A Day in 'The Office' of a Wedding Planner
A day of a wedding planner is a lot different to what I thought it would be, before I became a wedding planner myself. You know what they say ''Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.'' It worked out well for me, starting from getting ready for work. Back in my banking days, I had to worry way too much of my daily attire. My neatly combed hair and neutral make up. Now as a wedding planner my day kick starts with a pair of comfortable denim jeans and T- shirt, and a messy pony tail works well on the days we're not at events or meeting clients and vendors.
After all the morning chores, the day begins at our office, a nice cozy space, lit with rays of sunlight that merge through the open windows right across the work desk from where you can hear birds chirping away outside. However before I go and sit in front of my computer there is another little work colleague that's waiting to be greeted with a little wiggle wiggle. She is our stress reliever and our personal entertainer. Her name is Snoopy. A rescued little lovable pooch.
As soon as I log into my computer, I check my mails and go into my to- do list to check out what is pending for the day.
The past few weeks we have spent time looking for new venues to add to our ever growing list of amazing destination wedding venues: stunning villas and boutique hotels with beautiful scenery so our couples can have the most magical wedding setting, suitably romantic for their head over heels special day. Therefore, we've been driving along the Southern Coast visiting gorgeous places, it's been a fun and interesting experience, and one that I think deserves it very own blog post soon!
My 'To Do List' is always very concise and to the point, because as a planner the most valuable asset one has is the ability to organise and make sure every detail has been thought of. We have an amazing client management system that we use which keeps each event organised and has all the information in one place. We love it so much we have even begun using it to communicate with our couples and they can log in on their end to see all updates etc which makes it so much easier for them to follow along and see how the planning is progressing. The feedback so far has been great! In addition, it has made our work so much smoother and we're glad to no longer use notebooks and excel files although we keep a paper file for each couple where we keep all the key documentation so we always have it to hand.
After completing the day's 'to do list' I usually log on to Pinterest and scroll my way through for any new wedding ideas. We keep boards and files with ideas and inspiration which we often share with our decor vendors so we are able to discuss how we can create inspired wedding decors. It used to be that Sri Lanka didn't really have a lot of options when it came to decor but this is changing rapidly and these days we have all kinds of exciting options to create truly dream weddings. It used to be that Destination Weddings simply meant a sandy beach but now we can create the most magical settings from the boho beach picnic to magical secret gardens and more. The mood boards we now create for our couples can really be pretty fabulous, it is so exciting!
We're currently working on a really cool tropical themed beach picnic wedding, with bonfires and low seating and tons of candles and lanterns - it's going to be breathtaking. We usually do our work while listening to music, we take turns to be the office 'DJ'. This week however had one theme and it was Indian wedding music as our colleagues were putting the finishing touches for their Indian Wedding brand the company will be launching soon. We were all on YouTube and Soundcloud, listening to various catchy tunes, and there may even have been some letting loose and dancing. I mean why not? Weddings are one of the most joyful events in a person's life, so the process of creating it, can deserve some fun too.
But truth is, it's not all about the fun in a work day of a wedding planner. There are hectic days too. Days where we are glued to the computer, picking up and answering the phone one call after the other. Days of packing and getting everything prepared, making sure all the little details are looked through. And on the wedding day itself, it is all go go go! My first wedding was a real eye opener - from the venue preparation the day before to a super early start on the day and a long day on my feet. Making sure everything is going according to the timeline and plan and in a way that it all looks effortless and easy. On the day we have one goal and that is to make sure the guests and the couple have the most joyous day possible! One to remember and cherish for life.
As a new wedding planner in the team at Happily Ever After, I am thoroughly aware that there will be fun, crazy, and unpredictable days to come. But the joy of getting to create something that is as beautiful as a wedding, it’s just worth each day!
Love, Christina
