A Wedding Story...

Note: There are pictures to go with this post, but blogger won't let me post them. So, as is often the case, I will add them when I can. :)
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Yesterday was a very exciting day for MeLissa! She helped coordinate a wedding reception for somewhere around 300 people! The reception celebrated the marriage of Felisia and her beau Kenneth - a truly beautiful couple!

This was a great experience for MeLissa in so many ways. Now that she's approaching her last week in the corporate world and will be coordinating weddings full-time, she is very excited for opportunities to gain experience. This was a wonderful opportunity to practice her skills, gain confidence and see what her new career will truly be like. She loved every minute of it even if she did come home with a very achy body (um, yeah, Mark's going to have to start cracking the whip on her a little bit more!).

Her first task actually was accomplished a couple of days prior. She needed to find the perfect ensemble that would allow her to work while blending in with the guests. She and her friend Loan found just the right one at Macy's. Its brown iridescent fabric was sure to be a hit (and the fact that it was on sale made it a great buy)! The only problem? Now she needed a pair of shoes as well. The girls found a cute pair of sandals by Ecco that matched vey well. She planned to wear the pearl accessories she wore to her own wedding to complete the ensemble.

On Saturday morning, MeLissa arrived at the Oakland City Center Rotunda venue to find that there was a bit of confusion surrounding how many tables were to be set up and where to put them. After much discussion between the head coordinator and the vendue coordinator, the tables were placed and everyone (the head coordiator, MeLissa and another assistant coordinator and various wedding party members and relatives) got to work on setting up the room. MeLissa began with folding napkins. Soon, she had trained half a dozen bridal party members on how to do the task and they were all doing great - it didn't take long before all the napkins were folded and ready for the tables. We did some additional decorating and then MeLissa was asked by the head coordinator to take care of the cocktail reception area.

MeLissa was happy to take on this challenge. She set up the guest book table and the gift table and added the finishing touches to the cocktail rounds (including using a little "magic" to ensure that the lampshades would stay in place even if a table was jostled. She even finished the set up of several manequins which displayed dresses worn by women important to the bride and groom. As you can see, she has a flair for table decor, though, she did make a few adjustments after the first picture was taken and she learned that the crystal lamp was destined for the bride and groom's table. :)

At about 3:30 that afternoon, MeLissa rushed home to finally eat something and get dressed for the main event. She attended to her toilette, donned her fabulous dress and had a quick bite to eat. Shortly thereafter, she was rushing out the door to the reception where she quickly jumped into her role as an authority figure and made sure that everything was flawless and ready for the bride and groom's arrival!

As the evening went on, she kept busy greeting guests and ensuring they had everything they needed to enjoy themselves. We must mention that one of the guests was noneother than one of her previous bosses (from PG&E). Mark was having a grand ol' time dancing and enjoying the show (we don't have a picture, but there was even an arial acrobat to entertain the guests!). We have some rather amusing photos and video of Mark shaking his groove thang, but we're not sharing! :)

MeLissa took this as an opportunity to shine during the evening and made a great impression on the venue's coordinator and the bride's mother who is also a wedding coordinator. Both of these fine ladies are looking forward to helping MeLissa launch her career and have offered their assistance whereever possible. One significant bit of help from Zina, the bride's mother, is that she's promised to give MeLissa a few pictures from the wedding to use in her portfolio. This is very thrilling indeed.

MeLissa also was able to make some other great connections through the wedding experience. She now knows a great band, a terrific DJ, and a marvelous massage therapist (for when Mark's unavailable, of course!). She's also soon to receive information about the catering company (owned by the bride's cousin and wonderful!), a potential client and a potential assistant. Most of these professionals thought MeLissa did an awesome job and are hoping to send clients her way.

Today, we slept in to let MeLissa recover from her late night (she was in bed by about 3) and then awoke and did some chiro-studying. We also made our way down to Fry's (an electronics store) where we purchased a new camera MeLissa can use to take pictures of decor elements that come out a bit better than the ones she has here (we're sure you noticed that many of these are a bit dark!). We actually took a tip from Mark's brother and bought the camera he has. It's a nice compact camera that's waterproof up to 10 ft. and shock proof when dropped from 5 feet or less. In the process, MeLissa was able to provide a few cards to the employee that helped her who was very excited about her service. She's actually going to have to order so more temporary cards because she's running low! :)

We hope you had a great weekend, too! Only 4 more workdays until MeLissa is her own boss!