My assistants and I arrive a couple of hours before the ceremony is set to begin as we step into a large, empty room. No tables, no chairs. Just a large, empty ballroom.
Each vendor arrives, one-by-one and it's go time. From the second we step into that blank canvas of a room and begin to transform it into the wedding of her dreams, we don't even have a second to think about breathing.
Two hours, one hour and then it's half an hour until that 5:00pm ceremony start time and every detail must be set to perfection.
No matter how much time we've spent setting up, that half hour gives me a little bit of sweat, regardless of what needs to be done and what is already finished. Because without every detail in place, I will not give this bride the wedding she has dreamed up for years. Although I don't get nervous for weddings anymore after having planned and executed them for the past eight years, there is still just a half an hour of time that always gives me butterflies. And during that half an hour at each wedding I coordinate, I begin to "glisten."
We're running around getting the last details in place, lining up the wedding party, not to mention the Malibu sun beating down on us.
20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes...
And it's go time.
My blazer goes on and I begin sending the grandparents, the parents, the groom and his groomsmen, the bridesmaids, the ring bearer, the flower girl down the aisle. Then the guests all stand as I cue the DJ to change the song to the bride's processional.