. . . and Why I Don’t Have Many Scary Stories to Tell.

When people hear that I’m a Wedding Planner in Houston, one of the first things they ask is “What is the worst thing you’ve had happen at your weddings?! Do you have any horror stories?!”

To be honest, I haven’t had a ton of situations I’d file in that “horror story” category. Maybe it’s because I have amazing couples who follow the super detailed planning process I’ve set for them (I’m notorious for playing devil’s advocate and asking all. the. questions.), but even more likely, it’s because as your Planner, I’m handling any snafu that arises behind the scenes, before can escalate into a disaster.

Just to name a few things I’ve handled with my team….

• Glued a heel back on a shoe;

• Pushed the groom’s car to a gas station to fill up before the grand exit (it stalled as it was being pulled around);

• Sewed up many-a-broken-bustle;

• Provided cake knives/toasting flutes/garters/guest book pens, when a client forgot to bring (or even purchase) their own. Yay for a well-stocked emergency kit!;

• Went *dumpster-diving to find the missing dinnerware that was stored at the venue the night before (FYI, it was not in there. *see picture);

• Handled vendor disputes without involving the client (servers that were high as a kite, DJ who claimed not to be paid for the additional hour he was indeed contracted for, tables and chairs not set up according to the floor plan by venue/rental company… just to name a very few.);

• Walked a disgruntled flower girl down the aisle, and bribed a ring bearer with lollipops.;

• Replaced a lost bridesmaids bouquet by discreetly pulling flowers from other arrangements and bouquets to make another;

• Caught and fixed (to the best of my ability) a falling wedding cake;

• Jumped in to cut cake when the caterer didn’t know how (though cake cutting was included in the contract);

• Ran around to multiple rental companies when the wrong color linens were delivered to the venue;

• Alphabetized almost 400 escort cards and labeled them with their meal indicator stickers on-site (they were supposed to be pre-organized);

• Re-folded 250 napkins when they arrived in the wrong fold from the linen company;

• Chased (and I mean chased) down 6 table cloths blowing in the wind (and street) that were not weighted down.

So although we as Houston Wedding Planners are there to manage the timeline, communicate with vendors and make sure everything is set up how it’s supposed to be, there is so much more to Managing a wedding than just “sticking to the plan” we’ve created. Most of what we do on a wedding day isn’t even seen by our clients… and that’s the way I like it.

Happy Planning!

Haylee