And if you prefer to read, here's the summary of the podcast episode!

This is actually a play by play of what I did for an actual wedding last summer. The real deal!! 

Thursday

Pick up our production booklets from the printer and add tabs for different sections, like our production schedule, the run of shows, floor plans, and decor lists. Also, I have to plug in our radios so they’re fully charged.

Friday First Half 

10:00 am – I pack up my car with welcome bag supplies. 

1:47 pm pm – Leave for venue. I love to listen to podcasts during this time (I am a sucker for true crime). 

2:27 pm – Unload our car with all of our welcome bag stuff2:33 pm – Give a dirty look to one of the hotel guests that takes a water bottle from my stack. I mean really? 

2:42 pm – Form an assembly line and assemble and stuff welcome bags with assistant

3:45 pm – Start re-arranging furniture for the Welcome Party – asking the hotel staff to combine some tables for the bar or for the

charcuterie display. 

4:00 pm – Run Ceremony Rehearsal – which is SO FUN because I get to meet everyone and hug my couple who are so calm and relaxed and just super excited for the weekend to be here

4:47 pm – Steam the linens for the Welcome Party cocktail tables

5:00 pm – Finish setting up the tables and linens; add the flower arrangements from the florist, which were delivered by her husband who’s the videographer

5:45 pm – Ask the hotel staff where the charcuterie board is going to be set up; Ask the staff to turn on music through the PA

Welcome Party Cocktail Hour begins

6:09 pm – Notice that the charcuterie display still hasn’t been set up and that they’re dropping off the hors d’oeuvres on a table instead of passing it. So I ask the staff about the missing display and why they aren’t passing. They tell me they didn’t have enough staff to pass and they’ll check on the display.

6:13 pm – The charcuterie display comes out and it’s abysmal. It’s literally on giant cutting board and I’m pissed. So I ask the staff, IS THAT ALL? And they say they’re going to check on it right away. 

6:26 – Out comes the second cutting board with charcuterie. I take a photo because I don’t think it’s enough for what they paid for.

Normally I don’t do this, but it was ridiculous.

I check in with the client to let them know that I’m on it and they’re not worried or concerned but appreciate the update. 

6:47 pm – I check in with my clients and ask if they’d still like to do a welcome speech at 7:00 pm. So I just hover on the perimeter and keep an eye on them so I can find them easily and vice versa when it’s time.

7:02 pm – I give the mic to one of the grooms and they start with a short welcome and then hand the mic to one of their dads to make some remarks.

7:04 pm – I notice that the music is a little loud outside, so I look for one of the staff members to turn down the PA. 

8:17 pm – I start packing up the remaining bags and move the extras to the wedding suite so the wedding party can snack on stuff the next day. 

8:28 pm – I hug the couple goodbye and head home.

9:00 pm – I pack up my car with all my supplies for the next day and have a drink to wind down.

Saturday Morning – Day of Wedding 

8:27 am – Leave for venue

8:30 am – Receive a text from the florist that it’s windy and if I could pick up some sand bags on my way to the wedding.

8:52 am – Arrive at Lowe’s and grab 2 sand bags, which are $47 each! I had no idea sand was so expensive and freaking heavy, but totally fine.

9:25 am – Check in on the wedding party in the wedding suite

9:30 am – Go to the event space and notice that the venue set up the wrong tables.

I hunt down a staff person and ask them to move in the other tables. They said they would look for someone to do it.

9:36 am – We start setting up the other areas, like the gift table, organizing the escort cards, and writing the # of seats that are supposed to be at each table on sticky notes.

Florist arrives.

9:42 am – I plug in my mega boom, which is a portable speaker, and my laptop so we have some fun music while we set up. It always puts people in a better mood. 

10:01 am – The cake baker arrives with all the desserts. She places the flowers from the florist on the cake and arranges the dessert items that can be left out, but puts the cake and the macarons in the walk-in fridge for later.

10:42 pm – We switch out the tables and put the linens on all the tables. 

