Overview
Without a doubt my favorite events that I have ever volunteered for and worked on are weddings! My internship at Two Be Wed required 30 unpaid wedding volunteer hours. I totaled out 48 hours on four weddings! I shadowed each wedding's head planner from the beginning of set up to the end of break down. I oversaw set up in situations where the head planner had to be at a separate location for the ceremony. I executed the event timeline and walked vendors through where the needed to be. I was also responsible for personally attending to the bride and groom along with their immediate families. Extra care and attention goes a long way on one of the biggest, most stressful, and most expensive days of someone's life. I learned the ins and outs of set up- from linen tucking technique to when to light candles. I learned a great deal about lighting from photographers and how to get shots that editors look for when publishing a wedding. I believe that the most important thing I learned from each wedding is to remember that every detail of our job contributes to a life long memory for each client. It matters how each napkin is folded because it adds to the overall look of the room, it matters that the mother of the bride gets special attention so that she is stress free and does not upset the bride, and it matters that you are friendly and professional to every guest and vendor because sometimes a wedding planner can be the only steady rock in the storm.
I have included below some of my favorite personal iPhone photos of the four weddings I worked.
Neha and Marjan: Private Residence in Sugarland, TX
Neha and Marian's wedding was the first cultural wedding that I assisted on. Neha and Marian's family both originated from Pakistan attracting Middle Eastern Traditions with a range of Muslim celebrations. Different from most Weddings, this wedding was spread across two days at the brides family home in Sugarland, TX.
Day One consisted of a welcome party, rehearsal dinner and a range of eastern traditions such as "mehndi" also known as henna. The day included Indian music and food accompanied by Bollywood themed dancing. The bride, groom and every guest wore traditional clothing. The womens saries were as colourful and beautiful as the bangles and the bracelet bar that I helped design. I assisted with the set up and organized all of the flowers, table decorations, furniture and vignettes. I was given the opportunity to assist the bride and her family to ensure that they were comfortable and well taken care of. Once the photographer, caterer and videographer arrived I tasked them with the timelines for the whole event. During the wedding I circulated throughout the guests and ensured that everyone was comfortable. This was followed by coordinating the breakdown.
Day Two, the day of the wedding, was more fast paced and intense beginning much earlier. The Two Be Wed team arrived at Neha's parents private estate, overseeing the set up of the reception, ceremony and catering tents. Each tent had specification for set up and layout and I assisted the head planner ensuring that each element was to the brides desire. This was followed by the coordination of the ceremonies and transition to reception all the while taking special consideration and care to the bride, groom and their families. The day was successful due to an excellent vendor team and the research conducted by myself and the head planner to ensure that all cultural aspects of they day were considered.
Micah and Ben: Kendleton Farms in Sugarland, TX
Elijah Rising is a Non-profit organization in Kendleton, TX. The company is dedicated to finding and rescuing girls who have been the victims of sex trafficking. Kendleton Farm is were the survivors are rehabilitated. Micah and Ben founded Elijah Rising and are close associates with my boss so we coordinated their wedding pro bono as a gift to the couple and the amazing organization. Micah completed all the planning and decorating herself so our task lay solely in 'day of coordination'. We were the first to arrive and began overseeing the set up of flowers and coordination of the volunteer team whom set up the dinner and desert tables. As the ceremony and reception were at the same location, everything flowed smoothly. Our job was to facilitate all of the shots taken by the photographer and videographer ensuring that the flow of events went as planned.
Randa and Grant: The Miramont Country Club in College Station, TX
Randa is the owner of the Southern Jewlz boutique in College Station. Her wedding took place at the Miramont Country Club and was unicorn themed. All of the stationary featured unicorns, the dance floor had a unicorn seal, there was a unicorn ice sculpture, and a real horse with a fake unicorn horn pulled a carriage with Randa and her father to the ceremony. I acted as the day-of assistant and helped the head planner with every aspect of set up and execution. Notably, I assited the bride in changing into her first dance outfit, I made sure I was professional and polished and that she felt like she had the best service available. I loved this wedding and especially loved getting to sing the War Hymn with other Aggie wedding guests.
Alex and Alex: The Crystal Ballroom in Houston, TX
Alex and Alex's wedding was my first wedding acting as the prime planner during set up. The head planner was at the ceremony set up so I was put in charge of reception set up. I facilitated all of the vendor set ups for example the cake artist, florist, decorator and band. My first coordination as the primary planner was highly successful with positive feedback from all vendors praising communication and punctuality.
