Thursday, June 7, 2007

Are you a low maintenance wedding professional?

We all know about the 'high maintenance bride' - no one out there needs an explanation of that phenomenon (*wink!*).

As industry professionals moving at the speed of light, it is easy to get caught up in the demands of your own business to forget about the stress and chaos surrounding the bride.

This 'calendar' from a real brides blog sums it up pretty well (click on it to see its full glory!).

Total. Drama.

Realize that you are but one small piece of a very large equation. Add to that a group of people who have (most likely) never planned anything on this scale before in their lives. Throw in a big dose of human nature, tense relationships, unsolicited opinions, conflicting advice, full time jobs, pressure to make it perfect, unreasonably high expectations, nerves and oh yes - a totally blown budget and that is just to name to name a few!!!

Can you really blame a girl for being stressed?!?

Being aware and empathetic of this fact and in effect a 'low maintenance vendor' will be perhaps the biggest gift you can give your bride (in addition to executing your portion of the wedding flawlessly of course!).

Take an extra moment to ask how she is doing (and really listen to her when she answers).

Above all else - do not add unnecessarily to her stress. Think about the messages you are delivering, the tone of your voice and emails, the deadlines you are placing on her and, in the rare cases you must deliver bad news, offer a well thought out solution or some alternatives at the same time.

Better yet - you don't need to tell her about the 'behind the scenes' situations - leave her out of your challenges completely. Don't be the 'tipping point' that sends her over the edge - be a true partner in making her enjoy this day to the fullest.

The rewards will pay without fail (see next blog post!).

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