Turning a Catastrophe into a Fairy Tale:
Weddings are a “Once in a Lifetime” event, there are no do-overs. You can’t reschedule for tomorrow. This is an event that starts out bad but, turns into a happy ending. There were some bad storms that rolled through Jacksonville, and Orange Park, Florida this weekend. I arrived the venue 2.5 hours early to set up 3 separate sound systems, the Ceremony, the Cocktail Hour, and the Reception. As I’m getting out of my truck I hear what sounds like a gun shot. A tree branch fell and broke a power-line and then 2(two) transformers blow up that supply power to the venue. The power company says they need to send out a crew to take care of the trees before they can fix the power issue. Well in one of my other Blogs I talked about a “Plan C” …. In the past I brought enough battery power for only 2 hours. A few months ago I purchased even more battery power as a back up. I now bring enough battery power to run all night if I had to. A generator would have been a cheaper route but they are too loud and since I do Weddings on the Beach, battery power is the best option.On Saturday, the Pre Ceremony music started at 6:00 and the Reception ended at Midnight. I was able to run the music and lighting seamlessly for the entire night using just my battery systems. At the end of the night the Venue, Photographer and myself were wore out mentally and physically from all the stress. But, the best part …… We kept the stress off the Bride and Groom. It’s their day to enjoy the company of the Family and Friends that came to support them. And the Bride just sent me an email on her honeymoon that said, “I just wanted to send a quick email to all of you to thank you for all of your hard work on Saturday. I know the day did not run smoothly and easily for you guys, but for Mike and I, our families and our guests, the day was so smooth. I know that happened because we had the best of the best vendors. Thank you again for all of your hard work–especially for all of the things that I don’t know about, because I know there was a lot of behind-the-scenes decisions on Saturday! I would love to write some glowing recommendations for all of you for your ability to turn horrible circumstances into a seamless event, so please let me know the best way for me to do that!” Well Kate …. You just did! I’d like to say a BIG …… THANK YOU to all the staff and vendors that came together to make Kate and Mike’s day turn out like it did!! Also here is a link to the Jacksonville newspaper article: http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/relationships/2011-07-24/story/i-do-i-do-sparks-fly-between-couple-despite-wedding I believe that Ben Franklin said, “If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Make sure when you talk to your DJ that they have a back up plan.
