It’s Wedding Tip Wednesday at NYIAD! Every Wednesday afternoon, tune in to the design blog to hear a new piece of planning advice from mentors who have worked in the industry for nearly a decade, coordinating events with a wide spectrum of budgets and client needs.
For today’s tip, consider this:
Regardless of how easygoing (or easily distressed) a bride has been throughout the planning process, her anxiety level is going to be particularly high when the big day finally arrives. Hosting a large number of people is extremely stressful, especially for those who aren’t familiar with the planning process.
While rushing to hair and makeup appointments, unreasonably worrying the limo driver won’t show and frantically checking the weather channel to see if the rain will hold off, the last thing she needs is to be bothered by a bombardment of (likely unhelpful) texts.
Many people forget to put themselves in the bride’s super-busy wedding day shoes, and will inconsiderately text her throughout the day with questions- ‘Where should we park?’ ‘Is it raining?’ ‘We got here early, what should we do?’
The last thing she needs is to worry about those issues- so take her phone.
As a planner, you’ll be equally busy yourself, and also shouldn’t be tasked to answer those guests. You need to focus on more general logistical matters- plus, most of the time, people wind up asking the bride questions they should already know the answer to via their invitations and provided instructions. However, in anticipation of this common issue, it can be really helpful to assign a close friend or member of the bridal party to ‘cell phone duty’ for the day.
Consider asking one of the bride’s siblings, cousins, or a reliable friend to manage her cell phone for a few hours leading up to the ceremony. Make sure to pick someone who can hang close by. That way, if something more urgent were to come up, he or she could call on you for some assistance if need be. If not, alleviating this often unanticipated burden is a great way to ensure that the bride’s day is as stress-free as you can possibly make it.
Want to learn more? Check out The New York Institute of Art and Design's online wedding planning school. Request your free course catalog today!
