ATX Wedding Planner

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ion on your wedding day that there were issues. You and Danny thanked me several times at the end of the night and hugged me. I’ve looked at our emails, and I emailed several times for meetings and had half a dozen with you, Danny, your MOH, Trinity and Harley-and dozens of text messages. I wish you had let me know these issues you mentioned via phone, text or email so that I could address them. I’ve also reviewed wedding day notes from your production schedule print out and I’ve noted the biggest issues below. You’re wedding was at UMLAUF Sculpture Gardens, an all outdoor venue in which we had 1.5 hours total from when venue access began until guests began to arrive ON the day of the solar eclipse. This gave us 1.5 hours total for set up of ceremony and reception. Your caterer, a restaurant that the Groom manages did not complete set up of ceremony chairs or reception tables and chairs. You advised me many times before the wedding that the Groom and Groomsman would be setting these up. This allowed VERY little time for setting up your décor because they all also had to get dressed for the wedding in that very short time frame and we could not begin set up until tables were placed. Your guest tables were bud vases and votive candles, with ceramic fortune cookie escort cards. All bud vases and flowers had to be unpacked, flowers cut, vases filled with water, etc-and there were at least 100 of these. The other extremely time-consuming problem is that all of the guest names that needed to be placed inside each ceramic fortune cookies were combined into 1 baggie. Not sorted, alphabetized, etc. So, I had to take 105 tiny strips of paper and find each guests name to sort them before they could be placed. Even then, several guests asked to be moved to other tables or moved themselves. Then, there was a rain shower. All of the venues padded seat, chivari chairs had been placed in the uncovered ceremony area. I let Danny’s brother know that it would begin raining soon and the venue manager was very upset that their chair cushions were going to get wet. He told me ‘I helped put the chairs out and after that, they are not my problem’ and walked away to speak to Danny. UMLAUF is a venue that requires caterers to put away ceremony chairs and then at the end of the night, put ALL tables and chairs into their storage container. Catering refused to do this. Every time I let them know something that we had coming up, they would go talk to the Groom about it-because he was their friend and boss. The venue manager even swept the ceremony area because catering would not do this. I have 23 emails with Harley and she and I also had a phone meeting. UMLAUF management also advised they were given a catering requirement check list.

's pretty fabulous too!!

d at saw the 3 truck loads of personal decor that was brought it was a bit overwhelming. We had discussed personal decor items and none of these were mentioned. So this left me racing around trying to determine what these things were and where you wanted them. All of the table numbers that I provided (I'm not sure why you would buy these and also rent them, but I did not see any that you provided) were placed on the tables according to the layout that we had. There were no issues with guests finding their seats. There was an issue with 6 linens having creases because I was forced to use the linens that I had just purchased for another event. This was because the linens that I provided to you on the previous evening, were not returned. I apologize if I did not seem present. You mariachis were late and once they arrived, were unaware they were to play for the processional and were not provided a song so we resolved this, then, I had to go back and forth with them because they had not been paid. After receiving no answer for our production schedule meetings and you still securing and finalizing with vendors just 2 weeks prior, it was pretty hectic day of.

had followed your googledoc from our initial inputs. I actually came on wedding day to set up all of the centerpiece to reflect the example table that your Mom had put together and I apologize if something was different than you had envisioned!

wonderful review and letting me a part of your wedding day. Robby and I will talk about that dancing and that phenomenal song list many times to come!

lowers. I hope I address the items that you noted. To begin, I will forward you the email that I received from GlamCo in which they confirmed their time of arrival and receipt of the timeline. Pre Ceremony photos include getting ready photos, detail shots, etc. This is what began at 2:00. Coordination is for an 8 hour block. My time per your production schedule was 1:00pm-12:00am as your Grand Exit was scheduled for 11:00pm. I arrived at the venue at 12:53pm. It was 108 degrees on your wedding day with a heat index of nearly 120 degrees. Upon arrival, I unloaded all florals (bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, cake flowers, aisle chair flowers, your sweetheart table arrangement and arbor arrangement), along with my wedding bag, floral box and 8’ ladder. Then, I drove to the parking lot to park so that I was not in front of the building. I then added additional water to all of the florals that would be outside, greeted your photographer, the venue manager and your DJ. I then showed your DJ where to set up for both ceremony and reception. Afterwards, I came to the bridal suite. You were having makeup done at this time. The time was 1:47. You’re first look with your Father was at 3:17. I’m sure that you noticed me carrying a clip board the duration of the day/night. I note EVERYTHING on your production schedule. At 3:02, I was standing atop an 8’ ladder hanging your arbor arrangement and a woman came outside to let me know that you had asked for me. 30 seconds later, as I completed attaching the arbor arraignment, climbed down, and began to reenter the building, the photographer told me the same thing. That you had asked for me. I immediately came back to the bridal suite, where you had put on the petticoat for your dress, but not the dress itself. This is when you handed me 1st Corinthians signage for the ceremony area (that we had not previously discussed). Of course, we can not complete a first look when the Bride is not in her dress. Your photographer and I both agreed that we had time to wait for you to get dressed versus rushing you. With your grandmother being late, your officiant arriving late at 3:54 we still started ceremony only 4 minutes late. Regarding my attire. While I realize that your caterer were family friends/guests, and you had no staff at your wedding, professional catering or staffers generally wear all black at events. While I find it ridiculous to even explain, my pants were a polyester and cotton blend with a flare leg. 2 pockets in back and 2 in the front. Very clearly they were not leggings. I do also wear a longer black tee. I also wear black shoes-not that these were mentioned. I have coordinated over 400 weddings and have never had a bride blink at what I have worn. I am honestly a bit insulted that you noted I was ‘absent throughout the day’. I was, in fact, not invisible when I came to the bridal suite 4 times total before the ceremony, pinned boutonnieres, when I released the processional, brought your wedding party and immediate family water twice during cocktail hour, brought everyone appetizers during photos, got each of you drinks from the bar twice and brought them to you, made your dinner plates and brought them to you , ran the entire timeline for the entire reception, advised the DJ when to make announcements-all the way through the end of the night clean up when I was the last vendor out of the venue. I realize that you were upset that the evening ended early. After 8:30, there were just 18 guests that had not left. Had there not been rented transportation through 4Leaf Limos, I would have suggested potentially ending earlier than we did. But after calling them (even before Zach asked), they could not arrive earlier.

