Cubicle by Day, Fabulous Weddings by Night

As you may already know, I got a second job as a weekend assistant at one of the most fabulous wedding venues in the Houston area, and Sunday I worked my first "gig"! I'm an "event assistant", meaning I only work the actual wedding, (or event) and help the event planner make sure everything goes smoothly. I arrived 2 hours before the wedding started and was given a quick tour of the facility, (where the lights switches, AC monitors, emergency exits, etc. were,) and was introduced to the head chef and the head of catering. I was then given a checklist and was put to work immediately! I had to run around and make sure all of the tables were numbered correctly and had the right amount of chairs, check that all decorations were in the proper place, see that all outside vendors were doing what they were supposed to do, make sure rooms were the correct temperature, pin corsages on grandmothers, wrangle rowdy ring bearers before their walk down the aisle...the list goes on and on! I couldn't believe that so much trust was put in my hands on the very first day-but I loved it! They gave me a timeline which outlined every minute detail of the day, which is exactly what I did for my own wedding! (Which any of my friends and family who were involved can attest to!) I thought I was psycho crazy, but I guess that's what the pros do! This wedding was gorgeous! The budget was around $40,000! Towering glass centerpieces dripping with crystals and flowers...thousands of candles...fancy passed hor dourves...black tie tuxedos and floor length gowns...escort cards and individual menus...valet parking...it was the most lavish affair I've ever seen! It was just like what you see in the movies! Before the wedding started, there were about 100 people running in every direction tying bows on chairs, sprinkling rose petals, lighting candles, icing down champagne...you name it! And don't even get me started on the cake...oh, the cake! In the mother of the bride's speech, she referenced the bride's childhood summers at their house in France. Wowzers. Apparently the groom is a professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles. Needless to say, I was running around like crazy, figuring out where to seat guests who did not RSVP, arranging the candy bar, getting a towel for the father of bride after a very rowdy, (and sweaty,) turn of "Hava Nagila," assisting an elderly woman after she lost a huge onyx stone from one of her rings...and so much more! After 7 hours, I was exhausted! Normally I would of needed to stay even longer, but this particular bride had hired outside wedding planners as well, so there was plenty of help for packing the couple's belongings, etc, so I got to leave at a semi-decent hour. It was a Sunday night, (which is apparently the new day to get married,) so I had to work the next day. From now on, I should be able to pick the nights that I work...so hopefully no more Sundays! Overall, it was tiring but fun, and I'm going to stick with it! Maybe one day I will just be "Fabulous Wedding Planner" all the time! For now...it's back to my day job!