Etiquette

I have spent the week in the books. And let me tell you it has been really tough. I couldn't believe that it took a mere five months to get me out of the habit of studying that I have had for 15 years.

Anyway my assignment this week has been working on my own personal method by comparing my internet research from last week with several printed options and choosing what I feel is important and there by creating my own method out of several other professionals. But the most interesting part of the week has been the etiquette training, which consists of reading about 4 different books on etiquette, wedding etiquette, life etiquette and general etiquette. Its funny how these simple rules keep our society running. I really think that all the reading I am doing should be mandatory to all students in fact I think they should offer a class on etiquette in the Corporate Event Planning certificate as a required course.

Alright I hope everyone has a wonderful day I have to continue my reading.

Nearly the end...

I can feel the effects of the wedding season in my life, today is the first Saturday that I have not had to work or prepared for a wedding in the coming weeks and I am bored. I have no idea as to what to do today, its funny how quickly I became used to the hectic schedule of a planner.

This past week has been rather slow, we have mostly been talking and working on my own personal method once I enter the "real world" and so far that is the plan for next week as well. It is really nice that Alisha goes so far out of her way to help me get on my feet at the end of my internship.

The most significant event of interest this week was pitching for a fund raising organization for the Phoenix Art Museum. Alisha takes on a community service project each year and learned about this one at our gallery wedding a few weeks ago. We dressed nice and met with the group Wednesday morning and discussed what services she would be able to offer probono for these ladies in their efforts to raise money for the gallery. It was interesting to see Alisha make a formal pitch to offer her services free of charge. You would think they should be thankful that she is willing, but it was a formal like interview. What I learned is that in this industry you are constantly building on your own personal reputation and therefor should take every interaction seriously and behave professionally. Treating each client as though they are your first priority.

Other than that I have been getting into the job hunt mind set...any ideas??

Not so Bridezilla...

The wedding we coordinated this weekend was one that was originally supposed to be aired on the the Bridezilla Show on the Wedding Channel. The bride was nervous and stressed as a a bride usually is and a little uncoordinated with so much going on but by no means a bridezilla. My morning started on site Saturday at 11am. Before I was even out of my car a bridal family member was interrogating me as to why the pastor was not notified that we were only starting set up at 11am and not 8am anymore. Truth be told it was an honest miscommunication mistake. We had arranged to come early to start decorating, and the bride changed it to 11am and we only remembered to call the Pastor that morning, he was honestly not worried about it and totally understood, but the family member was full of wedding day jitters and was not to calm about it. Either way the van with all of the decor did not arrive till 12:30pm anyway leaving it really tight for us to get the ceremony site ready, but we all worked really hard and the stage was ready for show time.



As I mentioned before this was my first solo, and it wasn't flawless but it was good. I got the bridal party down the aisle about 20 minutes late, because the bride had a large dress that took some time getting on. And I had to set up the cocktail hour whilst the ceremony was going on. The ceremony ran short and the chocolate fountain wasn't ready, and also to find out the cups were at the reception site and not the ceremony site. This minor tragedy caused problems for Alisha cause her volunteers decided dropping off the cups was an opportunity to ditch her, leaving her to finish the site just in time for the guests to arrive. The cups arrived about ten minutes after the cocktail hour started. Also I think a lot of the guests left immediately after the ceremony for the site cause there were only like 20 people at the cocktail hour. Anyway I stayed calm and to be honest I felt in my element running the ceremony, I really enjoyed it.




The reception went off very well considering, the bartender never showed and we never found out why. The cake sort of collapsed while cutting it and we luckily caught it and saved it!!! It was more funny than tragic to be honest. We ended the wedding about and hour early because guests were already heading home. And it was a little sad that there weren't really people to send the bridal party off. However the bride and groom were having to much fun to notice anyway.



What I learned was to know your guests, no matter the amount of alcohol no group of people are going to attend a 8 hour party, I suggest either a morning wedding or evening wedding but not both. People are funny like that, I also learned to try and keep the venue an open space, creating walls between the dance floor and tables separates people and creates clicks.



Clean up went off pretty well and Alisha and I were home around 12:30am. I wish this blogging site was not public, the stories we could share with each other that does not need to be filtered due to public access can only be interesting, and I am not referring to yesterdays wedding specifically.

One needs the bride to plan a wedding...

