Come Hell Or High Water

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Picture this.
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It's your very first wedding as a brand new planner, and the dance floor is packed, the father-daughter dance is underway, and then the fire department walks in.
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Because outside, a flash flood is literally rising.
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And in just a few minutes, you're going to have to move 120 guests to a completely different part of the venue, mid-celebration.
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So what do you do?
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Well, today we're getting into a night that went all the way sideways.
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And then the real question living underneath it, which is how do you prepare for the day?
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Everything that you plan kind of goes straight out the window.
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So let's hop in.
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Welcome to the Wedding Planner Society Podcast, brought to you by the CWP Society, the world's premier planner certification and membership program.
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Now let's jump right in with our host, founder and CEO, Lori Hartwell.
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Welcome to the Wedding Planner Society Podcast.
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I want you guys to meet Christina Collins.
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She is the owner, lead planner, and designer behind Southern Tier event planning up in Western New York, Southern Tier.
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But here's what I love about her story.
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She didn't come to weddings straight out of the gate.
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She built a whole hospitality career first.
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Hotels, resorts, country clubs, even cruise lines, with stops everywhere from New York City to Sydney to New Zealand.
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And she's got a hospitality degree from Niagara University to Matt.
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And then in 2021, she launched STEP Events.
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Since then, she's become a master's certified wedding planner.
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She's picked up design and floor plan credentials as well.
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And lucky us, she's one of our industry advancement directors here at the CWP Society.
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But the reason I invited her, well, Christina is going to explain that a great wedding planner and coordinator has to be ready for the unexpected.
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And she has learned that lesson at her very first wedding.
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I cannot wait to hear all about this amazing and crazy story.
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Christina, welcome to our podcast.
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Hi, thank you so much for having me.
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I'm so excited to be here.
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I am excited to have you here, to be quite honest with you.
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You are such a sweet girl.
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I have loved getting to know you over the years, and you are literally one of my favorite people on this planet.
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So I am so, so grateful to have you.
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But we do have house rules here.
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Okay.
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This podcast lives in a virtual coffee shop.
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So first things first, what's in your cup today, Miss Christina?
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I have switched to mushroom coffee, actually.
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So everyday dose is my preferred brand.
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The normal coffee just made me a little jittery, gave me the crash at the two o'clock time point.
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And now with mushroom coffee switching to that, I feel better.
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That is so great.
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So mushroom coffee in the morning.
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I love that.
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So you're basically a walking wellness retreat.
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That's what I'm hearing.
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I think that's great.
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So I'm gonna take a little everyday dose for me too today.
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Uh let's find out what a mushroom can do for a girl.
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And let's take our cups over to that really sweet, cozy corner in the back where no one can bother us and let's settle in.
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Now, we've got a little tradition around here.
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Before I get to dig into your amazing story, I always like to let my guests turn the tables on me just a little bit.
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And you get to put me on the spot today with a personal question.
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And I have to answer it, I have no choice.
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So go ahead, hit me with it.
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If you could wake up tomorrow and be an expert at one completely random skill, what would you choose?
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I have to tell you, I love this question.
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So and I don't think it's gonna be an answer that you expected to hear from me, to be honest.
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I would wake up an expert at construction of buildings.
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I know I know it's so weird, but I'm talking like full-on construction.
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And and while we're at it, let's go ahead and throw in like full electrical and plumbing too.
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And I know it does sound like crazy random coming from me, but I think about how genuinely useful that would be.
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I mean, to look at a space or a problem and just know how the whole thing is built and how to make it work.
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I just be able to fix all the problems without needing to wait for someone to come do it.
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And I mean, I would like to build a greenhouse.
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I don't have the first clue as to how to build a greenhouse, but I want one so bad, Christina.
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Uh, and and here's kind of what got me on this kick.
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And I don't know if you're familiar with it, if you've seen it, but I've been watching Homestead Rescue, uh, the one with the Rainey family.
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Have you seen that one?
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No, I haven't.
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Oh, girl, I have become slightly obsessed with it.
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I'm fascinated because they go in and they build entire structures from the ground up for these homesteaders, people that live off the grid, out in the middle of nowhere, with almost nothing to work with, and they just know how to do it.
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So it's so amazing.
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And every single episode, I'm just sitting there on the edge of my seat going, How in the world are they doing this and pulling so much of this off?
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And I just find it really impressive.
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So, yes, drop that knowledge into my brain overnight, and I would be thrilled to pieces, to be honest.
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Yes, that's amazing.
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What would you wish that you knew if you could wake up an expert at it?
