September 28, 2023
Grace and Cody’s wedding was such a special day for them, but what many people may not realize is that their day was also special for me. Grace and Cody were my very first couple that I experienced as a director! I will never forget the phone call that Grace and I had and how honest I was with her. I knew that I could handle the task, but I felt it was important to let her know that her wedding would be my first. In my mind, I was expecting her to be very hesitant, but she wasn’t! She was confident in her choice that I could successfully direct what would be her best day. This decision that she made, would be the jumpstart to TaylorBWeddings.
When I think back to this day, I can’t help but to think about how unexperienced I was. I really had no clue what I had gotten myself into! I now have some experience and when I think back to this day, I can’t help but laugh at a few occurrences where I was humbled.
To start off strong, I walked into the Venue, The Cornelius Properties, very confident and eager to get to work. When I first entered the reception hall, there was a woman getting the tables ready. I hadn’t met her yet, but I knew the bride and her girl’s were getting ready in the house so I assumed she was the venue manager or owner. Remember now, I had never worked a wedding, so I was totally new and had no idea of how the “behind the scenes” worked. So I approached the woman to introduce myself. She then asked a question that I did not know the answer to and I responded with, “let me go ask the bride”. HUGE MISTAKE! She quickly responded with, “No, we will not be asking the bride anything today”. Her response made me feel so ignorant and like a failure because I wanted so badly to be good at this and here I was… about to do a NO NO. After her response, I was able to begin working on another task while the mysterious woman kept working on the tables. About 5 minutes goes by and I see the bride coming to the reception hall. We chatted for a moment about her excitement and then she calls her mom over to us. Y’ALL…. The mysterious woman was her mother! I was so embarrassed, but thinking back to that moment, it created my biggest rule. THE BRIDE IS NOT TO BE BOTHERED ON HER WEDDING DAY in regards to anything about ceremony/reception set up. So.. lesson learned.
Next up is a mistake that taught me to familiarize myself with the venue’s structure BEFORE THE CEREMONY. This is something that never crossed my mind, but at The Cornelius Properties’ Bird Song Chapel, there are these beautiful wooden doors. These doors are held in place by a small pole that you have to lift up in order for the them to open smoothly. Well, when it was time for me to open the doors for the bride and father, mine was stuck.. I tried so hard to get it to open, but time was ticking and the show had to go on.. so they had to walk through one door, rather than two. However, I feel that this was help from the good lord above because if you look in the background of the photo below, you can see a woman standing directly behind them. That means if both doors were open, that random woman would have photo bombed… Lol so I have a new lesson under my belt. Always check the venue’s doors before ceremony time. I also learned to always keep a clear line of sight where a photographer may be capturing a photo. I learned this not only for myself to be aware of, but to also keep an eye out for others.
Lastly, was a situation that wasn’t necessarily my fault, but I could have helped avoid…
It was time for the ceremony and I had gotten everything setup as well as the bridal party/family lined up. It was time and everything was going perfectly. The guests were sat, family and bridal party were lined up, and the bride and her father were ready for their entrance. The ceremony begins and we get to the exchange of rings. It was at that moment, the bride looks at her maid of honor and freezes. The moment was very short, but when the bride turned back to the groom and put his ring on, THERE WAS NO RING! The Maid of Honor had forgotten the ring… When the ceremony was over, the Maid of Honor ran to the house, crying. Then, the officiant’s wife frantically approaches the couple and says, “I’m going to get the rings and we are doing it again.” That’s right, we did the ceremony AGAIN while the guests were at Cocktail Hour.
While this wasn’t what we wanted to happen, the second ceremony was so intimate for Grace and Cody. Looking back, it gave them a moment to really appreciate their love for each other.
Yes.. it did work out, but the situation started my next rule. I keep the rings until ceremony time!
While these three situations did not boost my self esteem, there was so much good that I experienced. First, I LOVED the color scheme. I am a huge fan of what I call “Blue/White Vintage”. It was simple, light, airy, and so elegant. I also got to orchestrate my first processional and recessional, which went PERFECTLY! Everyone either knew where to sit or where to stand. I was so proud of myself! There were also moments where I just watched the other vendors do their jobs and I remember thinking how in sync everyone must be for a wedding to flow smoothly and I was so excited that I was part of it. Shoot… I’m the one that had to keep everyone flowing with the timeline.
At the end of the night, when everyone was enjoying the party, I was able to sit outside and take it all in. I had done it! While I was sad to see the day end, I was so relieved! I had worked up so many nerves about the experience that it had put me in a chokehold and now I could finally relax.
Around 9:30pm, the bride’s mom found me and spoke words of encouragement and praise about my services. For some reason, when I think back to all of my wedding experiences, this conversation is one that sticks out. While I am very aware that I could have done better, I know that everyone has to start somewhere and that was my starting point. I am so appreciative of this wedding because it showed me what I could be apart of and now I get to continue growing and learning with wondering couples, families, and vendors. I am so lucky!
XOXO,
TaylorBWeddings
(Continue scrolling for more photos and the vendor list)
Vendors:
Venue: The Cornelius Properties
Photographer: Kelsey Zeagler Photographer
Videographer: Godwin Productions
Florals: Owen’s Florist
Dress: Coastal Knot Bridal Boutique
Catering: Funky Fresh Catering
DJ: @djtrp1984 (Bad Boyz Entertainment)
Cake: Sweet Dreams Bakery
Rentals: https://carolinarefinery.com/
Hair and Makeup: @joni_xxoo
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