By: Rad Khan, WPICC, DWC of Rad Occasions Founder, Creative Director, and Lead Planner
Radhika (Rad for short) began working in the wedding industry in 2012 and founded Rad Occasions in 2015. Originally from Edmonton, she has called Victoria home for 15 years and loves everything about the city. Her focus is on connecting with couples to create a rad wedding day that truly reflects them individually as well as a couple. She can be often found going the extra mile whether it be folding 500+ cranes or saving flowers from a flash rain storm.
Some of her favourite things: cake, kitty cuddles, adventures, and wine
We are so lucky to have the joy and awesome opportunity to create beautiful wedding days for our couples and even sometimes those within the industry itself. It’s a tricky job but there is no other feeling quite like wrapping an event with a huge grin on your face once the whole day goes freakishly well (and I have probably jinxed myself for the next wedding).
So what’s involved in transforming a wedding day from average to a wildly spectacular success? It is definitely more than some Post It notes and snazzy planning software, so let’s get right into it:
#11. Coffee and water are your lifeline and Starbucks Mobile order has just made it just that much easier to get both into your system, stat. Let’s not even get started on how much coffee you have by the end of the day to get all the decorations, tables, and chairs put away!
#10. You can never have enough ice! I don’t know how many times we have had the conversation with couples about ice, especially for a hot summer day. We always work with the catering company or bartenders to make sure there are truly excessive amounts of ice on the day especially when creative & delicious cocktails are on the menu.
#9. Checking the weather way too much, especially if the event is outdoors and a forecast that has been flip flopping between sunny with a chance of rain and torrential downpour. Thank goodness for Weather Network’s rain notifications and rental companies with clear umbrellas (tents too!), I don’t know how I survived the stress of it all before!
#8. Always forgetting where you put down your clipboard until the invention of Bluetooth trackers. Never will I ever again have to ask where my clipboard is…unless my tracker dies and I guess then I will have to rely on my other backup – my iPad, my phone, and the extra timeline in my emergency kit.
#7. You have mastered the art of “let’s see what I can do” because as Marie Forleo says – everything is figureoutable right? Especially when you have a contingency fund, an assistant, and emergency kit at your disposal on the wedding day!
#6. Bossy, who me? I prefer directive, but thank you! Yes I am I have definitely been called the boss lady by and\ MC or two in my time, and this is something I have come to terms with with because that’s how things get done and the day runs on time.
#5. Ever met a ninja? Well now you have because we are most definitely are wedding planning ninjas and if the couple or a guest didn’t notice anything that did go wrong then success has definitely been achieved!
#4. Double, triple, and quadruple checking the invites then asking someone else to do the same on the electronic proof before telling the stationer that you approve even though you know you are going to double, triple, and quadruple check again once the invitation arrives.
#3. Clients who say thank you. Those two little words can do so much to brighten a day especially when you are putting your all into making the day pure perfection. It’s even nicer when the thank you is summed up in a Google or Facebook review.
#2. We have 10 + to do lists, tracking spreadsheets, and timelines on the go at all times. Now this is what should be considered a juggling act – especially when it comes down to keeping the details, colours, and family member’s names accounted for when meeting with each couple you are planning an amazingly fantastic day for.
#1. Sometimes we are definitely wishing that we could make time stand still even if just for a minute. Remember that old adage of “ there are not enough hours in the day”? Well it really does ring true especially when it is 2 am and you are crafting up the next place setting detail or re-working a timeline.
I did write this article mostly in jest, but in all seriousness what we do is not always easy, but it’s not impossible. For me knowing that each event will have its own twists and turns is the most exciting part of the role I get to play leading up to and on the day of the wedding. In the end we can do all that we can to plan the perfect day, drink our coffee, and fix any mishaps like the pros we truly are.
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