This week has been constantly postponed. I understand life happens and as planner and coordinator I need to learn to deal with and work with situations like this. This is another one of my obstacles that I am working on over coming and learning about myself during my internship. I am a very scheduled and reliable person, I am punctual and dedicated to what ever I am doing. We have a wedding tomorrow afternoon that I feel will be cutting it close. One of our last and most important meetings was canceled on Wednesday because the maid of honor went to the hospital on what she thought was labor pains. It was a false alarm. Luckily Alisha was able to meet up with her before the rehearsal to iron out some details. We were supposed to meet up again today but did not hear from the bride till late this afternoon, and by that lost another day. And I am not saying anything against the bride, I am fully aware of her situation and its not only her wedding that is filling up her plate right now. It is just tough to feel completely prepared for tomorrow with so much going on. But that is the life of a planner.

Luckily Alisha in all of her confidence and experience has prepped me very well to run my first solo on Saturday. Alisha will be at the reception site this Saturday getting it ready whilst I am at the church coordinating the ceremony, I am really excited and nervous to be in charge of something this big for the first time. I know I will do well.

We also ran a site inspection this week for a wedding that we will be coordinating in May at this million dollar home in Scottsdale with spectacular views. It will be a very unique and cool ceremony.

Those are the big things we have dealt with this week. Wish me luck for tomorrow.

My first culturally different wedding...

What a beautiful Spanish/English wedding and reception. It was the least stressful event so far and it was still a great experience, again my biggest struggle was learning that its ok when everything is not perfect, and its ok when you mess up. At the end of the day it is what it is and people still had a wonderful time!

This wedding was held at the Phoenix Art Museum in Downtown Phoenix, a very unique and spectacular location. The reception was held in the great hall and the ceremony on the grass outside.



We were mostly in charge of making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and making sure everything runs smoothly. We even had to turn into last minute decorators because the bride ran out of time.

Our day started at around 1:30pm and it began with hauling the decor from the brides house to the site. Moving glass with out protective boxes was tougher than it seems, we did manage to get everything on site with out breaking it. However 3 of the centerpiece bowls broke before reception. The glass was so thin I broke it with my bare hands just moving it. Luckily I did not get cut. But I did get injured later in the day.

After helping with the decor and checking in with all the vendors and making sure the reception hall was perfect we set up the cocktail hour room which is where I had a run in with the table and banged up my shin pretty badly. This is where one of the glitches occurred, we were short a few linens for the cocktail hour tables but we improvised using linens from the reception and ceremony twice.

Now going over my day it feels like we did not do much but it was so busy I was running around until the vows started.






Once the party started we had to over see the whole thing making sure people are where they are supposed to be and help where ever a hand was needed.

I got to see one of my first intern decision at work when the translator was working and I made a good judgment call by hiring Ricky, he was fun and focused doing a great job.





Alisha said it nicely, we are being paid to be there friends and make sure they have a wonderful day! All in all the day went smoothly the couple had a great time and family seemed to really like us and knew that they could come to us for whatever they needed. My favorite part of this wedding was a little baby in a tux.




I learned that there is no real job description and that we have to do whatever it takes to get the job done in time even when things are chaotic. This weddings most chaotic feature was the seating chart where the last minute seating chart did not match the printed labels, and on some tables there were more names then seats. This is where we scrambled the most and just made the call that the VIP table were important and the rest can be placed sporadically. It ended up being rather interesting watching a 180 guests try to find their seats with minimal direction. Organization is key!!! This time I got home around 12:30am, I was excited about the early night.

A week of research

The week was my week back from spring break and it was a little different from my average week with La Ruche because Alisha was out of town. Tragedy struck a friend of hers this week when she lost her mother and Alisha has been by her side since. It sounds bad to say it this way but that is the perk of a smaller company, she can do that.

I have spent the week doing research and learning more about my trade, seeing how other planners operate and how to deal with certain families. It may not have been a super busy week with our clients but it was definitely an educational week.

Even with learning about the troubles and dramas that come along with special event planning I am sure that I have made the right decision as to what to do with my life.

I have learned what types of things to say at initial client meetings for example asking the clients "what they envision for their event" as opposed to just throwing my ideas at them. This way I learn more about them and create my ideas around their visions. Oddly enough this is a challenge for me considering I am so headstrong on how I think things should be done and I have to let that go and do what the clients want not what I want.

It may not have been a week of first hand learning but definitely and educational week none the less.

From beginning to end...

Wow what a busy 10ish days!!! Just when you thought you have an idea of how an event goes you learn a hundred new things, you also discover how little you knew before the event. Alisha and I hosted a wedding this weekend for 187 guests where La Ruche was in charge of almost every aspect of the event. What an amazing experience.