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Do you have anything off the top of your head?
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I would say being fluent in every language.
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I love traveling, I've lived in a few different countries, and I just think there's something special about being able to like connect with someone and their language.
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And I love that one.
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You're right, because then you never have to wonder what to say or to do.
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You'd be able to get directions very easily if you needed.
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In case I always think about emergencies, if I'm in another country, would I be able to explain what I need?
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I love that.
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I love that.
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So I've had a lot of people share that exact same wish that you have.
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That would be amazing.
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Do you know any other languages?
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I dabbled in like Spanish and Italian in high school, but not conversationally.
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And of course, if you don't keep it up, you start losing it.
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And so I say a few words here and there that my grandma used to yell in Italian, but other than that, just the grandma yelling words.
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Manja, manj, eat your food.
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This is great.
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So you're gonna always remember that.
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Do you probably even say that to your kiddos?
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I do, I do.
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I think that's awesome.
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Well, you know what that's really interesting is kind of wanting to understand how things are built or understand new and better things for our minds.
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It might be the most wedding planner and coordinator answer on the planet.
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To me, it's pretty hard to expect perfection out of any weddings, right?
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And I think that that's a really important thing to think about because you actually had a night, and it happened to be the very first wedding of your entire career, that the whole thing nearly came down around you.
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So let's go back to that night all those years ago, as your very first wedding as step events.
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It's not your first wedding in the industry, but it's, you know, when when it's your first wedding for your own company, there's a lot going on in your mind and in your heart, and you just want it to go so, so well.
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You have such high hopes for everything.
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So let's kind of go back to that night.
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And before anything ever went wrong, I want you to set the scene for us.
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You know, where are we?
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What's the vibe?
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What kind of day did you think that you were gonna be walking into?
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Yeah, of course.
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Definitely not that, but I mean, we checked the weather, right?
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We're wedding planners, we checked the weather a week in advance, five days, three days, two days, the day before, you know, the hourly, right?
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And so it was on a golf course.
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It was raining all morning.
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It wasn't as heavy as I thought it would need to be to create the situation, but there was rain.
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Our biggest goal at the time was my bride really wanted to walk down the aisle without an umbrella.
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So she was coming out of the venue.
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Her ceremony took place outdoors, but we did get a tent a few days prior because we saw the weather.
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So we did a tent over the ceremony, but she did not want to carry an umbrella out with her dad.
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She she really wanted just to be able to walk with him and enjoy her moment.
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And it honestly, the rain held off just long enough for her to do that.
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It did not rain during her walk down the aisle.
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She was able to make it all the way to the tent during the ceremony.
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It started raining a lot harder after that.
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After the ceremony completed, they had their family photos outside.
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Now it was a golf course, so they had to be a little bit careful.
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There were more puddles, right?
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The venue manager was like, Well, don't go, you know, off the tracks because you're gonna sink into the ground.
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It's quite wet out there today, right?
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So just you know, a few precautions in place.
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We had our cocktail hour.
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Uh, that took place outside under a gazebo as well.
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So the entire reception was actually outdoors under a second gazebo, basically right across from the parking lot of the venue.
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So we could really see everything that was going on around us.
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So we of course started checking the weather and we had our introductions, and I was standing at the DJ booth, and brain was just coming down so hard, and the gazebo did not have sides.
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So we moved his DJ booth up because he was getting just drenched with water.
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Oh, wow.
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Um, and so we kind of scooched, scooched that up.
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I personally, Christina, love that you were thinking in the moment, okay, I see this little breach where water is getting through.
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I'm gonna make these small adjustments mid-plan.
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I love that you were doing that.
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I think that's exactly what planners and coordinators are supposed to be looking at is oh, you know what?
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We don't want our DJ to be electrocuted.
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Let's make sure that we keep this person safe.
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It's such a good thing.
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You know, and you started all of the dances, and then, you know, the fire department shows up during the father-daughter dance.
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I need you to kind of walk us through that moment because I don't think a lot of planners and coordinators can even picture it.
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What's going through your head, Christina?
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What's happening inside of your mind when you look up and you see the fire department there?
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Oh my gosh, my my heart sank, right?
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Like normally, if it was if the reception was inside, you wouldn't have been able to see it.
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But because it was outdoors, they pulled up, the the the sirens were going, the lights were flashing.
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It was so distracting.
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It was hard to even get the guests' attention.
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They they pulled up, they walked out, the venue manager walked directly into them.
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You know what I'm thinking of?
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I'm thinking of the poor bride.