people on the dance floor ALL NIGHT was also amazing!

to address each of your concerns. I am a little confused that you noted being unaware that Belinda would be coordinating because we discussed this and it was noted on your production schedule and client contract. Going forward, I will try to emphasize the assigned coordinator several times as this can not always be me. I will also advise Belinda to print each production schedule the night prior to ensure any last minute updates are caught. Regarding the issue of your dress ripping but not having details, Belinda may have been able to provide a safety pin, but would not be able to repair a ripped dress. We also can not force guests to sign a guest book. We can encourage them to do so but I took a look at your layout, and your guest book was placed between the dance floor and the bar. This area gets a ton of traffic so I can not say why guests did not sign in. Your venue, the LBJ Wildflower Center is a bit different than most. With access time beginning at 4pm and guests arriving at 5:30, coordination has 1.5 hours for set up that can only begin once catering sets all ceremony chairs, cocktail hour tables and reception guest/welcome/cake tables. Your particular caterer also provided linens for these tables. Were you made aware that the catering truck broke down on the way to the venue? Ideally you were not made aware of this the day of. We were made aware of this at 4:10pm on wedding day. This created an even bigger time crunch to get everything set prior to guests arrival. In a 45 minute to 1 hour span, your coordinator and caterer placed 110 ceremony chairs, 13 guest tables, 4 bars total (2 for cocktail hour, 2 for reception), a sweetheart table, cake, welcome, and gift table. Placed linens on all. Placed full place settings and all decor on each table. If Belinda seemed a bit stressed, she probably was with such an unforeseen circumstance, like the catering truck breaking down.

na. The biggest thing that struck me in your review was "thankfully there were no huge issues on our day". The most important job of a Coordinator is to ensure the Bride does not know of any issues. Beyond the logistics and necessity of implementing a rain plan on your day to to severe storms, Adriana worked with catering who did not have a meal for you Officiant (she ensured he received one). Adriana successfully adjusted your timeline after toasts ran extremely long. At approximately 9:30, your DJ let her know that he would be leaving 30 minutes prior to the end of your reception. She convinced him to stay until the end of the night. If she seemed 'completely overwhelmed', please understand that she was not only running your day, but also solving these various issues so that you wouldn't have to. This is why you believe there were no issues on your day. You noted that you were not contacted the week or or cc'd on emails the 2 weeks prior. I did not reach out the weekend prior because you let me know that you were traveling to Houston for the mehndi and I believed that is also when you were having your 300+ person Houston wedding. Prior to that, I personally set up and scheduled your hair and makeup appointments and we discussed via email 5/13 and 5/14. I also have emails between the two of us and catering 5/7 and 5/13. We completed your final production schedule meeting on 5/12, You texted me the day before your wedding to ask if you needed to buy sparklers for your grand exit, or if they were provided. I'd honestly never been asked that before, but I do not provide grand exit items, so I advised that yes, you would need to provide sparklers. Lastly, I would like to address your "Jennifer did not show up day of and Adriana showed up 1 hour before the ceremony, On your contract, it clearly states that your coordinator will be assigned 30 days prior to your day. It also states this at the top of your production schedule. It clearly states Adrianas' name. The 8 hour block that she was required per our contract and that you chose was 4:00-12:00. However, your venue requires the coordinator be onsite no later than 2 hours prior to your ceremony. I spoke to both Adriana and you at 3:30 and she was onsite and speaking to your florist, Jake about the change in set up due to using your rain plan. She then came to the bridal suite. Again, I am sorry this is how you felt. I'm a bit confused because I heard from Adriana upon her exit just after midnight and she was so happy telling me that prior to your grand exit, your groom was so happy that he hugged her and thanked her. I'm sorry that you felt she appeared overwhelmed. I am happy though that she took all of those wedding day stresses and issues upon herself and appeared overwhelmed, but you did not have to.