A Day in the Life
Now that things are ramping back up with weddings, I have found myself needing to rework my day-to-day schedule to make sure everyone’s time gets accounted for, and all the attention is paid to everyone necessary. Is it a tall order? Perhaps. But wedding planners and event planners are known for this - we are known for needing to juggle the needs of 5, 10, sometimes even 30 people at a time, who all have priorities.
So what happens actually when you have a HUGELY busy schedule and also have a wedding coming up on the weekend where all eyes are on you (or rather, your bride) and everything just needs to be as close to perfect as possible?
Over the past decade or so, I have thankfully perfected a system that I have passed onto my team and assistants and who have still, to this day, utilized with few issues.
So two things are completely necessary if you are a wedding planner (or an entrepreneur in general) and you have a lot of people relying on you for a lot of things: An ironclad system on prioritizing your tasks, and the discipline to stick to whatever you say you are going to do at the time you said you were going to do it. Oh, and LOTS and lots of communication with the people around you. Brides, spouses/partners, children, and colleagues alike.
This doesn’t change when you are prepping for an upcoming wedding or planning one at that. It is the system I’ve used since 2008 and that I have refined over time.
ANYWAY - Here is a snapshot of my own day-to-day when I get ready for a big day!
Let me preface this by saying that in order to get to this point, many building blocks need to already be in place for the week of the wedding to be super smooth. Vendors have been communicated with. The timeline is finalized. Last-minute things are addressed. Contingency plans have been fleshed out.
And then comes the wedding week.
First things first, I need my last meeting with my clients before the chaos of the wedding week happens. Before the first out-of-town wedding guest touches down in Toronto. Before the nail and hair appointments. Before the last-minute running around to pick up stuff. I just need to run through things with them one more time in a calm, collected setting and prepare them for what is to come.
After that, I make tweaks to the final itinerary as necessary and then blast it to the vendors. This doesn’t happen before my last meeting with the clients. Why? Because miscommunications happen when there is a lot of back and forth. All the back and forth with vendors should have already happened before this final week. By this time, the final itinerary is basically just a formality.
Then, my team meeting. One touch-base with the assigned team members coming on the day. This also does not happen before the two previous items (meeting with the client and the vendor itinerary blast), because we as the wedding planning team are designed and prepared to fill in all the gaps. By leaving my staff meeting at the end, we can be fully prepared for picking up all the little pieces that get left behind.
The last major thing is attending the rehearsal to make sure that everything we discussed comes to fruition. This usually happens before or after our team meeting, and some tweaks are communicated with the team afterward. Also, a great time to meet the family and bridesmaids, and all the major players of the wedding day.
After that, it’s all gravy!
Stock the emergency kit.
Fill up the gas tank.
Make the snacks.
Block off time the day after to rest.
Get pet care for the animals as necessary.
Spend time with spouses/partners and let them know what’s going on.
Pick out the outfit (or wash/steam it if you need to)
Wear in the shoes - SUPER IMPORTANT if they are new!
Print the itineraries and floor plans.
REVIEW said itineraries and floor plans.
Exercise.
Hydrate.
SLEEP.
And then, COFFEE and GO TIME.
Breakfast probably on the go. And breakfast for the bridal party (previously communicated)
We start with a check-in with the bride.