Logistical Nightmares and How to Swing Them

Photo: Liz Coopersmith

This is a modified excerpt from my book, DIY Your D.O.C., Silver Charm System for Do It Yourself Day-of Coordination, available on Amazon. 

There’s your dream: Everything in your wedding meshes right away, it all just fits. Beauty and lights and color, and a photobooth right over there. Photos and tuxes and dresses and flowers, all framed perfectly by the open bar!

And then, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, that wedding dream crashes into  the logistical reality of your venue. Or, the reality of time and space, in general. Examples: At one of my weddings this spring, the plan was to put the DJ on the opposite side of the dance floor from the head table. While he was hooking that up, the venue manager told him that he needed to be behind the head table, where there was a stronger source of power. That was a problem aesthetically speaking – if he was behind the table, he would be in most of the pictures of it. At another wedding, the linen my couple rented for the escort card table was noticeably shorter than the table itself. At another, the extension cords the photo booth brought couldn’t reach the plugs closest to it. Hmm…

Look, everyone, including me, makes educated guesses based on the information they’re given at the time. And, sometimes those guesses are wrong!

So, what do you do? First of all, don’t waste time arguing the point. If your original concept won’t work, it won’t work, so you have to work around it.  Focus on the solution now, and picture the pillow you’re going to scream into later.

Second, remember that you don’t have to solve this problem all by yourself. You’re working with experienced professionals who can help you figure it out. Ask the vendor who presented the problem – even if that’s the venue manager –  for possible solutions to it. You can’t move the DJ table, but can you move the head table, so the DJ isn’t behind it? Make a note to give your photographers a heads up on that change. If the photo booth’s cords won’t reach, ask the venue manager if they have extra cords you can borrow, or discuss an alternative area for the booth. Linens too short? Shove the table against the wall and see if you can make it a little shorter on the back end to get length in the front. If it’s a guest table, concentrate on covering the side that faces the outside of the room. Chairs should sufficiently hide the lack of length around the rest of the table. Choose the quickest and easiest solution.

See you at the end of the aisle,

Liz Coopersmith
If you want to find out more about my part of Wedding World and see how I can help you create a great day go to www.silvercharmevents.com.