The cake, along with all the white lights I strung.
Last Saturday, I was the coordinator for a wedding, and it was one of those days when everything goes perfectly. That’s not to say that there were no challenges, but everyone rose to meet them.
The biggest hurdle we had to overcome was the weather. The wedding was at Architectural Artifacts/Atrium Events on the north side of Chicago. It’s a wonderful space and I look forward to working there again. The one and only drawback to the place is that it has no air conditioning. And Saturday was the first day this summer when the weather was over ninety degrees!
The ceremony was outdoors in the courtyard where the weather was bearable. The reception was on the lower level that had stayed cooler than the rest of the space. The caterer had also made sure to bring extra fans to keep the air moving at the tables and on the dance floor. Only the cocktail hour was indoors on the upper level where it was rather hot and crowded. The caterer, the photographer, and I all coordinated our activities so we could open up the lower level as early as possible to let people get out of the heat. (I thought the bride’s godmother was going to melt!)
The band started playing at 9:00, and the lead singer invited people onto the dance floor this way: She said, “As long as you are already sweating, you might as well be dancing.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. The guests took her advice, too.
But there was more to this wedding than just overcoming the challenges brought on by the weather. The lovely young couple had done an exceptional job planning their entire wedding day. They really thought through the details. In fact, I was still getting e-mails from the bride the day before with just “one more thing” she had thought of. She was a little apologetic until I told her that I’d rather she told me those things in advance, rather than waiting until half an hour before the ceremony. Knowing what they really needed, I was able to take care of all the little details that made the day special for them.
And because they had planned so thoroughly (and hired people who knew how to execute the plan), everything went perfectly. They had a lovely, personal ceremony followed by a terrific reception with food and drink, cake, flowers, meaningful toasts, and dancing to a very fun dance band.
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