Saturday Afternoon 

12:26 pm – Two of my assistants asks me to take a look at how they’re setting up the escort card display, which are these origami fish tied on string and hanging. But the wind keeps blowing them so it’s hard to arrange the fish. We figure out a solution and bring it inside for them to finish assembling just to make sure it doesn’t mess up or tangle the strings while they assemble it.

1:30 pm – I ask the venue staff when they’re going to start setting the chairs for the ceremony and the flatware and glassware on the tables. The ceremony isn’t until 5:00 pm, but I want to make sure it’s done so that the florist can start setting up her stuff around the aisle and the altar, but they  need to see where the flowers need to go in relation to the ceremony chairs.

1:45 pm – The mother of the bride comes into the dining room to peek and literally starts to tear up when she sees the floral chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. I give her a hug and tell her that all of us were just talking about how cute she looked. We all hope we look as good as she does when we’re her age. And guys, this mom was just so adorable. She was so petite and had the tallest craziest shoes on. Ff I look half as fabulous as she does when my daughter gets married, I’ll be happy.

Saturday Evening 

4:05 pm –  We finish the tables and make sure everything is straight. We double-check and count all the chairs, glasses,  and flatware. Sometimes someone will forget a glass or a fork. 

4:12 pm – I check on the couple to see if they’re ready for their first look of the dining room. I also check in with the photographers, who are shooting the ceremony area, to make sure they’re in the room before the couple arrives, too. 

4:17 pm – The couple comes into the room for the first time and they’re just in shock. I always get so excited to show them because we’ve spent so many months talking about it and now they’re finally getting to see it all come together right before their eyes. This couple actually told me, because they were a COVID couple and had to postpone their wedding, during the months when we took a break from planning because there wasn’t much to do, they would just open up the design guide that I created for their wedding and flip through it and get excited. And it would tide them over until the big day. They literally said they looked at it hundreds of times. I had no idea but it was the sweetest thing when they told me that. 

Saturday Night

6:36 pm – My production assistant is reviewing the songs and pronunciations one last time with the DJ. They had a special dance choreographed for their first dance, so it’s a special cut, so we want to make sure he has the right song.

6:38 pm – My catering liaison confirms with the banquet captain that we’re about to do the wedding party introductions and then we can move right into dinner service after that – no remarks. 

6:40 pm – We announce the wedding party and couple into the room and everyone dies at their first dance, which is so amazing. 

6:46 pm – Dinner service begins. 

7:12 pm – After they’re finished with salad, the couple makes welcome remarks. They didn’t want to do it right after their dance because they were afraid they’d be out of breath.

7:16 pm – Dinner service continues and the photographers sneak outside with the couple for sunset photos.

7:26 pm – The catering staff tells us that we can go eat our dinner. We sneak off in shifts but some of us stay in the room so that someone’s always there.

7:37 pm – The catering staff bring out the vendor entrees. I ask them to bring mine out but not to clear it for a while because I’ll eat later once the dancing has started. I just don’t like leaving the room until most of the formalities are taken care of.

Ceremony

7:40 pm – I give a 10 minute warning to the best man and maid of honor that the speeches will start in 10 minutes. I also tell the parents of the couple that speeches will start in 10 minutes, so don’t go too far because the dances will follow after that.

7:55 pm – The DJ introduces the maid of honor for her speech, followed by the co-best men.

8:12 pm – We cue cake cutting and the parent dances.  The dance floor opens.

8:27 pm – Once dancing is underway, I go to the room where the vendor meal was served. They didn’t leave my meal.  I ask them if they put it away because sometimes they’ll keep it under the heating lamps, but no. 

9:00 pm – I say goodbye to the photographers. 

9:12 pm – I check in with person in the wedding party about the music.  He says they’re still not happy, even though they’re dancing. They’ve put together a spotify playlist of songs that they want, so I look at the list and share it with the DJ. I talk to him again, and he says, okay, he didn’t think they were that serious or specific about the genre, but he will definitely change it up. And he does, and everyone is finally happy. 

Conclusion: Day In the Life