What would you do if the weather forecast for your wedding day included the threat of severe thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes? If your ceremony was supposed to be held under an old beautiful oak tree? If the cocktail hour was scheduled to be held on the beautiful outdoor rooftop terrace overlooking rolling hills of a working farm? Do you have the right professionals in place to take care of things so you can continue with your personal plans and preparations? Here is what Colton and Martha experienced on their wedding day.
Here is a true story!
The ceremony was scheduled to be held under a very old very large beautiful tree on a working farm. It was a perfect location for a couple who met in an ag-business college class. The middle of the week prior to the wedding, the weather forecast began to call for a front to move through bringing severe thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes popping up. The couple in their wisdom had hired a very competent and experienced planner to guide them in their process. She, in collaboration with the couple, decided to move the ceremony into the beautiful barn. This was done early enough to prevent stressful last-minute decisions. However, this meant the venue needed to move the cocktail hour from that location (they had already decided the rooftop terrace was not a good option) to the upstairs lofts. Then the space would be flipped immediately after the ceremony. On Friday of rehearsal, everything was planned and under control. The couple was relaxed and comfortable (even if not entirely happy) with the choices they had and the decisions they made.
Fast forward to 45 minutes before the start of the ceremony. The officiant is on site, reviewing the setup, looking over the ceremony on her tablet, the DJ is setting up and training a new person. The caterer is setting up the reception area, the planner is making sure all the details are in place and everyone is well cared for. The photographers are each with their assigned members of the wedding couple taking beautiful photos of the preparations. When with a loud crack, high winds, rain pelting down, the electricity to the entire farm flickers and then goes out.
We are now sitting in a dark barn 45 minutes from ceremony start time. The DJ goes into action and pulls out his battery back up and hooks the sound system up to continue the music and power the mic for the officiant. He offers his gas-powered generator to the facility for powering the ceremony site. They had their generator ready to go into place and asked if he could take his up to the location where the women were getting dressed. This would allow them to continue dressing with at least limited lighting.
Vendors moved their vehicles from the area where the generator needed to be placed. This allowed the facility staff to move quickly to get the generator in place and connected. Once connected it was able to operate the catering kitchen, the ceremony site and the reception area.
The planner was staying in constant contact with both sides of the wedding party, all the involved vendors. She guided everyone to where they needed to be, kept the wedding party informed of all actions going on, instructed the arriving guest where they could go for safety.
Throughout all of this, the officiant is offering any assistance she can, and then staying out of the way of the professionals who had everything under control. She greeted and directed arriving guests to the area the planner had indicated and answered any questions she could concerning the order of things.
The generator is hooked up and started; lights come on 5 minutes past the original start time of the ceremony. The planner takes her vehicle to the dressing area and begins to shuttle the women to the ceremony site. Once all the honored guests are in place, the wedding party is fully on site for the ceremony, the officiant makes the unplugged announcement and begins the ceremony. All of this delayed the ceremony start by only 25 minutes!
In just over an hour, this wedding ceremony went from being in the dark to fully operational while all the community around them were with out power for nearly 5 hours that evening! And this is why you hire professional teams for your wedding day! Can you imagine what this couple’s day would have been like if they had not made the choice for a trained professional team? The stress, the lack of organization, the cooperation, would have cast a shadow over their happy occasion.
The professionals who saved this particular couple’s wedding day are: Summerfield Farms, Carly Marie Events, K2 Productions, Painted Plate Catering, Becca Kate Photography, and All Faiths Wedding Officiants of the Triad.
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