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You know, she cared so much about making sure she had her moment prior to the ceremony with just her and her dad.
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Now she's having her her next great moment, which is with her dad dancing, and the fire department comes down with flashing lights and sirens right in the middle of her dance.
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That breaks my heart.
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Was your heart broken?
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It well, I just was like, okay, what's next?
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Right?
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Like, we're not at the the photographer came up to me, like, okay, so we're leaving, like, this is it.
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And I was like, no, no, no, no, no.
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We're we're going to just stay put, we're going to come up with a solution and we're just going to take it one step at a time, but we're going to do this quickly because the rain is not stopping.
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So I think you mentioned that there was 120 people at this amazing wedding, a celebration that's already started.
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We're in mid-celebration.
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How do you even begin then to understand what's going on?
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Did the fire department say, Hey, we need this changed, we need you to move, or did you just instinctively know to do that?
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The fire department wanted us to evacuate immediately.
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Evacuate.
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Evacuate the venue because the roads surrounding the venue they didn't think would be safe at the end of the reception.
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The cars that were parked in the grass all had probably two, one to two feet of water around the tires that some of them couldn't even get out at that stage because of how much the water had bucketed down between like cocktail hour and when we were at like the point we were at.
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So we were not aware with of how much water was on the other side with all of those cars.
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And so they wanted us to evacuate immediately.
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We told them, give us five minutes.
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We need to tell 120 people, their vendors, we need to relocate dinner, decor, flowers, favors, all of that.
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Um, give us five minutes.
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They weren't very happy about that.
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They wanted their first reaction, obviously, was to just guest safety, which I highly understood, but we needed a place to communicate and to move those guests.
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So there really wasn't time to panic.
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We got on the phone.
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The venue manager and I got on the phone.
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We started making some calls.
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The kitchen was instructed to start preparing the dinner that they were about to serve to 120 people to go.
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We called the surrounding venues to see who had availability.
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I called the guest transport company for the bus to return to get the guests.
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And after several non-available venues, we did find a venue that could accommodate us.
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But they only had one staff member working and they were planning to close in an hour.
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So we asked basically, like, can we bring our flooded venues catering team, our bartenders, food for 120 people, and 120 guests to your venue in the next five minutes?
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Oh thankfully, they said yes.
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Oh my gosh.
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Now, first of all, was what kind of venue was this secondary venue?
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Was it like a restaurant, uh an old older style hotel?
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What was this?
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So it was more like a restaurant inside.
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And so it was kind of tight when we did move it, but it accommodated 120 people, and they had a bar and a makeshift dance floor area, and we kind of just moved some tables as when we arrived and started placing the decor.
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And honestly, it was like a full team effort.
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And we actually within 32 minutes, we wrote relocated the entire reception.
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Christina, that is impressive.
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Impressive.
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How did the guests, how did you inform all of the 120 guests?
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Was it just the DJ making an announcement of exactly where that's what I would do?
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I was wasn't sure what you ended up doing.
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Yeah, so the DJ got on the microphone and explained the situation and said that we were relocating to a venue that was 10 minutes down the road, that the bus was on the way, but we did during during that, during all of the coordination within that 10 minutes, the bus actually did call us back and let us know that he could not stop.
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He could not get to the venue because of all of the flooded roads.
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Uh, he said that was his first time ever not being able to get back to the place of drop-off.
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Um, so he um we were kind of on our own at that point and had to utilize vendors' vehicles, carpooling allure.
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Um this is crazy.
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This is out of the realm of normal on a level that I don't even know how to describe.
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I want those who are listening who might be thinking about getting into weddings, please don't allow this story to scare you.
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But I love that you had such quick thinking, Christina, and you kept everybody kind of on task and everything was gonna be calm.
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You went into problem solving mode rather than panic stricken mode.
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That's a big deal.
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Don't get me wrong.
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I was I was terrified.
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Inside, yeah, inside.
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But I learned something really important that day that being calm doesn't mean that you aren't scared.
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Right.
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You're scared, but you still have a job to do.
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Yeah.
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Like not only would this happen.
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What are we going to do?
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But what is what we need to solve?
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Right.
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It's it's about being brave.
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Being brave means that you're scared, right?
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But you're doing it anyway.
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You're you're showing up, you're stepping up anyway.
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I love that.
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So, okay, so you got everyone moved.
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The celebration miraculously.
00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:59.360
I I literally still that was you deserve a medal.
00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.399
I think I'm actually gonna present you with a medal one day.
00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:04.240
You kept that celebration going.
