Who's Who in the Wedding Industry

I meet a lot of brides that are either a keen believer that they need help with the wedding planning process or they are determined to do it all on their own. For the brides in the second category, they learn a little too late that in the last three months leading up their wedding, they spend an average of 11 hours a week planning. Nearly 50% also found that planning their wedding was more stressful than they expected. (Source: Wedding Bells)

Assuming that I have now (easily) convinced you to hire help, here are some of the roles and responsibilities of the wedding industry professionals that can help you!
~Monica

Wedding Planner
This person is your Wedding Manager. Next to you, they know all about your wedding vision, wedding plans, and budget. (In actual fact, they might know all of this better than you.) This person will handle all the details leading up to your wedding and all the details on your wedding day. They will also have great relationships with other wedding professionals and can provide referrals to other wedding vendors. Your wedding planner’s great relationships may lead to discounts or bonus add-ons too. If you are getting married in Canada, you may want to consider hiring a Certified Wedding Planner with the Wedding Planners Institute of Canada (WPIC). Every Certified Wedding Planner with WPIC adheres to a Code of Ethics.

Day of Coordinator
This person is your Wedding Director. They are also a wedding planner but they come into the picture just a little bit before your wedding day (usually a month before). They will help you draft a wedding day timeline to ensure everything runs on-time and according to your plans. Your wedding vendors will be confirmed to ensure that they fulfill their contracts. Your wedding day will be smooth and executed flawlessly with the thanks of your Day of Coordinator.

Ceremony / Reception Site Coordinator
This person is contracted by the ceremony/reception venue. Their priority is to ensure the venue’s rules are implemented and not broken by you. Although you often hear the venue coordinator say they can help you on your wedding day, their role and responsibilities are tied with their employer – the venue. Now, I am not saying their role is not necessary. They also play a huge role at your wedding and can ensure everything runs smoothly, such as coordinating the timing of dinner. You never want hungry (and potentially cranky) guests!

Event Designer
This person is your Wedding Visionary. While a wedding planner excels in the logistics and planning of your wedding, an event designer will shine when designing the aesthetics of your wedding. Your event designer is the creator of the “WOW” factor at your wedding. They don’t just source rentals for your wedding, but they will create it custom for you when the item does not exist...yet. Your event designer is crucial to you if you strive for a one of a kind wedding that none of your guests have seen...like EVER.

Here are some pictures of the events and weddings created by my Event Designer Idol, Preston Bailey!






Photo Credits: Preston Bailey

JDRF Fundraiser Concert (Part Two)

A lot of effort was put into the Rays of Hope Fundraiser Concert by a lot of people. Special thanks to all of our volunteers: Pam, Herbert, Christina, Heidi, Ivy, Yan, Doreen, Alex, Tiffanie, and Patrick.

Here are some detail picture shots of the event, taken by Daniel Tiu Photography.

JDRF Fundraiser Concert (Part One)

The last month I was extra busy planning and organizing a fundraiser concert, Rays of Hope Musical Concert, for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This event was inspired by one of my closest friends. Her daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes a year ago before her third birthday. This year has been quite a challenge for my friend’s entire family - researching, learning, and adjusting to the change.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. This type of diabetes strikes children and adults suddenly, leaving them dependent on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Living with type 1 diabetes means living a very structured lifestyle in order to adequately regulate blood sugar and avoid complications. This lifestyle requires approximately 1,460 needles a year (based on four injections per day) and 2,190 finger pokes a year to test blood sugar levels.

The concert was held on November 25, 2011 at the Cantos Music Foundation. Prior to the concert, guests were invited to a cocktail reception, wine donated by Britannia Wine Merchants, tours of the Cantos music collection, and to participate in the silent auction. We had three wonderful performers that night, Dr. J, Kaden Core, and JC and Andy Plett from Room to Dance. They were an absolutely talented bunch and did a great job entertaining our guests that night! Special thanks to them!

Our silent auction contained over 40 items that were all donated by local businesses. Many of the silent auction sponsors were from the wedding industry too. Thank you to my peeps at: Great Event Group, Naturally Chic, Sarah Pukin Photography, Jacky Chow Photography, and Ruby Woo!

With everyone’s support and participation, we were able to raise over $5500.00 for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation!

Here are some pictures of our talented performers taken by our photography sponsor, Anthony Yuen Photography.

Stage Design at Jack Singer Concert Hall

Every day I am thankful for the people that surround me. I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason and that people are placed in our lives to assist us in becoming someone better.

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Ms. Terry Chan at Fairchild Radio Station, FM 94.7. This one time opportunity extended two more years. Earlier this year, Terry emailed me to ask if I would be interested in designing the stage for the New Talent Singing Awards – Calgary (NTSA). I remember the day that I got this email I had to read it over a couple of times. I was so excited. The NTSA is a big deal in the Calgary Chinese community. Youngsters (I only say this because I am no longer eligible) compete in a singing contest in Calgary. The winner gets to compete with other winners from around the world in Hong Kong for an opportunity to get a recording contract. (A little longer process than American Idol, but hey, the opportunity is still there.) NTSA is held at the Jack Singer Concert Hall every year and broadcasted in Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto through Fairchild TV.

I had always thought that I would expand Wishahmon beyond the wedding world but I never set a date for it. (I never did a business plan either.) Terry’s email and suggestion to do the stage design was a huge hint for me that this is the time to expand to Wishahmon – Event Creations. I am so grateful for her email and faith in me.

The design itself was fairly simple (I thought). The installation of the design took five hours. I wanted to incorporate lots of color and really work with their theme of “Young and Active Youths.” The concert hall was huge with really tall ceilings, in order to fill up the stage I knew we had to get huge décor items. As a result, I rented huge spandex panels that spanned 19 feet tall. I don’t know why but I was actually surprised by the weight of these panels! Luckily for me, I didn’t have to install these panels myself. The awesome crew at the concert hall assisted me. We had some back lighting to produce silhouettes onto the panels. These silhouettes were of youngsters jumping. To accent the silhouettes, I also made some grass silhouettes, flowers, and butterflies. My crew and the concert hall crew all laughed at the butterflies but I ignored them and up the butterflies went.

I attended the NTSA that night and thought the stage design was awesome. Of course, I might be a little biased. What are your thoughts?

Wishahmon Event Creations

I am very excited to announce that Wishahmon-Event Creations is now up and running and ready to design unique (non-wedding) events! When I first started Wishahmon-Wedding Creations I knew that doing corporate events was the logical next step that I wanted to take, I just didn’t know when it was going to happen. During the last four years, I helped design events that were non-wedding related and to my surprise, I also loved it. I thought that all I wanted to design was weddings because I am such a romantic. Turns out helping a several non-profits with their events and fundraisers were also very rewarding.

After a chain of opportunities this year and lots of support from friends and family, I decided to take the next step and make Wishahmon-Event Creations come to life! I look forward to meeting new clients, designing different events, and sharing my work with everyone on this blog! Wish me luck!