It truly is hard to describe how much we appreciated Natasha’s work, effort and know-how for our daughter’s wedding. She was professional from day one. She never questioned our opinion and truly was there to help. We can honestly say that without her assistance we wouldn’t have been able to make the final essential steps to pull-off our daughter’s DYI wedding. Our daughter, who was originally opposed to having a Wedding Planner, acknowledged it was not only “helpful”, but essential. While weddings are expensive, Natasha “saved” our daughter’s reception. Not only was she pleasant and professional, she allowed us to truly enjoy and serve as hosts at the reception. She competently executed elaborate details of a DYI wedding with care, grace and professionalism. Although Natasha was a “Day-Of” coordinator, she contacted each vendor, met with them ahead of time and thoroughly reviewed and reassured us of the contractual agreements that we had in place.
Natasha truly walked into what we felt was a disaster zone and guided us though the process to fruition under adverse conditions. The Reception venue, an outdoor special events tent and surrounding open spaces. And the date was Saturday, April 16, 2011 – the most tornado outbursts in North Carolina’s history.
Natasha said from the very beginning, “you will not hear from me during the reception unless there is something that I truly can’t handle”. And, we didn’t hear any requests from Natasha or her staff – and later learned that three inches of water stood on the floor of the Events Tent along with drenched rental tables, linens along with décor only an hour prior to the reception.
How it all began – prior to Natasha:
We were apprehensive from the beginning of the wedding planning. As parents of the bride we wanted that special day to be exactly as our daughter wished – of course within a budget. As we mentioned “budget” and compared notes, we realized that this was going to have to be a DYI wedding as well. We felt comfortable with the concept of coming up and carrying out unique ideas, as all four of us have some bit of a creative side. Our situation, however, was complicated a bit further; our daughter and husband-to-be live in England. With our two full-time jobs, a long distance and an ocean between us and our daughter, and an already busy schedule, we set out on the adventure of “co-planning” the wedding with our daughter and fiancée.
Our DYI approach used consisted of purchasing our own linens, making the table decorations, as well as purchasing serving items and beverages. We also had secured professionals from friends that were in the business. My husband and I visited venues and posted photos on-line and on You-Tube for our daughter to make decisions from a distance. I frequented Habitat for Humanity ReStore to purchase flatware – mismatched as a “green” approach to also give back to the community. We did a similar approach for the coffee/tea cups with purchases from Durham Rescue Mission. Ribbon of the “pantone” was purchased and many projects were in progress for several months.
While the venue was secured; we had frequent interactions with the venue events coordinator. She reassured us that the venue and her staff would coordinate all of the reception activities of the day as well as the coordinate additional rentals. We also had approval with this coordinator for all of our vendors (DJ, cater, cake, etc.). She met with us and the vendors ahead of time and we felt extremely comfortable with the venue and their staffs’ capability to handle our daughter’s wishes and our verbal and e-mail agreements went well beyond that of the contract. We had envisioned a worry-free and smooth event without the need of a Wedding Coordinator.
We are in over our heads – why we needed assistance and fast:
Within weeks prior to the count-down of our daughter’s wedding we learned that the events coordinator that we had been working so closely with at the venue was leaving for another position. At this point, our home and our time were taken over my bits and pieces of the projects in various stages of completion and we knew we had a lot of stuff to handle… and we knew that as much as the venue tried to fill in and make wedding reception go well, it became extremely clear that the venue Wedding File that was left didn’t contain the details of the verbal and face-to-face information and agreements that were discussed. Additionally, there were other events that the new folks had to coordinate that were being confused with our daughter’s wedding.
Saving our sanity – working with Natasha:
It was at that point that Natasha walked into our DYI wedding planning. We were overwhelmed and needed assistance. Natasha was hired as a “Day of Event” coordinator. Immediately, Natasha met with us to determine the magnitude of assistance needed. I do believe that we all underestimated the severe weather. She reviewed the items scattered about our house and immediately had a plan. She walked away with copies of contracts and contact information, and an appointment to return within the week to assist us with boxing and sorting and counting the items needed for the reception. Spending at least two visits and many hours each visit, we had a comprehensive list of our items that were to be returned, those to be delivered to the catering company and well defined boxes, of what she would take from our home to allow us space – to prepare for the guests that we would entertain at home. She continued to be positive, pleasant and helpful. I appreciated that she was not overwhelmed by the magnitude of stuff that we had floating about or the number of trips that she had to make to our house. Additionally, she demonstrated creativity along with practicality – later as the weather demanded alterations in the entire set up these attributes we now see as essential.
The day of:
What Natasha and her staff along with the vendors had to endure to set up the reception as the storms passed is still beyond my comprehension. Natasha had to work with the “new” events coordinator at the venue site, knowing that only she had the correct information, she was able to firmly address the items that were needed and yet not offend the venue staff. She calmed the vendors that had to pull their equipment from vans during downpours. She made last minute changes that were in our best interest. The reception was beautiful and the bride and groom loved every minute of their day. We visited with family and longtime family friends. Natasha created a beautiful and wonderful atmosphere when we were in need of a true wizard during an emotional and chaotic day. She was literally the calm within the storm.
Thereafter:
Natasha didn’t stop at the set up and as the DJ played the last song. She continued to organize the food that we could take. And, gracefully told us to go home, get sleep and relax. She coordinated the clean-up, returns and again, made multiple trips to our home to deliver the DYI items to our house safe and well cared for…
