“Feeling Good” Chronicles of a Wedding Coordinator

By: Sheryl Hammond, WPICC, DWC of Bella Chic Events

My most rewarding wedding was last year. I was hired to coordinate this wedding 10 days prior their wedding. Of course – those last minute weddings / day of coordination are always the hardest.

This wedding was an outdoor wedding in Oakville. The bride was Egyptian – and she looked like an Egyptian Princess while the groom was Armenian, a police officer.

Well, because the couple had to do a lot of last minute details (by the way this wedding was planned in only 6 months  by the couple), I didn’t realize they didn’t have the key for the electricity where the ceremony was to take place. This was a day before their wedding (Friday). The bride called me and told me I needed to pick up their payment and give it to the city, so the city could give me the key to open the electricity.

Just imagine – me driving from Brampton to York on the 407 at 2pm, speeding, and yes there was so much traffic. By the time I reached the City of Oakville, the office was closed. My body was numb!  Seriously, I thought, “The groom is going to shoot me on their wedding day.”

I didn’t tell them the office was closed and I thought – this will be my last wedding. I didn’t even know what to do. Then, my husband told me to rent a generator or get the electricity from the banquet hall – (1000 feet away) which is impossible. I would need 1000 feet of extension wire. I couldn’t ask the houses nearby if they could give me electricity. All the options were not working at all. But I went to Home Depot and rented a generator. I had at least 250 ft of extension wire far enough so the generator noise wouldn’t be that loud. Really, I cried. That whole night my bride and groom were texting me and I sounded like Jennifer Lopez in “The Wedding Planner.” Everything was “perfect”.

On their wedding day – I showed up at the ceremony at 6 am just to plan what the best way would be to get some connection. I sat for 1 hour, then 2 hours by the bench and then I went over the contract.
I called the numbers and got the answering machine. On the bottom on the contract was the fine print where there was a number for emergencies.  I dialed the number hoping to get someone —sure enough, there was an answer. But unfortunately, she declined. She told me, it wasn’t their mistake – the bride and groom knew 6 months before that they need to pay for the energy and they didn’t. I explained to her that I didn’t make it on time yesterday, but she didn’t buy it. She hung up on me.

I dialed the same number again.  She said, “Listen, this is not your mistake, not our mistake, its their mistake.”

I replied, “Ma’am, I understand and I am very sorry about it, but what if this was your daughter’s wedding? Would you blame me to call you and ask if we can get the electricity? Ma’am, I would call Obama if I had to, just to get the power.”

She then replied ” Call 911″.

I said ” I will, thank you.”

I hung up and when I was about to call 911 she called back, and said ” I will have someone over in 15 minutes to fix this”.

I was in shock! I was jumping, this is 35 minutes before the ceremony starts. I told her she just gave my bride and my groom their best day ever. 10 minutes later the electrician came, opened the electricity, and the wedding went so smoothly – no one even knew what happened.

At the end of the night, the bride and groom and I were in their wedding suite and I told them the situation.

The groom hugged me and said; “I’m so glad you you didn’t tell my wife nor I.  Otherwise, I would’ve flipped out!”

A year after their wedding, just recently, I received their Thank you card which reads:
“Sheryl,
Thank you so very much for all your great assistance leading up to our wedding day, and more so on the day of. You are a wonderful person with so much passion in what you do, and it is for those reasons that you made a great planner. Our day wouldn’t have been the same without you!

Thank you for everything…
love,
The newly-weds”

I never thought I would receive this thank you card. Until now, the bride and I still talk through sms and FB and still hangout with each other. Yes, I was part of their love affair after all.

Now, every outdoor wedding, I have extension wires and generator in my car just in case