This September, we will celebrate our 20th year in business. Over the course of two decades, we had weddings that went seamlessly, and others, well, let's just say they were about to unweave.
I sat down with Nicole Samolis, CSEP (our Founder and Creative Director), to talk about the worst near disaster(s) that she and her event team have had to deal with at weddings. A few weddings came to mind, the most memorable one was that of Olivia & Derek's big day.
I sat down with Nicole Samolis, CSEP (our Founder and Creative Director), to talk about the worst near disaster(s) that she and her event team have had to deal with at weddings. A few weddings came to mind, the most memorable one was that of Olivia & Derek's big day.
The wedding tent, on the morning of the wedding day.
Nicole and her team worked with this lovely couple for months, planning their outdoor tented wedding at a Finger Lakes vineyard. In the early hours of their mid-September wedding day, high tornado-like winds blew down the tent, which had been set up the night before, along with the tables and chairs. Since it's not safe to put the tent back up in such weather conditions, the team had to react quickly.
"We contacted the groom, as he was our main point of contact, and we let him know what was going on and assured him that we were looking at other venues," Nicole said. In circumstances such as this, a planner's connections become invaluable as he/she tries to find alternatives and eliminate potential disasters. Within thirty minutes, Nicole was able to secure another wedding locale; a beautiful, warm, church-turned-venue, that was actually one of the places the couple had considered for their wedding.
"We contacted the groom, as he was our main point of contact, and we let him know what was going on and assured him that we were looking at other venues," Nicole said. In circumstances such as this, a planner's connections become invaluable as he/she tries to find alternatives and eliminate potential disasters. Within thirty minutes, Nicole was able to secure another wedding locale; a beautiful, warm, church-turned-venue, that was actually one of the places the couple had considered for their wedding.
"I always stress the importance of having the right event team; if we didn't have the right team, we wouldn't have been able to react so quickly. That's the value of having a wedding planner, we are like an insurance policy for your wedding day," Nicole asserted.
In the end, Olivia, Derek and their guests were thankful to be indoors, warm and dry. "This is what we do, we transform woes into WOWs!" said Nicole with a smile.
Another wedding she recalled was one where a family friend was making the wedding cake - a day late! Thinking the wedding was on a Saturday when it was really on a Friday, the wedding cake never made it to the wedding! When Nicole and her events team realized that this was going to be a
cake-less wedding, they went to CNY's favorite supermarket(Wegmans), bought multiple small cakes, arranged them beautifully along with other delicacies on the dessert table. Guests never noticed and the bride was very happy with the outcome, given the circumstances!
cake-less wedding, they went to CNY's favorite supermarket(Wegmans), bought multiple small cakes, arranged them beautifully along with other delicacies on the dessert table. Guests never noticed and the bride was very happy with the outcome, given the circumstances!
Try walking in this groomsman's shoes! Nicole recounted another example where her team saved the day. A groomsman ordered tuxedo-rental shoes that ran small, when he put them on, not only did he look extremely uncomfortable, but he could barely walk. "One of our team members contacted the tuxedo shop and got the groomsman the right size shoes just before the ceremony! We come to your rescue, that's why during our meetings with the couple we write down the list of chosen service providers, it's so we can be there for you in instances such as this one."
We love a challenge, and when wedding day disasters happen, we're in full event mode rolling up our sleeves and doing what we're hired to do: making your wedding day memorable and stress-free, sometimes without you even knowing there was an issue to begin with. At the end of the day, you get to marry your best friend...and we get to do what we love.
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