00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:18.319
You saved the wedding day for your couple, and honestly, the fact that it kept going at all is kind of the whole point where I kind of want to take this next because I don't want us to just sit in this wild story.
00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:22.960
It is wild, but I want to pull the useful part of it out.
00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:34.400
You've already now touched on the fact that you were just absolutely frightened, scared, worried, but you stepped up, you still kept calm.
00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:44.880
And like you said, calm doesn't mean that you feel like you had it all together, but on the outside, people were looking to you and you showed them the way, Christina.
00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:57.680
You worked really great with all these professionals, and the professionals you know really stepped up for you, no pun intended there because the name of your company is Steppy Banks, but uh but everybody did step up.
00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:07.839
Uh, but here's something that I really believe all the way down to my core, and it's something that we teach really, really hard here at the CWP Society.
00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:12.480
Weddings never go exactly as planned.
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:13.039
Not ever.
00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:23.039
I mean, there are weather factors, sometimes it's a vendor factor, timelines kind of slip out of place, somebody's uncle goes rogue, right?
00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:34.079
A great planner reacts fast when that happens, but a master planner, well, we don't just react to a crazy situation.
00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:45.759
We've already built the flexibility in before the day actually arrives and the confidence that you see in a planner or a coordinator who stays calm when it all goes sideways.
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:47.359
It's not bravado.
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:51.839
It's it's that we've got backup plans for our backup plans.
00:18:51.920 --> 00:19:03.759
And that's sometimes we have to pull these backup plans out of thin air when a weather event happens that took everyone in the area by surprise.
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:28.559
So, what I want to ask you is because every single one of us has honestly a version of the night that you just explained, when you look back at it now with the eyes that you have today as a master certified wedding planner, was there any piece of that night that could have been maybe prevented or that you could have maybe seen coming?
00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.640
Obviously, not the flood itself.
00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:35.839
There's literally no way that you can schedule a flash flood and put that in your itinerary, right?
00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:36.799
That's not gonna happen.
00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:45.279
But that little sliver that knowing what you know now that you could have maybe built in prior.
00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:46.559
Oh, for sure.
00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:46.960
Yeah.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:53.359
I mean, there is a huge difference between knowing weddings can have problems and then actually standing in the middle of one.
00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:04.000
Like you can have the perfect timeline, the perfect floor plan, the perfect vendor team, the perfect weather plan, and then Mother Nature has other plans, right?
00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:12.319
So sometimes our job is to look at a completely unexpected situation and say, like, okay, this is not what we planned, but what can we do from here?
00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:16.559
Uh and that mindset has completely changed the way I plan weddings today.
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.319
So I love that.
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:33.839
I love that you took something that I mean, I I'm not gonna say it was a bad evening because the truth is I think it was probably the best possible outcome for that couple because the weather was gonna happen regardless.
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:42.640
You helped save that entire evening because of your quick reaction to I'm gonna solve this problem.
00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:51.359
So, you know, I just love that you uh have that mindset and that you are a problem solver and you do it with the most beautiful grace.
00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:55.039
So you almost make it look too easy, I think.
00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.640
Uh, but that's exactly it.
00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:13.599
And I kind of love how you're honest about things and transparent about it because here's the truth none of us thinks about half the stuff that could go wrong until the wedding teaches us how it could really, really go terribly, terribly wrong.
00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.039
To me, that's not failure.
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.799
That's it's the question is just what do you do with the lesson?
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:27.039
So let's get really practical for everybody that's listening here, because I think this is where the gold nuggets are going to land.
00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:39.039
One of the things that I teach our wedding planners and coordinators is I I talk about carrying what I like to call a flexibility toolkit into every single wedding that we do.
00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:40.400
And it's four things.
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:46.559
The first thing is you already know who your backup vendors are for maybe critical stuff.
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.799
I mean, you guys have a vendor team.
00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:59.599
A lot of planners and coordinators today, Christina, they don't really have an approved team of people that they can consider like those they can call in case something crazy.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.440
Goes down, right?
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:06.960
So I think that that's a really important thing and a lesson that planners and coordinators need to be thinking about.
00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.640
That's why we have approved vendors.
00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:18.000
Uh the second is you've got to have a kind of an alternative timeline structure ready for delays that happen at basically every single wedding.
00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:30.240
The third thing would be, and this one's yours, Christina, is you have to have an idea or the trust that you'd have in yourself to think about a plan B.
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:32.960
We all like to have plan B's way in advance now.
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:37.599
But anytime I have an outdoor wedding, we're gonna have a plan B, regardless, right?
