Next Level Stuff
Dancing away the rain
During this crazy time, it gives us time to reflect on the good and great moments from our past weddings. It also gives us time to remember the weddings that could have been not so great if we didn’t step up by going Above and Beyond for our couples. I’m reminded of one particular wedding that took place just this past year on September 28th, 2019.
Photo by Rebekah Emily Photography
On this day, Ryan and Danta were set to have a magical day to celebrate their love with their friends and family. The picture above was taken at their First Dance. Up until this point, a lot of planning took place and also some last minute changes. So let’s walk you through the process and tell you about all the things that evolved prior to their First Dance.
From inquiry to booking.
Ryan and Danta filled out the inquiry form on our website on March 28th, 2019. As with all of our couples, our first objective is to get to know each other and get into some basic details. So, we quickly followed up with them to see when might be a good time to talk and answer some of their questions. After just a couple emails, we settled on having our first ‘Bow Tied Chat’ on April 1st. They were a couple that lived out of town, so we naturally connected via video call. We had our video call on April 1st and then on April 7th, they sent us a text saying they wanted to move forward with us, and then they promptly signed the contract. We were all set and so excited to be a part of their wedding day.
Photo by Matthew Davey
The Walk-through.
We exchanged a couple texts throughout the planning process, sent them our questionnaire, and they took a few stabs at filing it out. In July, they sent an email asking if we were available for a walk-through on August 6th at their venue. (Side note: If you haven’t been to Popular Spring Manor, the picture we took here at their walk-through doesn’t do it justice.) So we met with them at their venue on August 6th. We were joined by their photographer, the very talented Rebekah with Rebekah Emily Photography. We were also joined by the venue coordinator and their parents. We walked through options for ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. We had a plan for just about everything, including a rain plan. Option A was Ceremony nestled into grove of trees, which was about 150 feet from the nearest power source, no problem, we brought a long and extra thick power cable to make it work. Option B for Ceremony was inside the Manor house. Option A for Cocktail hour was inside the house, Option B was on the deck under the tent you see in the picture. Option A for Reception was on the patio terrace in the foreground. Option B was inside the house, dinner in the main hall, dancing in the bar room. There may have been some Option Cs in there too. Needless to say, we were more than prepared for whatever the day had in store. We even went over a few timeline ideas on how to help their day flow smoothly.
Wedding Week
Per usual, we had our final ‘Bow Tied Chat’ scheduled for the week of their wedding. So on Monday, we had a video call planned for 6pm. We went over the questionnaire, talked about their timeline, their specific songs for their specific moments, and discussed final details. We even exchanged a few laughs throughout the video call. We were more than ready for Saturday!
Wedding Day
Photo by Matthew Davey
Matthew and Bessan arrived extra early to get setup for all three locations. They had decided on Option A for all the things. So we setup a speaker system at the Ceremony site, complete with a lapel microphone for the officiant. And as you can see, the Ceremony site was quite beautiful. We then setup a speaker inside the Manor house for Cocktail hour. And then we finally setup our main Reception system on the terrace. We were following the weather and we noticed a cluster of rain clouds heading towards us from the west. It looked like it was going miss us during the Ceremony, but hit us during the Cocktail hour. So, we put some plastic over our speakers just in case. The caterers did the same over the dinner tables, since they were on the same terrace as the dance floor. A little bit of rain came through before the Ceremony, but at that point, everything was ok, because everything was covered. After the gorgeous Ceremony, everyone headed inside for Cocktail hour.
The sun came back out and it looked like everything was going to be fine. Somebody made the call the remove the plastic from the dinner tables and finish the place settings. We decided to keep the speakers covered just in case. And then it happened. Just about halfway into Cocktail hour, a rain cloud popped up on radar and was about 10 minutes out. Now most DJs would just defer to someone else. We decided to take initiative. We checked with the other vendors, and the couple, to see what they wanted to do. We floated the idea of setting up tables under the tent, the idea of moving our speakers to have dinner and dancing inside (that original Option B), we just wanted to do whatever we could to keep the night alive for the couple and their guests. The decision was made to continue as originally planned.
And then it poured. And poured. And. Poured. The dinner tables were soaked. The dance floor was soaked. But, our speakers were fine. Now the dilemma was, do we reset the soaked dinner tables, or setup something completely different (from their color palette) on the deck under the tent. We checked with the couple, did what we could to ease their concerns, and offered them options for moving forward. The show must go on.
After the clouds cleared, we quickly sprang into action after chatting with the couple and the other vendors. Ultimately, the decision was made to have the tables on the terrace reset. This was going to take quite a bit of time. So, we interrupted the music playing inside to let everyone know that everything was going to be fine and that we were just going to extend Cocktail hour a little bit (more like an hour), which ironically was met with a few cheers. One thing Matthew and Bessan noticed, was the dance floor was soaked. So we found a mop bucket and a few hand towels in the kitchen to remedy that situation. In light of the moment, we tried to have fun with it. With towels on his feet, Matthew began dancing all over the dance floor while Bessan was playing “Wipe Me Down” by Webbie. Yes, there is photo evidence.
Photo by Rebekah Emily Photography
We finally got the dance floor dry, the tables were finally reset, and what could have been worse, wasn’t so bad after all. We called everyone outside to the deck where the seating chart was. In an effort to make things run a little smoother, we began calling tables to their seats. Once everyone was seated, we lined up the wedding party and ran through the introductions. Everything was finally back on track. To keep everything moving along, we helped call tables through the catering line. After everyone was fed, we called up Ryan and Danta for their toasts and cake cutting.
After the toasts and cake cutting, the newlyweds got on the dance floor for their First Dance, followed by their Parent Dances. After that, we invited their guests to the dance floor for the ensuing dance party. As you can see from the photos that Rebekah took above, we had a good time. Being that they basically lost an hour due to the need to extend Cocktail hour, we worked with the other vendors on an idea to extend an hour, so they could get their money’s worth. They were all on board, so we offered the idea to the couple, which they of course accepted. They had the epic dance party they wanted under the stars. When the party was over, we asked all of their guests to head to the front of the Manor house and for the couple to remain behind so they could have an intimate last dance, which Rebekah beautifully captured in the black and white image below.
At the end of the day, we did everything we could to make sure the couple had a memorable evening. To show their gratitude, they wrote not one, but TWO reviews, which you can find in the links below. As you can see, they were pleased with how we went above and beyond throughout the planning process, and on the day of their wedding to make sure the party they wanted still happened. We are in the business of saying yes more than no. Sometimes, we have to do what we can to pull rabbits out of hats. We can’t let a little rain (well a lot of rain) ruin a party. As we said before, the show must go on.