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.