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.480
But you didn't just have that.
00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:48.000
Like you had to figure out a way to get people to safety because they would not have been able to get out later on that evening.
00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.200
That is a totally different plan than a plan B.
00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:54.799
So, and the fourth thing would be you've got the diplomatic language.
00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:59.359
You need to have all of that because you have to be ready for curveballs that are going to be coming your way.
00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:10.000
So that toolkit is the difference between what will eventually become a disaster and what will, in your case, Christina, be a really great story that had a wonderful outcome.
00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.880
So I'm really, first of all, proud of you for the way that you handled it.
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.559
And I just want to publicly say that so that everybody can hear.
00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:18.319
Now, thank you so much.
00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:21.119
It was definitely not a solo job.
00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.880
I will, I will tell you, the vendors was huge, right?
00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:34.079
Having a team of wedding professionals that understood that we were all responsible for helping the wedding continue successfully and safely.
00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.759
It was phenomenal because the catering team, right?
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.640
They went from going to serve dinner in 20 minutes to prepare it to go in 20 minutes.
00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:46.400
They, the photographer was driving people in his cars, right?
00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:52.240
The DJ was taking like the whole cigar booth and favors and flowers along with his equipment, right?
00:23:52.319 --> 00:24:09.759
Like it was truly a team effort and um one that I was really thankful that I did have a good team of vendors because it could have, especially because it was my first wedding and you know that I I didn't at the time have an assistant, uh, which I do now.
00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:13.200
And so it could have looked different, right?
00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:15.039
If I had another set of hands.
00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:24.640
But luckily, my vendor team was so phenomenal that it was truly I was truly blessed to have them by my side with the team effort that we were able to.
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:28.960
You were so, so blessed that you had that team.
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:32.400
And because not everybody would do that, to be quite honest with you.
00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:42.559
Some people are so in it for themselves that they don't see the bigger picture and how if we just band together, we can really make this something special.
00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:45.119
And you mentioned that you didn't have an assistant at the time.
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:55.440
I can honestly say a lot of people starting out when they are at their first wedding, they don't necessarily realize that they should have or need someone to have next to them.
00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:01.039
Is that something that if you could go back in time, that you would have done that completely different as well?
00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:02.160
Definitely.
00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:04.640
I would have definitely had an assistant with me.
00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:09.839
It would have just allowed the venue manager to step into her role more, right?
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:20.319
And and direct the kitchen staff and things happening behind the scenes uh and allow for me and my assistant to direct the the wedding professionals on the on the outside and the guests.
00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:23.200
So it truly would have made a difference.
00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:24.559
I actually love that.
00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:35.839
I think that that's important for those planners and coordinators who are listening who think to themselves, oh, I don't need an assistant, or maybe this wedding is on the smaller size, so I don't really need to have somebody.
00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:39.200
We can't be in more than one place at one single time.
00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:47.119
And this is a kind of a thread that I hear from every single one of my podcast guests is oh, no, you have to have an assistant.
00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:52.480
And we all make that mistake in the beginning of our careers, but it's not a mistake that we repeat on a regular basis.
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:57.920
And so I think it's really important that our planners and coordinators who are listening hear.
00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:58.640
I really do.
00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:03.200
Now, you talked about how that night changed the way you do things, right?
00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:11.599
Knowing about backup plans and you scouted backup venues on the fly that night, right?
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:17.039
You were in a very unique, probably once-in-a-lifetime scenario.
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:28.000
To be quite honest with you, you were scrambling to find a safe place to bring, you know, 120 guests plus all of the vendors and everybody else, right?
00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:36.079
So tell me how that actually shows up now with the new way that you kind of put everything together, how it's kind of changed the way you prep.
00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:43.279
Tell me how that shows up in your processes and how early does that type of homework actually happen for you inside of your business?
00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:45.519
The homework definitely begins straight away.
00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:55.759
So right when I right when I book a new wedding, um, I have like I see that their venue, or if they don't have a venue, we're constantly in venue search.
00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:08.160
I now, because of my PTSD from this wedding, we'll call it that, I now have very strange questions that I asked the venue manager, right?
00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:10.240
Like, what is around the venue?
00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:11.680
Is there an event space?
00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:13.920
Or I do the research myself, right?
00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:18.160
And find that space and find out what they have going on.
00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:26.640
There was a lot of spaces, not a lot, we were in kind of a remote area, but there were a few spaces that I called and they had like bar mitzvahs happening or reunions.
00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:30.079
And I was like, oh, like, okay, no worries, we'll we'll call someone.
