the hill, open the limo doors and a smiling calm bride exits the car and takes her place in line. (Glad she’s calm, I’m a wreck). The procession starts, everything goes off as planned and half my team gathers up the sign in book, emergency kit and brides clothes and leaves once again for the reception site. The rest stay behind to clean up after the wedding and get pictures going.

More tomorrow....