The week leading up we spent most of our days tying up lose ends confirming the vendors and decor help. Not to mention making 200 boxes and bows for the guest gifts as well as preparing the ceremony programs.





I have never understood how many 200 is till this week. The day of was even crazier but it was so awesome and stressful and nerve wrecking and successful. My morning started Saturday morning around 9:30am, Alisha was running a little late trying to get some last minute things in order. I was on site when the girls who were helping us with decor arrived, let me tell you we needed the help, here is the glimpse of before and after.

BEFORE


AFTER



The girls showed up on ten and set up began, luckily we had a lot of help from the hotel employees. Putting on chair covers and chair ties, cutting and washing fruit for the decor as well as mapping out the seating chart table names and followed by trying to form a long piece of white fabric into something nice to look at whilst the wind is blowing, luckily the florist brought zip ties and we managed to get it up and sturdy.



We finished these tasks at around 2 where Alisha and I took a little break for lunch. When we got back it was crunch time. Adding the finishing touches to the table linens and center pieces as well as getting creative with some of the decor bought over the year of planning that had not specific purpose yet. Making sure the bridal party and brides were happy was constantly on our minds as well. The silliest thing caused me a lot of stress, trying to get the place cards out when the paper they are printed on refuses to tear on the perforated edge and is taking way longer than we had, luckily four or five of the hotel staff helped me and we got them out and ready at the very last minute before we opened the doors for dinner after the ceremony and cocktail hour. Alisha and I both missed the entire ceremony because we were finishing up the room. With everything going on we had amazing staff and vendors to help the evening be perfect, and you know what it was AWESOME!








During the reception we had a little down time, just making sure we were available to the guests and vendors if they needed anything. After a highly successful reception where everyone had a grand time it was time for break down. Break down took about 2.5 hours, removing all the decor and cleaning up the mess, again the hotel staff were a great help but only responsible for the catering related things, leaving us with all the extras and and about 1.5 hours after they all left. We got home at about 3:20 am making for an 18 hour day. And you know what that 18 hour shift was better than any 6 hour shift at other jobs I have had, I know I am in the right field and career path.

Oh the things we learn...

Yesterday was my first on site all day event. Up until now I have been involved with all the details that lead up to the day of but that was a first, a near 12 hour day and let me tell you as exhausted as I was I loved it. The interaction with the bride and groom as well as the guests, the trust that they place in you when they request tasks and the joy you see in them at the alter. All in all it was a beautiful day.



The event started on Friday evening when we ran through rehearsal and a last site inspection for the couple. This particular wedding was held on an Island in Chandler...that's right I said an island in Chandler. A friend of the bride's boyfriend is a very successful guy that allows him to have his very own island in the desert. We guestimated the total size to be 3 to 4 acres. Beautiful property huge pool and endless rooms and amenities. Rehearsal on Friday ran pretty smooth and helped everyone get a visual of what the next day would entail.



Saturday Alisha picked me up around noon, the first few hours were pretty simple, making sure both bride and groom are comfortable and not anywhere near each other. There were the tasks of putting up all the self purchased decorations. As soon as the caterers arrived game time came, they brought the table cloths and we braught the over lay as well as the centerpieces. We had to set up the entire reception area along with the assistance of their family and friends. From setting out place cards to adding the lighting there were endless little details to attend to. I really had to make an effort to remember things because there are three levels, one the stuff you knew before that has to get done, two tasks that are assigned to you by the bride and groom for things to do now and later in the evening as well as the tasks that just occur to you while you are running around getting things done. I got so hot from running around. It was so much fun. All in all all the set up went very smoothly. The one thing I learned yesterday that never even crossed my mind before is steering clear of being in their photo's. Working in such close proximity with the bride and groom you are very close to the camera people all the time so you have to have a constant eye out that you are not a key character in their wedding photo's.

This wedding was a little different from most weddings as in we ate the same food as the guests as opposed to a different meal prepared for staff as well as when we had some down time we partied with the guests, which I found really cool, because it is a really nice way to interact and personalize your relationship with the bridal party and guest. I don't know exactly how to describe it but it makes you more personable as opposed to just being staff.


I really liked this wedding because it was a personal event that was unique to the bride and groom for example, my favorite part of the wedding as when the bride did a wardrobe change and as an experienced and talented belly dancers performed a dance for her new husband and it was awesome and beautiful. It is so great when they do special things like that for one another to show their love in a unique way.