00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:34.400
So now I like to know what venues are available and what events they have booked.
00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.279
So if we need to pivot, they have these rooms available.
00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:45.119
It's just bizarre that I, when I tell my couples or explain the situation that this is what I do behind the scenes.
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:45.759
Right.
00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:50.720
Because they're just blown away by like, wow, you really do have everything thought about.
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:52.880
And it truly allows them to relax.
00:27:53.119 --> 00:28:03.359
My couple on the wedding day, it was truly amazing that they were just so comfortable and confident because they just trusted their vendor team around them.
00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:10.240
And they just were so happy that we continued the celebration, didn't care where it took place, it's just that they could continue it.
00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.640
And it was, yeah, truly incredible.
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.039
I think that's actually really beautiful.
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:16.160
I love that.
00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:31.839
I and I think that what I want a lot of listeners to hear out of what you just said was the importance of making sure that your couples can relax and knowing there's something magical about giving the gift to your couples of I've got this.
00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:36.559
I've thought of everything that you wouldn't even dream of having to think about because I've seen it all.
00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:49.200
And I love that you bring that to every wedding that you do now and really make sure that your couples can breathe that sigh of release, relief, going, you know what, Christina has this.
00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:51.279
I don't have to worry about this anymore.
00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:57.200
I know that if she could go through that crazy event, she's gonna have ours, you know, in the bag.
00:28:57.279 --> 00:28:58.480
This isn't gonna be a problem.
00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:04.720
So here's, you know, a real standard that we hold here at the CWP Society.
00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:09.359
And I really do want to make sure that I say this as plainly as I possibly can for anyone listening.
00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:12.480
And it goes back to your assistant situation.
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:17.839
No planner should ever be the only set of hands on a wedding day.
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:28.480
Even the smallest, simplest wedding definitely deserves at least two professional minds and four professional hands up to a certain number of guests.
00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:28.880
Okay.
00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:33.200
And after that guest number, uh, typically it's around 200.
00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:37.200
Uh, between 200 and 300, you're gonna need an extra set of hands.
00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:41.359
From 300 and 400, now you're gonna need a couple of extra sets of hands.
00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.559
But we should always have one built into our packages.
00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:48.079
And I feel like a lot of planners and coordinators don't think about that.
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:57.359
The documented timeline that every single vendor has a copy of, the the contact list, uh, the weather call that you typically have to make.
00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:03.920
And I like to make it as early as possible, but sometimes we have couples that are like, nope, I don't want to make that call until the very last second.
00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:07.359
We need to determine, of course, when that last second is.
00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:08.160
What is that?
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:09.759
Is that six hours before?
00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:10.799
Is it the day before?
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:14.480
Every planner and coordinator has a different viewpoint on that.
00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:17.920
But we also need to make sure that we have contingency plans.
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:23.279
And those plans need to kind of be built right into our full schedule.
00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:26.640
I kind of call those the crisis reliability protocols.
00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:32.559
You kind of decide what you'll do for common emergencies before they ever happen.
00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:36.160
You did not have a common emergency, Christina.
00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:41.599
This was not normal, but it still was a crisis and you handled it beautifully.
00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:48.720
And I want to make sure that planners and coordinators listening think about what are your protocols?
00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:53.440
What do you guys need to make sure that you put in place so that you're prepared and ready to go?
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:59.519
So, talk for a minute about the importance of making sure that you have an amazing vendor team.
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:04.720
You were kind of baptism by fire, right, on wedding day, without a doubt.
00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:16.319
But now you realize the importance of having a vendor team that you can trust with a crazy wild story and event like you had.
00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:20.640
What stood out the most to you about that amazing vendor team?
00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:25.519
Yeah, I think just their willingness to jump in without even second guessing it.
00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:27.039
That wasn't even a question.
00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:31.920
The DJ was like, okay, then when I put my equipment in, what else do you need in my car?
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:35.759
It wasn't like, I have my equipment, I'm gonna get going to start the music.
00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:37.119
It was what do you need?
00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:47.920
And I feel like a lot of that, not that they're trying to go around you, they're just straightforward focused on their job to do, just not thinking about anyone else or the situation at hand.
00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.599
And in that moment where I had vendors, what else do you need?
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:52.640
I'm about to take off.
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.519
This is what I have in my car, just the communication.
00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:59.599
It was just, it was truly incredible to have that team around me.
00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:02.559
I don't know if you could have gotten luckier about that.
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:03.839
I honestly don't.
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.759
I really, really don't, because it doesn't always work out in that way.
