A whole new respect

Hey-Lo

Tonight as I am writing this blog...I am spent.

Last week, I decided to help Marc and Colleen with the Wedding Festivals that were coming up. I wanted to see for myself what really goes on with the planning and execution of these shows. Normally, we will show up for load in and then we will setup our booth. Then mingle with some of our friends that we have made since we started in the wedding business.

My journey started on that Monday. I sat in the office of Wedding Festivals and assisted with various menial tasks. While I was there I could not believe the inbound phone calls of brides wanting information on the show, potential vendors who wanted to know if there were any booths left, and vendors who already signed up for the show needing various things from them. The phone was ringing all day. If their phones ran on batteries, they would have gone dead.

Tuesday....We had lunch and met Fraser from The Party Machine for lunch at Fuddruckers. During that meeting Marc and Colleen nailed down the details for the fashion show. I was amazed with all the talent it takes to put that show on. Everyone from Marc and Colleen to The Party Machine Emcee'ing it, Visio Photography taking photos for it as well as some other designing duties, and Brian and Russell from AVF Creations producing some videos for the show. I have not even mentioned the coordinating with the various dress and formal wear stores getting sizes to them, etc...

Wednesday...this day we finished up on some other things around the office and soon enough ended up at the Carolina First Center ready to do all the physical labor setting up the show's elements, i.e. pipe and drape, staging, showlights, etc...

While some of the crew was measuring for the pipe and drapes, others were setting up the registration tables, and the rest were setting up the stage for the fashion show. Before I knew it day turned into night and we did not get done until welll after 10:00pm. However, Marc and Colleen were no where near being done. They still had things to finish at the office for the show on Thursday. Chris from Cinematic Impressions stopped by to play some XBox on the megatron big screen. Before that happened we were working on stuffing the Wedding Festivals bags with the items that the vendors had paid for to be in there. I could not believe how many vendors did this. This was by far the hardest task of the night because of the teadious nature of walking in a circle and stuffing bags. I thought it was cool of Chris to join in. But, he is that kind of a guy.

Thursday...Tammy and I arrive at the venue around 10:00am and set up our booth. At this point I meet with Colleen and get some last minute printing done at Kinkos. We get back to the venue at around 2pm and are getting ourselves pumped up for the show that day.

The show starts and it is a solid 5 hours of talking to brides. We were amazed with the amount of brides that we talked to on a Thursday night. As fast as it started, the show was over and it was now time for tear down.

While Tammy was working on tearing down our booth, I was helping tear down the stage and packing the stage lights and such. We did not get done into well after 11:00 and at the end of the night, I was spent. I could barely walk from being so sore.

At last my nightmare work out was over right...wrong. On Saturday I had to film a video on a ranch that was well over 1000 acres. Of course I had to walk from one end to the other...several times. NOW...I am done and I can finally rest right....NOPE.

I also volunteered to help with the Asheville Wedding Festival on that following Thursday.

This Thursday started at 7:30 in the morning with a drive to Asheville. We got the show setup in time for a noon vendor load in, and then we all worked our tails off right up until 4pm when the doors opened for the brides to come in. You would think that once 4pm came around everyone would be able to rest during the show right?....you thought wrong. Once the show starts, the same people who setup the show work the front door, sell tickets, run the Wedding Festival booths, walk around and assist the vendors as needed. It is a non stop day throughout the entire show. Then when 9pm comes around it is tear down time once again and once again we are putting the show away. However this time we all have an hour drive or more to get back to our homes in the Greenville area.

I walked in my front door at 2:15am. I do not know about everyone else but I am sure that they were out late too.

The people that set up these shows are just about the same ones who do it every time. One is in school to become a nurse. One is a school teacher. Another a musician who is in school full time and drove all the way up to Asheville just to help with the tear down.

The one thing that everyone has in common is that they all seem to love working these shows. It is hard work...very hard work.

Without people like Garyn, Logan, Sarah, Elliott, Deangelo, Marshall, Coleman, and I know that I am forgetting a few names here, please forgive me, and I will add them to this once I remember them...anyway, without people like these, Marc and Colleen, there would not be a venue where brides could come to and get quality ideas for their weddings...there would not be a way to meet with as many vendors in one setting, and most of all, the wedding industry here in the Upstate would definatly not be as successful as it is without Wedding Festivals and the dedicated people who put in all those hours in order to accompish a common goal...to be there for all the brides to be.

Peace,
Mike