Most times if we interview with a prospective client we have a fairly good idea if we’re a good match, sometimes we click and other times we don’t…..

Several years ago I met with a bride-to-be to discuss assisting with Wedding Day Service for her fairly involved ceremony-I  thought the cultural blending was really interesting and that we were a great match- we had a great meeting but she didn’t book….

Just recently I heard from the bride, who contacted me in regard to her services as an officiant and while we chatted she said: Someday I’ll have to tell you about why we didn’t hire you and the disaster of my wedding day.

Here’s her story as posted on her personal blog-

A Cautionary Wedding Tale

You know that sinking feeling when your gut tells you something is really not a good idea?

That’s the feeling I ignored when my fiancé talked me out of hiring Mark Kingsdorf as my day-of wedding coordinator.

At the time, we were living in an historic home with beautiful grounds next to a stables, and chose to have our wedding at home as an obvious choice. The owners of the stables had taken some bit of persuading to allow us to have a wedding next door: so much so that they insisted that we hire valet parkers to avoid any possible disturbance to the horses as they were brought to and from their stalls and pasture. But somehow, I got it all together, including with a hefty insurance policy and a list of conditions.

My husband-to-be had gone to spend the night with his parents, and as the day of the wedding dawned with blue skies, I felt reasonably confident that I was well prepared for the event to come. I got a lot of teasing about the fact that I had typed up and handed out timelines and task lists, and in addition, I tacked up large posters with even more lists of who was doing what, by when, and how.

Seemed straightforward enough. Until I glanced out the window during a bathroom break between hair and make-up and saw that the tables and chairs were still stacked in a corner of the yard. This part of the set-up had been allocated to my fiancé’s friends, and apparently, not a single one of them had shown up.

I looked up at my carefully choreographed list and saw that I had made one fatal mistake – in my timeline, there was no room built in for error. To get even twenty minutes behind at this stage meant there would be no way everything would be set up on time for the ceremony.

I didn’t know where my fiancé’s friends were and I didn’t have a number to get in touch with them. Frantically, I called my future husband’s cell to no avail. Next, I called my in-laws’ house onlyto be informed that my fiancé was in the middle of a massage and couldn’t be disturbed! My friends and family suddenly found their work load doubled, and I ruthlessly sized up both the very young and the elderly for their suitability to be roped into the task.

Fuming silently – okay, maybe not so silently – I returned to the make-up chair with my updo slightly askew, cursing, panting and lightly sweating. Luckily, I had hired professionals for this job, as I was hardly looking like ideal bride material by this time. A couple of medicinal glasses of champagne later, I finally regained my composure.

With about ten minutes to go before the start of the ceremony, I couldn’t resist looking out the window to check on the progress outside, and that is where I saw, to my utterhorror, a van parked right in front of the pasture gate with the musicians unloading, totally blocking the way for a highly strung horse and his even more highly strung owner.

Aaagh! Disaster!

Frantically, I began yelling to try to get their attention to move the van. Without thinking, I began pounding on the window, and all of a sudden, I had everyone’s attention as my fist went straight through the historic seventeenth century glass and I started to bleed – profusely, in fact!

Oh *****! was my first thought.

Don’t bleed on the dress! was the second.

I’ve just destroyed a piece of our nation’s historic heritage, what am I going to do? That was the last semi-rational thought I had before I unraveled completely.

As far as my second thought was concerned, I had the great fortune that my future brother in law is an emergency room doctor, and even better, he happens to travel with everything you need to stitch up a bleeding bride. It’s a great thing that bandages come in bridal colors…

I was even luckier in the serious matter of replacing a seventeenth century window pane. I came back from my honeymoon to find, by way of fantastic coincidence,someone had decided to do some architectural restoration on another part of the house, and there, up a ladder, I discovered my very own historic window replacement specialist.

As for the marriage…well, it didn’t last, but never let it be said that I don’t learn from my mistakes: Next time I get married, I’m definitely booking Mark.

Thanks Mirabai!

Mirabai is currently serving as Chaplain and Manager of Community Relations for Holisticare Hospice and is available as a wedding officiant.

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I’m really excited to be attending the 4th annual SustainaBall Friday, April 23rd  at The Chestnut Club at Arcadia Theatre for an evening of local food from Cosmic Catering, eco-chic cocktails & dancing to live music by Jim Fogarty and The ToneBenders.

This fundraiser for the Sustainable Business Network includes great food, entertainment and a silent auction -  gift bags of green products, gourmet, artisan chocolate tasting featuring John & Kira’s Chocolates and an  Earth Day-themed cake from The Night Kitchen Bakery.

Tickets are still available through the Sustainable Business Network

I’m excited to be attending this great event and have the chance to network local leaders of the Philadelphia green and sustainable business community and to be able to check out new, local eco friendly products for our clients weddings.

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As Professionals Wedding Consultants and entrepreneurs we tend NOT to keep very regular schedules…..