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:09.039
I love what you said.
00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:11.279
It's they said, What more do you need?
00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:13.519
Is there anything else I can do?
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:20.000
They were thinking beyond themselves, and I don't know how anybody can train that into anybody.
00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:21.279
I don't think you can, right?
00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:25.680
The planner cannot be the entire emergency response team, right?
00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:32.240
She they need to rely on their wedding professionals, the whole team that truly is exactly right.
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:45.839
And that's why it is so important for whether you're a wedding planner without certification or you are certified, or like Christina, who's a master certified wedding planner, the approved vendor team means that you have vetted these people.
00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:55.519
Part of the vetting process is not only just to verify that they are talented, but what do they do in a case of an emergency?
00:32:55.680 --> 00:33:17.759
Or how do how is their communication protocols and making sure that they are the whole package because it's supposed to be a dream team, not just random 15 to 25 vendors all working independently and not taking in consideration what the whole team and the wedding, you know, couple and all the guests, and they all need something.
00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:25.279
We all have to kind of pull together, and your wedding proves that this is exactly why it is so viral.
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:32.000
One of the biggest things I would tell a new planner is don't try to prove that you can handle everything yourself, right?
00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:37.279
Like being the person who knows how to delegate is part of being a great planner.
00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:37.920
Yes.
00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:41.920
I'm gonna say amen to that, like a hundred percent.
00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:58.319
No, I kind of want to land us on the part that I think matters so so much for the person who's listening who might be early in their career with all this, because I know that there's someone who's kind of quietly terrified that something is gonna go wrong.
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:06.480
And I and I want them to really hear this from both you and I, Christina, because one of the biggest shifts that I ever teach is a simple reframe.
00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:10.639
Instead of, oh, such and such is late, this is a disaster.
00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:14.719
It's important that you kind of train yourself to hear, okay, such and such is late.
00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:20.639
And that means that I can do this or I'm going to, I have this under control.
00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:22.400
I know exactly what I'm going to do next.
00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:25.440
It's a completely different mindset.
00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:40.159
And you've mentioned mindset a little bit earlier, and that's why I love that we're kind of bringing things around here because the obstacles stop becoming burdens and they become puzzles that we have the honor of solving so that the couple doesn't have to.
00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:45.840
So I want those who are listening to not be frightened but be prepared.
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:55.920
So for those who are bracing for a what if moment, like Christina went into, what do you, Christina, feel like you want them to know?
00:34:56.079 --> 00:34:57.519
And I want you to be honest with them.
00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:00.320
What do you want them to hear from you?
00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:05.519
Yeah, I would just say first stop and take a deep breath.
00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:06.000
Yeah.
00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:08.960
You don't have to solve everything in the first 30 seconds.
00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:09.440
Yeah.
00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:11.760
Safety is usually first, right?
00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:15.519
Nothing about the timeline matters more than people being safe.
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:17.920
Then assess the actual problem.
00:35:18.079 --> 00:35:18.880
What is happening?
00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:19.599
What do we know?
00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:20.880
What do we not know yet?
00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:23.119
And then establish your priorities.
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:25.440
Like what needs to happen immediately?
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:27.280
What can wait 10 minutes?
00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:29.199
Then delegate.
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:33.840
Don't become that person that's carrying 15 problems simultaneously.
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:35.519
Communicate calmly.
00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:37.920
Your energy becomes contagious.
00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:41.599
If you're panicking, everyone else will start to panic.
00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:44.079
Then of course, protect the couple, right?
00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.880
Give them the information, not the chaos.
00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:50.079
And remember that guests don't know what was supposed to happen.
00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:54.800
I mean, in this case, they didn't think that they would be moved to a new venue.
00:35:55.119 --> 00:36:02.639
But in if you quietly, in most cases, if you quietly change the plan, guests often don't know that there was ever a plan A.
00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:06.480
The goal isn't necessarily for the guests to know that something went wrong.
00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:09.360
The goal is for them to feel like they're taken care of.
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:12.000
Yeah, I could not agree with that more.
00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:12.960
That is so good.
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:14.159
That was delicious.
00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:19.199
And to everybody who is listening to that, I need you to take that piece of advice to heart.
00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:27.599
If you've ever had your own flood or your own fire truck moment and walked away shaken and wondering, you know, if you were cut out for this.
00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:34.239
Because I see so many planners and coordinators on Facebook forums and just, oh, maybe this is just too hard.
00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:34.880
It is hard.
00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:36.480
We're not gonna lie to you today.
00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:37.280
It's a hard job.