After the bouquet toss cake cutting and first dances work began again, we had to make sure the bride and grooms luggage made it to their car that was picking them up as well as cleaning up areas of this kind man's house. We used a lot of the rooms and wanted to leave the house in the condition that we found it. After the bride and groom set off the big clean up started of breaking down the ceremony site as well as the reception site, folding tables and stacking chairs, I was exhausted.

All in all a beautiful and educating day.

The whole day ended in an unexpected surprise and a wonderful nights rest due to exhaustion.

Wedding Season is Upon us...

Our company has 3 weddings in the next four weeks, and one of the weddings is a full on show with family drama to boot. Not to mention a 90% RSVP rate as opposed to the regular 60% RSVP rate. That wedding is in 2 weeks and I spent a whole day this week stickering 200 guest gift boxes for the clients and we will be buying 200 yards of ribbon to make little bows for these boxes when they are completed. should be beautiful. I feel like this has been the busiest week so far, I have not gone to bed sooner than midnight all week busy with various types of research. We spent one day this week shopping and by shopping I mean a search and rescue expedition for must have details for the brides, the demands are high and tempers are getting short. With this one weddings return rate it has been quite the adventure, it has been unheard of to have 90% RSVP rate, now the wedding is costing thousands more than previously anticipated sending the couple into a panic attack causing Alisha and I to have to get creative in cutting costs where we can. From cutting Hors D'ovuvres to negotiating rates where we can, it has been super crazy this week. A lot of the week has been various correspondence with vendors and venues making sure everyone know what to do and when to do it to ensure flawless events.

This weekend will be interesting, I will be on site most of the weekend setting up for the wedding and making sure all goes to plan and that the Bride an Groom are relaxed and enjoying their big day.

Wish me luck

Thank goodness for technology and team work!!!

I have been sick for most of this week, and not a little cough sick, I have been all my muscles ache and my body disagrees with standing up sick. But thank goodness for technology where Alisha can just email me my tasks that need to be completed and thank goodness for team work, so even though one is sick there is a second to take control.

This week was the calm after the storm, the wedding went very well in Mexico, however the resort did make a valiant attempt to rip off the guests but with Alisha in charge that did not happen. The ceremony was a ten and everyone had a beautiful time!! Its so nice to see the success of the work you have completed.

I am again on the search for some part time workers to assist in decorating an event in March,let me know if you are interested.

This week goes to show sick or no sick the show must go on.

I will post photos of last weekends wedding as soon as I can.

First crunch time

The week started off pretty calm then sky rocketed into crunch time by Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday morning was the only time this week we had time to focus on a different event other than the wedding to take place this weekend. We had an appointment with the florist at the Phoenician to discuss the best and most affordable way to do the flowers for an event we are hosting early next month. It was really interesting to learn how many types of flowers there are and the effort it takes to make an event look elegant and unique in the floral aspect. Also it was interesting to learn that because we are in Phoenix no flowers are really in season, leaving endless options for any time of the year for special events.

We have spent the rest of week preparing for our first event of the season, and let me tell you tying up lose ends for an event in town leaves room for error, if you forget something you can still get it later. This wedding will be taking place just outside Cancun, Mexico so we have till Alisha gets on that plane Friday to have everything perfectly prepared. We spend the remainder of today packing the 10+ boxes that Alisha will be taking on the plane with her today, including gifts for the guests and home made maracas by the children to be used instead of throwing rice. The small details are endless. Everything has to be tested and perfected before being packed and shipped. There was a last minute change on the guest gift packaging that had to be switched out and redone before Friday. My dining room looked slightly chaotic yesterday.



Tuesday we picked up the canopy that Alisha designed and the seamstress sewed instead of renting one on location, it will look awesome, and in the wedding colors no less. I will try and post some pictures of the finished product next week.

Like this post this week was chaos, I love this part the best so far in my internship, I thrive under pressure and that is where we are right now, everything depends on Alisha and I's work to make sure everything will go perfectly, Luckily Alisha will be down there to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Time flies when you are busy

This week just flew by, its all like a blur, I know I was busy all week but I can't pin point all the details. I did have the honor of meeting several of our clients in person this week. I have corresponded via phone and email with all of them but not officially met all of them.

This week I attended a Document Party for a destination wedding. It is really interesting to see all the time and effort that goes into getting a group of thirty on same flights and same hotels. There is so much information that is relevant for our clients to know about a wedding in Cancun, information about the food water, money and anything else they may need to know going down south. It was very educational.