Without a doubt my favorite events that I have ever volunteered for and worked on are weddings! My internship at Two Be Wed required 30 unpaid wedding volunteer hours. I totaled out 48 hours on four weddings! I shadowed each wedding's head planner from the beginning of set up to the end of break down. I oversaw set up in situations where the head planner had to be at a separate location for the ceremony. I executed the event timeline and walked vendors through where the needed to be. I was also responsible for personally attending to the bride and groom along with their immediate families. Extra care and attention goes a long way on one of the biggest, most stressful, and most expensive days of someone's life. I learned the ins and outs of set up- from linen tucking technique to when to light candles. I learned a great deal about lighting from photographers and how to get shots that editors look for when publishing a wedding. I believe that the most important thing I learned from each wedding is to remember that every detail of our job contributes to a life long memory for each client. It matters how each napkin is folded because it adds to the overall look of the room, it matters that the mother of the bride gets special attention so that she is stress free and does not upset the bride, and it matters that you are friendly and professional to every guest and vendor because sometimes a wedding planner can be the only steady rock in the storm.
I have included below some of my favorite personal iPhone photos of the four weddings I worked.
Neha and Marjan: Private Residence in Sugarland, TX
Neha and Marian's wedding was the first cultural wedding that I assisted on. Neha and Marian's family both originated from Pakistan attracting Middle Eastern Traditions with a range of Muslim celebrations. Different from most Weddings, this wedding was spread across two days at the brides family home in Sugarland, TX.
Day One consisted of a welcome party, rehearsal dinner and a range of eastern traditions such as "mehndi" also known as henna. The day included Indian music and food accompanied by Bollywood themed dancing. The bride, groom and every guest wore traditional clothing. The womens saries were as colourful and beautiful as the bangles and the bracelet bar that I helped design. I assisted with the set up and organized all of the flowers, table decorations, furniture and vignettes. I was given the opportunity to assist the bride and her family to ensure that they were comfortable and well taken care of. Once the photographer, caterer and videographer arrived I tasked them with the timelines for the whole event. During the wedding I circulated throughout the guests and ensured that everyone was comfortable. This was followed by coordinating the breakdown.
Day Two, the day of the wedding, was more fast paced and intense beginning much earlier. The Two Be Wed team arrived at Neha's parents private estate, overseeing the set up of the reception, ceremony and catering tents. Each tent had specification for set up and layout and I assisted the head planner ensuring that each element was to the brides desire. This was followed by the coordination of the ceremonies and transition to reception all the while taking special consideration and care to the bride, groom and their families. The day was successful due to an excellent vendor team and the research conducted by myself and the head planner to ensure that all cultural aspects of they day were considered.
Micah and Ben: Kendleton Farms in Sugarland, TX
Elijah Rising is a Non-profit organization in Kendleton, TX. The company is dedicated to finding and rescuing girls who have been the victims of sex trafficking. Kendleton Farm is were the survivors are rehabilitated. Micah and Ben founded Elijah Rising and are close associates with my boss so we coordinated their wedding pro bono as a gift to the couple and the amazing organization. Micah completed all the planning and decorating herself so our task lay solely in 'day of coordination'. We were the first to arrive and began overseeing the set up of flowers and coordination of the volunteer team whom set up the dinner and desert tables. As the ceremony and reception were at the same location, everything flowed smoothly. Our job was to facilitate all of the shots taken by the photographer and videographer ensuring that the flow of events went as planned.
Randa and Grant: The Miramont Country Club in College Station, TX
Randa is the owner of the Southern Jewlz boutique in College Station. Her wedding took place at the Miramont Country Club and was unicorn themed. All of the stationary featured unicorns, the dance floor had a unicorn seal, there was a unicorn ice sculpture, and a real horse with a fake unicorn horn pulled a carriage with Randa and her father to the ceremony. I acted as the day-of assistant and helped the head planner with every aspect of set up and execution. Notably, I assited the bride in changing into her first dance outfit, I made sure I was professional and polished and that she felt like she had the best service available. I loved this wedding and especially loved getting to sing the War Hymn with other Aggie wedding guests.
Alex and Alex: The Crystal Ballroom in Houston, TX
Alex and Alex's wedding was my first wedding acting as the prime planner during set up. The head planner was at the ceremony set up so I was put in charge of reception set up. I facilitated all of the vendor set ups for example the cake artist, florist, decorator and band. My first coordination as the primary planner was highly successful with positive feedback from all vendors praising communication and punctuality.