Where to begin with our dear Brenda?! I'll start with this: if you are planning your own wedding or have lots of DIY elements, choose the absolute best vendors that you can. For us, that meant hiring Brenda for all of our rentals and as our day... of coordinator.
From the very beginning, it was clear that Brenda was an experienced professional who could guide my husband, family, and I through the daunting process of planning a wedding from abroad. We're a tricky couple to work with - I'm from Maine, but my husband is Belgian and we live in Europe. We planned to get married on my parents' property in the Oxford Hills region, which meant hiring rentals, a tent, a caterer, bathrooms, sorting out parking...everything. From abroad.
With a six hour time difference. Brenda's professionalism, kindness, organization, experience, and faith in us made all the difference in our planning process and, most importantly, our wedding day itself. She asked the questions that we never thought to ask. When we needed more flowers, she picked them from her own garden and found us a last minute local contact who gave us stunning blooms. When my mother-in-law broke her leg (!) at the rehearsal dinner, she had a wheelchair ready for her for the wedding day. Brenda reminded me to eat and drink, told all guests to come to her (not me!) with questions and decisions that needed to be made, was the point of contact for every single vendor, and made sure that my husband and I spent our full wedding in the company of our loved ones, not scrambling around telling vendors about timelines, hustling people to different places, or making decisions.
We planned a second much smaller reception for my husband's family back in Belgium, and we didn't have a coordinator....that's when we realized the full magnitude of the work Brenda did for us. My husband spent his time feeling a bit stressed as he tried to move people into the dinner space, made announcements on the microphone, and wondered why he was in charge of so much time keeping and decision-making. At the end of the evening, he had three words: "I miss Brenda!" Our two different experiences (wedding with Brenda as coordinator vs. reception without Brenda as coordinator) made us value her even more.
I recommend Brenda with my whole heart. She took loads off of our plates and ran the show on our wedding day, meaning we spent our time with each other and our loved ones. Thank you thank you Brenda for the beautiful gift you gave us - full presence in every moment of our wedding day.