A public image to maintain?

Being an event planner means that you are usually in the public's eye. Whether in front to be seen or in the back, the planner is usually the one that people like to blame when something doesn't go right or to their tastes. Criticism for any public person is inevitable. But what most people don't see is that there are two sides to every story and not all stories start or end the same.

A planner may meet with their client for weeks (many times months) and learn how they want the celebration to unfold. Then we suggest ways to bring that feeling about, whether it be with color, decorations, furniture rearranging, or others, we help the bride and groom bring their style to their event. Guests see the end result. They rarely are involved with the planning aspect or all that goes into it; the dealing with venue restrictions, crowd control, or worse yet, multiple family members all wanting their say and slice of glory.

As a planner, it is my job to carry out the wishes of the bride and the groom; it is their special day and they who are signing my pay check! All guests see is the bad lighting at a venue and think that it is somehow our fault that the electricians didn't put electrical outlets in for extra lighting (even though we would have preferred the lights on, others wanted them off). They see the planner getting after guests to be seated at a function even though the ushers have asked the guests 5 times to politely take their seats to only be ignored. The bride wants to start on time, so the planner takes the fall.

I have had many people come up to me and say, "You couldn't pay me enough money to do what you do. How do you put up with everyone getting after you to do this and that, keep schedules, deal with irate vendors, late vendors, bad service, irate family members (yes, we do know the situations because we have emails and phone calls to prove it!), and still get everything done on time and pulled off beautifully?" This is the time that I pull out my magic planner wand and smile.

While criticism is good and for the most part somewhat healthy for growth and professionalism, please don't judge us too harshly for what you may perceive as faults. We are human yes, and mistakes may be made, but at the end of the night when the bride and groom come to us with tears in their eyes and tell us that it is exactly what they wanted, then our job has been done to what we were hired to do. I may never win popularity contests, but I am very good at what I do. Maybe that is why my calendar is always full and my scrapbooks full of congratulatory notes.

Planning is not for the faint of heart. We are a rare breed with visions that are far reaching, big hearts that care for our clients as if they are our very own, and organizational gurus that have to control crowds with a mere look. We dodge handy hands, chase after unruly children, wash dishes, bus tables, fix bustles, deal with multiple personalities in crowds, and still find time to appreciate the event for what it is: a celebration designed to bring people together to have a great time for a little while. Making a difference in people's lives if only for a short time is a great thing. If I have 5 disgruntled people out of 400, then I am going with majority rules.