#ThrowbackThursday: Wedding Concept vs. Wedding Reality

B & G Photography

I just finished a one hour phone session solving a wedding limo glitch, and I thought about this part of my book, DIY Your D.O.C.,  that talks about the logistics on your wedding day. Stay flexible. There is a solution to every “challenge,” even if the solution is to say “screw this” and start over:

A lot of times, what you want your wedding to look like crashes into the reality of your venue’s logistics, and of time and space in general. Examples: At one of my weddings this past spring, the plan was to put the DJ on the opposite side of the dance floor from the head table. While he was hooking that up, the venue manager told him that he needed to be behind the head table, where there was a stronger source of power. That was a problem aesthetically speaking – if he was behind the table, he would be in most of the pictures of it. At another wedding, the linen for the escort card table was noticeably shorter than the table itself. At another, the extension cords the photo booth brought couldn’t reach the plugs closest to it. Hmm…

Look, everyone, including you, makes educated guesses based on the information they’re given at the time. And, sometimes those guesses are wrong!

So, what do you do? First of all, don’t waste time arguing the point. If your original concept won’t work, it won’t work, so you have to work around it. Second of all, remember that you don’t have to solve the problem all by yourself. You’re working with experienced professionals who can help you figure it out. Ask the people who are part of the issue for suggestions on how to solve it. You can’t move the DJ table, but can you move the head table, so the DJ isn’t so prominent behind it? Make a note to give the photographers a heads up on that, too. If the photo booth’s cords won’t reach, ask the venue manager if they have extra cords they can borrow, or talk about an alternative place to put the booth. Linens too short? Shove the table against the wall and see if you can make it a little shorter on the back end to get length in the front. If it’s a guest table, concentrate on covering the side that faces the outside of the room. Chairs should sufficiently hide the lack of length around the rest of the table.

Basically: talk to the vendor involved, pull in the venue manager if and when you need to, and choose the quickest and easiest solution.

Budget Fairy Tale is giving away a copy of my book on August 11, so click here to enter, or to purchase it on Amazon here.

See you at the end of the aisle,

Liz Coopersmith
Silver Charm Events
www.silvercharmevents.com
323-592-9318
liz@silvercharmevents.com