Girl... I've Been There!

Well, back in 2007 I found myself getting engaged to my wonderful husband Chris the week after Valentine's Day. Yea, I guess it was too cliché-ish to propose on the actual holiday, but who cares… it happened girl! He told me the morning of his proposal to make sure I dressed nice for work because we were going out to dinner afterwards. He even offered to drive me into the city so that I would not have to drive myself to dinner after work. I surely appreciated the gesture because D.C. traffic is horrible, and this gave me an opportunity to take a much needed nap. Naturally, I did not think anything of it, it never crossed my mind that he was acting a bit weird the entire morning, I just brushed it off as him planning a special dinner, as he has many times before.

My “baby boo,” that’s what I call him, picked me up from work and our adventure began. Chris told me we were going to a new restaurant in Georgetown that we’ve never been to. I was excited and hungry to say the least. When we arrived, the restaurant was pretty posh and exclusive. Though Chris told me to dress nice I felt completely underdressed for the environment. The ambiance was more than amazing. There was dim lighting, soft music and décor that was just out of this world. We were met by the hostess that sat us right away at a quaint private table adorned with candlelight. We ordered the special eight course meal, which started out with a mild salad and steak tartare. One of the courses was a play on a deconstructed cheesesteak. Remember, this was a posh exclusive restaurant, so there were definitely no sub rolls here.

Our last course was this decedent cheesecake with fresh berries accompanied by a glass of champaign. I turned away for a second and when I turned back, lo and behold, Chris was on his knee with this ring sitting in my face. He gave this wonderful loving speech, which I absolutely don’t remember because I was in complete and utter shock but knowing my husband it was more than amazing. Ok, ok, ok, long story short I said “YES!” The other patrons in the restaurant cheered us on and insisted they see the ring. I literally paraded around the restaurant showing off my new bling. Well, I should say floated around the restaurant because like I said, I was in a haze, complete utter shock.

Sure, enough about that and to the good stuff. I know you’re asking, but Jae… what does this have to do with me? Well it has everything to do with you and why you are here. My wedding is what spearheaded this thing called professional wedding coordination, design and planning for me. I can be a bit of a control freak, so naturally, I began planning my entire wedding, except what Chris wore, the day after my engagement. I started my planning knowing that my wedding would be a Destination Wedding on someone’s tropical island. I talked Chris into this, but then reality kicked in and I realized that we had very important people (VIP) that would not be able to take the journey, so my focus shifted. I planned a one stop shop wedding, everything in one location, to accommodate Chris and I, but also those VIPs I mentioned earlier (our grandmothers).

For seven months I worked tirelessly planning this wedding, from personally requesting the services of my officiant; to ordering chair covers and columns; to creating wedding favors for my guest that doubled as seating designation. I had every aspect of my wedding taken care of, but who was going to execute my vision? I couldn’t do this all myself, or could I? Nah… I couldn’t, so finally, I enlisted the assistance of a day of coordinator. She sat down with Chris and I to learn of my vision. She assisted me with creating centerpieces and my bouquet along with my other floral needs. Those little things that I never thought of, she took care of for me the day of the wedding. She brought my vision to light for the most part. There were things I would have done slightly different, but that’s because I am a slight control freak remember, but outside of that she did an amazing job. The one thing we didn’t discuss was who was going to be responsible for breaking down my vision at the end of the night. I never told her who my designated people would be at the end of the night to take care of certain things. We never even discussed who would pack up the rented columns and chair covers. At my wedding reception instead of having fun and enjoying the night with no worries I was running those logistical things through my head. I went to various people in my family during the reception barking orders to make sure everything that needed to be done at the end of the night was handled. This had me in a daze, completely focused on logistics and not my new husband, having fun and enjoying myself or even my guest. If I could do it all over, I would have better expressed my expectations of my coordinator, or at least tasked the breakdown logistics amongst family members the night of the wedding.

So, in your search for a Day of Coordinator or full Wedding Planner be sure to discuss what your expectations are and discuss who will be responsible for what. Logistics is everything! Your wedding day should be a stress free, magical, Everlasting Memory that stays with you for a lifetime. Hire wisely!