I also attended my first 3 week meeting with a couple. Alisha has three meetings each a week apart prior to the wedding to make sure that everything is in order. It was a great experience interacting with a client so close to their wedding and to see how many details still need to be taken care of prior to the day of. Little things like confirming with all vendors and 30 things to pack just in case as well as organizing a hotel room and making sure all the details are ironed out with the venue and DJ, not to mention the food decisions. It can take up to a year to plan a proper wedding and still at the 3 week mark there is so much to do and remember.

Now to cover one of the general prompts suggested:

Have you experienced conflict with a co-worker or employee? Have you witnessed conflict? How did you handle this and what would you do different next time? What did you learn about employee relations from this experience?

So far I have been lucky to not be involved in an employee conflict, I accredit my boss to this, her communications skills are excellent not to mention she is very easy going and one has to cause a real screw up to cause real conflict. I have learned in past experience in order to avoid conflict is open communication and Alisha creates a very easy atmosphere so that I can talk to her about anything so that the work environment is conflict free. The toughest employee relation adaption that I have made or had a tough time with is the random hours, and how at the drop of the hat there would be a client appointment or a task that needs to be accomplished, some early mornings and some late nights, I am a very scheduled person and giving in to such random hours outside my regularly scheduled hours is a very interesting transition.

Officialness ;)

I officially received my first real job business cards earlier this week. I am really excited, I feel like this is a big step into the real world, so I thought I should share it on my blog.

This week was a nice week , I explored how creative my personal creative side is in working on a real event. We spent most of the week running errands for clients. From little things like printing off the menus for an upcoming wedding, as well as buying all the components and putting together the guests gifts for a wedding to take place in Mexico. The gifts are teeny tiny shark jaws, very cool and really matches the theme of a nice beach wedding. We also designed and now have to build a the cover the couple will be wed under. We hired a seamstress to sew the cover together and the frame will be built tonight. Other than that we had to run some errands buying a lot of different type candles and knick knacks in the right color scheme to add a little character to the center pieces for a couple of the weddings.
A constant and never ending task is making sure that the clients are on the ball with their assignments and homework so that we can do our work. So far the clients are jsut a touch bhind but we have planned accordingly and are staying ahead of the cirve to make sure everythin is done in time for the events.

Second Week on the Job

How has your transition into the organization been so far? Has it been as you expected? What are some of the duties you have accomplished and what do you hope to accomplish by the end of your experience?

My transition has been very smooth, I feel that the event planning courses and the career prep assignments at ASU has prepared me for the "real world". I feel like I am learning a lot and that this last step of training will open up career doors for me when I complete the internship. As for my expectations it is a little quieter right now than I thought it would be. This is for several reasons, the econmomy has heavily affected our field. People are watching their pennies. However weddings are recesion proof and high season is a mere month away meaning the work and planning will be very intense in no time. I still work everyday and am always available to the clients but it feels like the calm before the storm.

As for my long term experience I hope to be able to recruit, coordinate and plan an entire event with little guidance bythe end of my internship. As for now I get to play an essetial role in the key aspects of the events we are planning and coordinating. I had my first real solo duty last week and it was truly an amazing learning experience. I had to interview several candidates for the position of translator for a bilangual wedding. The job entailed posting a advertisement in Cragslist and setting upt he appointments to interview the candidates. I did about 10 different interviews, it was a very interesting experience to be on the other side of a job interview. I had to have control of the conversation and keep it going. I weaved out the candidates that were not exactly right for the jabs and the ones that were. This assignment was a true test of my people skills and I feel that I have passed. The hardest decision was chosing the best person for the job, and not just myfavorite person. I am confident in the candidate that I chose that they will do an amazing job.

My second week defenitely added to my interview skills.

First Week on the Job

This will definitely be an interesting experience for me, I have never blogged or ever read one till last week, so let the learning begin ;)

My first week at LaRuche Event Design Studio was a nice setup for the months to come. On my first day we signed all the necessary paperwork and set me up with some work for the next few days. The work Alisha (my boss) assigned to me was very useful in the sense that it introduced me to her clients as a junior planner assisting on planning their upcoming events. It was nice to have a small part in what was to come along with working on my client relation skills, as in finding a fun and polite way to ask the clients to work on their "homework" as well as setting up and assiting with various appointments to do with their event.

My most educational experience this week was assisting Alisha on piching for a job in Eloy, for those who have never heard of it its half way to Tucson. Anyway it was amazing to be in the middle of it expereinceing the first approach and client contact with these prospective clients. I learned to stick to your guns and make sure the clients understand your creative ideas. To believe in yourself and have confidence when pitching. It was really awesome to witness something like that in my first week at LaRuche instead of just filing papers or doing busy work.