Wedding At The Lancaster Marriott and Convention Center

It's been a while since I've blogged about a real wedding so here we go! Kristin and Mike tied the knot in November of 2009. I was contacted about three weeks before the date to come on board and tie up some last minute items and to pull the wedding together. Also they wanted some professional advice on the linens, etc. (They decided to alternate between ivory and brown linens in the reception dining room...it looked gorgeous!) The bride and her mother were apparently leery of hiring someone, but the father of the bride was all for it. They had been having some communication issues with some of the vendors and wanted someone to take care of those issues as well as someone to be there on the wedding day to keep things running smoothly.

The ceremony was at First Reformed United Church of Christ. The rehearsal went smoothly and everyone figured out where to be and when pretty quickly.

Before the wedding the girls were getting ready at the reception site, the new Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square. I stopped in while they were getting ready to see how things were going. It's good I did because as the bridesmaids were getting dressed one of their dresses ripped down the back! This is exactly why I always carry a sewing kit (as well as MANY other items) in my emergency kit! I quickly pulled out my kit and sewed the dress up and as far as I know it held the rest of the night!

We then headed over to the church for them to get some pre-ceremony pictures done. Once the guests started arriving the girls went to one part of the church and the guys to another so they would not see each other before the ceremony. I tracked down everyone that was to received a boutonniere and pinned them all on. Then went to sit with the girls for the last few minutes to make sure everything was ok.

The ceremony went smoothly and was beautiful! I think I even saw the groom shed a tear (he says it was the flowers...)! While the bridal party got pictures taken I headed over to the reception site to make sure everything was set up.

I also made sure there were hors d'oeuvres set up in the holding room for the bridal party and requested "car bombs" be sent to the holding room by request of the groom for him and his groomsmen!

he surprise raw bar the parents of the bride ordered.

he happy groom and his groomsmen enjoying the "car bombs"

The couple hired musicians to play during cocktail hour. Once they arrived we found the best place for them to set up and play. A few minutes into cocktail hour I heard blaring music from down the hallway. I ran (and I do mean ran) down the corridor to find out what was going on! Ends up there was to be a big party in the room beside ours later that night (even though I had been told that room would be empty). I talked to the DJ and got him to turn the music down so that our guests could not hear it.

There were a few other snags during the cocktail hour such as not enough bartenders and an issue with the raw bar in the bridal parties holding room, but I made a few calls and took care of everything quickly.

The reception ended up going smoothly and the guests had no idea of some of the behind the scenes issues, which is always one of my goals. I overheard several guests remarking what a wonderful time they were having. This may have been one of the most fun crowds I have ever seen. When the bride and groom did their first dance many of the guests ended up getting up to dance also. Later in the night the father of the bride got up with the band and sang a song with them. And then after that the entire bridal party sang a song with the band. It was such a fun night and one I won't forget for a long time! I felt so honored to be a part of it.