Obsessive Practicality

You know that part in Clueless where Cher looks over at Tai in her state of utter fashion and social devastation and does a tiny little jig while squealing "Prooooject!!"? Well, that's how I approach just about everything in life. For example, we're moving into a new apartment next week, and it's already decorated. In my head. With furniture, textiles and decor I purchased in advance and made Groomy lug to our storage unit. Yes, I have a problem.

Sometimes, my obsessiveness is actually an asset. We are way ahead of our Knot timeline in terms of vendors booked, and we've definitely started thinking details ahead of time so that we're not all flustered and panicky the month before.

I read a lot of wedding blogs (shocker, I know!), and many of them stress the importance of communicating the "feel" or "vision" of your wedding to your vendors. I think this is crucial in the early stages, when you are choosing your vendors, so that you can find someone who really gets what you're after, but I think it is even more important when you get further along in your planning. Have you clued your vendors in to how your vision has morphed and the decisions you've made during the planning phases? Sure, you may have told your photographer that you've decided to do a "first look" before the ceremony, but did you let your officiant know that, too? It doesn't seem like something all the vendors would need to know, but taking photos beforehand may make you more relaxed during the ceremony, and may free you up for more of the cocktail hour, which is something your maitre'd may need to know, et cetera. It's kind of a chain reaction.

This is why my obsessive self is putting together kind of a "fact sheet" for all the major vendors. It will be a summary of all the important logistical points:

• Entire day-of timeline, including when other vendors will be setting up/arriving
  
• Close family members names and photos (I plan on pasting them into the word document as an "object")
• Any special situations - mother of the groom isn't speaking to Aunt Wilma because of a crushing canasta victory? You may think these things are silly or embarrassing, but people like your photographer, videographer, band leader, and DJ may need to know before they pair them up for that important photo or "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" duet. similarly, any special needs or physical limitations of guests of family members may be important.

Plus, I'll include information about the way we envision parts of the event - we'd like the dinner hour to be fairly quiet, we predict we'll spend much of the first course doing table visits, we're hoping for an ethereal feel to the ballroom. Remember, you have many vendors working simultaneously, so while you may have remembered to tell the DJ you want a quiet dinner hour, this will be for naught when your videographer decides it's time to loudly announce Testimonial Time in the corner. Not that our wonderful videographer would do this, but you get my idea.

Sadly, this document will not be a replacement for more vendor specific information (obsessive planning doesn't let you off that easily!), so you'll still have to provide the DJ with the do-not-play list (and the please-play, the must-play, and the do-not-play-if-you-value-your-appendages lists), the photographer with any special shots, and the maitre'd with a list of the hors d’oeuvres you want brought to the bridal suite (do this!!!). But it's a great way to round everything up and make sure all your vendors are on the same page, and I'm hoping it will save us a lot of communication headaches.