00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:40.719
We're rated the third most stressful job in the world for a reason.
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:45.599
But you're not alone and you are not behind the eight ball here.
00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:54.719
That's the whole reason the CWP society community actually exists, is that planners who look unshakable, well, they didn't skip the hard night.
00:36:54.880 --> 00:37:00.320
We had to all go through these hard, difficult moments that you can't plan for necessarily.
00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:05.360
But we just make them a little bit different in our mind, right?
00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:11.280
They just let it prepare them for the next situation that they might be running into.
00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:20.239
So the one thing that I want our listeners to take away from this whole conversation is this preparation is what buys you your calm.
00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:20.800
Okay.
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:35.280
And Christina, you took your very first wedding, the flood, the fire truck, 120 guests being moved to a completely different location, and you let it build the planner that is ready for anything now.
00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:38.239
And gosh, that's the entire game, right?
00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:41.920
So I just want to thank you for sharing this beautiful moment.
00:37:42.239 --> 00:38:05.119
And I know that it, you know, when we look back on it, it was a crazy wild ride, but it also was a beautiful experience at the same time because the couple got to have vendors who are not related to them, but they all just showed up for this couple, and all of their guests were able to surround this couple with love.
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:12.400
I think that's just such a neat experience where we can all walk away with a smile, going, Okay, we did it.
00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:13.280
That's amazing.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:15.199
So thank you for sharing that.
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:16.159
Of course.
00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:26.000
And the bride after the wedding actually wrote me this glowing review, and the end of it said, if step can handle a flash flood, step can handle anything.
00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:31.920
And I had that review actually has come up in some of my consultation calls.
00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:38.239
It's like it was honestly the best compliment I could have received because they weren't complimenting my timeline, my design.
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:42.800
They were saying, like, I trust you when things don't go according to plan, right?
00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:45.760
And that's really what I want my couples to feel.
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.400
So it was truly, truly special.
00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:57.119
I even had the photographer of the day write me an email after and tell me that his wedding, his wife actually is a wedding planner.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:59.039
They they usually work together.
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:10.800
And she was so impressed by how calm I stayed under the under pressure that with the story he was telling her, that she started referring some couples to me when she was booked, which was truly phenomenal.
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:17.519
She never met me, but because of how I handled the situation, she was she was impressed and trusted that I could handle it.
00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:26.559
You got it, and what a lesson for our listeners to take away here at the end, because I want people to really, really hear what you said.
00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:36.639
Because, see, the way I see things, Christina, is every single wedding that we do is basically us being a walking billboard for our business.
00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:38.400
How are we handling things?
00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:39.519
How do we come across?
00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:41.440
How do we make people feel?
00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:51.920
And every single guest, every single family member, every single person in the wedding party is either a potential client for the future or a potential referral source.
00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:54.000
And yours went a step further.
00:39:54.079 --> 00:40:11.360
It was a vendor's wife as that does exactly what you do, but heard the story and was so impressed by you that she says, I am going to send, I trust Christina so much that I'm gonna send people that I can't handle directly to her.
00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:21.360
That right there is the moral of this story, is it's not if something's gonna go crazy, it's when it goes crazy, how are you gonna handle it?
00:40:21.519 --> 00:40:23.679
And I love that you handled it so beautifully.
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:36.639
So before I let you go, for everyone who would like to follow you and to learn a little bit more about you, can you tell everybody your website address and how they can find you on social media real quick?
00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:44.639
Yeah, so my website is southern tier eventplanning.com and I have Instagram and Facebook.
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:55.119
So Instagram is S period T period E period P underscore events, so step events, and then Facebook is just Southern Tier Event Planning.
00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:56.239
I love this.
00:40:56.400 --> 00:41:04.159
And make sure that you guys are keeping an eye on her because she's got exciting growth happening on the horizon, which we are all so very excited about.
00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:11.840
And to everybody listening, if this conversation lits something up in you, that is exactly what the CWP Society is here for.
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:19.679
We are the world's premier wedding planner and coordinating certification and membership program, as well as the largest community of wedding pros anywhere.
00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:24.400
And we have a place for you no matter where you are in your planning journey.
00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:32.719
So come elevate yourself, come elevate your business, visit our website, cwpsociety.com to learn more.
00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.719
And our socials are at CWP Society.
00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:39.440
We are your people and we are your tribe.
00:41:39.519 --> 00:41:44.480
And until next time, happy planning and thank you so much for being here today, Christina.
00:41:44.719 --> 00:41:46.559
Thank you so much for having me.