Our culture takes weddings very seriously.
It’s common knowledge that the industry is one of the most lucrative these days – “recession-proof,” they say. In fact, I’m convinced that our obsession with Pinterest is directly related to this need for planning fantasy weddings.
So as a seasoned bride myself (pre-Pinterest), I couldn’t help but smirk a bit when my best friend and collaborative partner Nicole said
I don’t want a wedding.
It’s not that I thought she was secretly hoarding wedding magazines, it’s just that when I was a bride I also DIDN’T want a wedding. In fact, we eloped so as to avoid the ridiculous obligations and astronomical expense of having one. Guess what that turned into? A wedding.
By the time those words left her mouth, I had already seen her future…and it definitely included all the elements she didn’t yet know she wanted.
So we went forward with un-planning an un-wedding until the day when it finally turned into a real wedding, in Las Vegas…which wasn’t that long before the actual date.
My First Role was that of chief designer – tasked with helping bring Nicole’s concept to life. As we know from Clever, Nicole is more vintage vixen than shabby chic or beachy bride. Staying true to her personal style, we decided on a loose theme of ‘Don Draper elopes.’ Our design elements would be shiny (a collection of glass barware, ashtrays, votives and silver trays) + high contrast shades – black, white and pink (and ultimately RED velvet curtains, the perfect backdrop). We wanted old-skool Vegas; a little vampy but innocent fun in comparison to the gross “what happens in Vegas” motto of present day.
Because it was a budget affair, a vintage theme, and because Nicole has made a name for herself through strategic thrifting, all signs pointed to Goodwill as our prop house. After a few shopping trips around the OC the vision really started to take shape.
My Second Role was event decorator. You may not know this, but my background includes set decoration for film & t.v. as well as retail merchandising and interior design. These skills combined with my project management expertise were used to the absolute max over the course of this two day whirlwind wedding.
We were like a traveling circus – rolled into town, set up the tents, performed, packed up and rolled out.
Prep: The day before, I got into the hotel suite (our ceremony venue) and began spaceplanning. We pushed the furniture around to make a seating area for guests and an altar for the wedding party.
Next, I unpacked the boxes and laid out all the pieces of our decor.
We had just found out a few days before that we wouldn’t have access to the reception room until a half an hour before it began. Obviously, that wasn’t going to work for me because I was in the wedding. This COULD have been a disaster because each table was very different, but our collaborative design skills came to the rescue and we sketched diagrams for each table and packed the arrangements in a way that the staff could set the tables for us.
Then it was time to get ready for the bachelorette party
My Third Role was as best friend/Maid (I hate the word Matron) of Honor. That job of course is to keep the bride happy. I got lucky with Nicole because she’s pretty rational/happy anyway. But never underestimate the power of stress for sudden panic attacks. So I was prepared just in case (contents of the ‘emergency kit’ remain confidential).
We saw the show Absinthe - a Moulin Rouge meets Cirque du Soleil meets Improv. Hilarious. And awe-some. And it reawakened a desire I’ve had for a long time…which is now on the books for 2013. Aerial Dance, stay tuned for more on that.
On a chair in the air; inside a bubble. Looks easy, right?
Wedding Day: I put the final touches on the room decor, finessed the flower arrangements and sent the groomsmen downstairs with the boxes of decorations…
And went to get ready.
In the final moments before guests started arriving I was lighting candles and hiding extra materials.
Then it was time.
Everything went off without a hitch. Great company, great food, lots of love. What more could you ask for?