Yes, our hours are listed as Monday through Friday 9AM to 5PM….. but if brides were all available M-F, 9-5 they might not need a wedding planner…

We meet clients by appointment several nights a week {I’m on my way to meet one of our clients in from Chicago right after this on a Sunday morning}, we attend networking events, open house events at new venues and don’t forget that many Friday nights we have rehearsals for our Saturday weddings….and as about 1/3 of our clients are Jewish brides we have quite a few Sunday weddings as well….

So? When Do you have a day off?

My day off is rarely the same day or even a full day, we do take vacations because I schedule them at least a year and a half in advance…..

It’s my life {and I’m NOT complaining} I LOVE what I do….

My day off often involves something wedding related…. When we’re not working we’re often learning more about weddings or in my case also teaching new wedding planners across the country…

Last Saturday my day off was flying to Asheville, North Carolina to speak at the Association of Bridal Consultants NC State Conference….as one of only 50 Master Bridal Consultants in the world, teaching new planners is part of paying it forward.

I got to Asheville and did a quick tour of the beautiful Biltmore Estate and the gardens were stunning this time of year {great place to host weddings!} and then I went off to pick up my friend and fellow ‘Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” alum – Samantha Goldberg!

Sam and I hit the town looking for good North Carolina BBQ and then off to the hotel to get ready to speak to 40 North Carolina wedding planners…. We had a great day and learned as much as we taught.

 {Sam and I with ABC NC State Coordinator Veronica Foster}

Yesterday I snuck away to Baltimore for a few hours to attend I DO Brunch 2010 hosted by one of my dearest friends The Wedding Diva – Linnyette Richardson-Hall…..it was a day to pamper wedding planners and let us enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures of an event and not have to plan it….

Linnyette and I have been friends for a very long time and rarely get to spend time together so getting invited to this was really an honor, the theme was English Garden and the B-more area wedding professionals really blew us all away.

So…. What do wedding planners do on their day off?

If you want to be really good at what you do….. You hang with other wedding planners, of course!

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For those of you who gave up sweet treats for Lent and those of you who have cleared your cabinets of leavened products for Passover…..

You’ll be REALLY happy to know that you didn’t miss this year’s annual Let Them Eat Cake wedding cake competition….

This event raises funds for City of Hope and women’s cancer research and treatment… in memory of my mother Lois who died of breast cancer…

There are still spaces available for pasty chef’s to compete and LOTS of wedding cake to sample….

We’re working on some great surprises… a few are some of the judges we have lined up….

Cookbook author and celebrity April Margera (mother of Bam – a la “Jackass” and Bam’s Unholy Union)….

My good friend Samantha Goldberg of Gold Event Planning and Whose Wedding Is It Anyway!

And another member of The Emily Post Institute will be joining us this year – Lizzie Post {the great-great-granddaughters of world-renowned etiquette and entertaining guru Emily Post}, who is the co author {along with her sister and past LTEC  judge, Anna Post} of a new entertaining book – Great Get-Togethers: casual gatherings & elegant parties at home.

Check out the City of Hope website for information on the event and to purchase tickets!

For any of you who follow us on Facebook {Mark Kingsdorf} you’ll probably know already that I’ve spent the last week in Las Vegas attending and presenting at catersource / event solutions …

It’s a great place to be if you are involved in wedding and event planning and/or catering….you’re seeing, tasting and learning about great food and event design from people who are setting trends in this industry…

I’m honored to have been selected to do several sessions as part of the wedding tract – because of my catering background in hotels, country clubs, museums, and off premise catering and over 10 years planning weddings in the Philadelphia area – I really understand many of the questions and issues caterers deal with in their venues and dealing with couples planning their wedding.

Vegas is a fantasy land for event planners as themes in décor, food and displays are EVERYWHERE, and there are AMAZING restaurants in every hotel….

Right from the start as I checked in as a speaker my week was off to a great start….. Checking in with me was keynote speaker – Carla Hall of Alchemy Caterers in Washington, D.C…..also of Top Chef fame.

Carla and her team could not have been any nicer, friendlier or more down to earth…. I’m really excited I got to spend some time with them and can’t wait to go to DC and visit…  I also got to see one of the cooking demos Carla did where she talked a lot about layering of flavors and textures and how to incorporate food items in the dish into the garnish {something I always did in my food presentations}.

Another HUGE point of excitement for me was how well Philadelphia, South Jersey and Delaware caterers were represented… not only in attendance but also presenting.

Local presenters Meryl and Andy Snow and their team from Feastivities Catering, and Lynn Buono of Feast Your Eyes Catering rocked the conference with their tips and sharing from their years of experience…

I’m excited that so many of the great ideas I experienced ranging from trends toward comfort food, ethnic fusion and molecular gastronomy will be appearing on menus of so many local caterers who attended…

Glad to have been in Vegas and able participate and absorb so many great aspects of wedding catering…. But Philly Rocks and I’m glad so much of the countries trends are starting here or headed here…

Beyond the amazing events and educationals session I was able to hang out with some of my favorite people in the wedding planning industry……. Sasha Souza, Steve Kemble and Susan Southerland of Marry Me! in Orlando.

It was a great week and I can’t wait to share some of the exciting ideas in design, linen and food….

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