guess she’s taken a dislike to me because I’m her competition. I can’t imagine why though other than that I might have taken a client that she dearly wanted. A client like the one whose wedding I am doing this weekend.
Well, she can go after my band and whatever else she wants but it’s too late to take this client.
Better luck next time, bitch, I think to myself. I am quite amazed at how fast my view of her has gone from idol and role model to stomach twisting anger when I think of her or hear her name.
I wonder if she’s going to go after my other resources as well now that she has failed with Steve. Rather than sit and fume, I decide to start finding alternate resources to step in at short notice if necessary. That’s the right thing to do.
CHRISTINE
I’m angry. I failed with Steve and his band.
I take a few deep breaths and begin to relax. Getting a wedding planner’s band is just one part of their business. There are many other parts to go after. However, I push the thought of other parts of the business aside as I think about the concept of the ‘wedding whisperer’ that Steve let slip to me.
I know there’s something important in it. It hovers just beyond my mental grasp like a carrot on a stick for the time being. I have to admit it’s a genius idea and I should be thinking of doing it myself. But there’s something else about it that I think is much more important than simply copying the idea.
I grab the brochure that I took from Viola’s booth and study it. There’s not a word in the brochure about a wedding whisperer. Nothing that even alludes to it as a service.
I check her website again. Nothing. Nowhere. The testimonials say nothing about it. How can she keep it secret? Surely the clients should be impressed with the added value?
Why would clients keep it secret? It’s not possible. Unless…
Unless what? I know it’s there but I just can’t grasp it. Frustrated, I finally try to push it away and focus on other work I have to do.
My assistant enters my office and I decide to bounce the idea off her.
“Lacy?”
“Yes?”
“I want to bounce something off you. An idea to possibly improve our service and differentiate us from other wedding planners.”
“Okay,” Lacy says as she sits down opposite me. “What is it?”
“A wedding whisperer.”
“A what?” Lacy asks not understanding what I’m talking about.
“A wedding whisperer. A person who I employ to encourage the bride or groom to put their last-minute fears of getting married away and go through with the wedding anyway.”
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” Lacy asks.
“Because clients fork out a lot of money on a wedding. Money they lose if the bride or groom decides to stand the other up at the altar. This person would help them get through their fear and walk down the aisle anyway.”
Lacy shakes her head. She’s conservative and I know I’ve done the right thing asking her. If anyone will have a negative objection it’s her. As much as her objections are negative, they do make sense most of the time.
“No way. That’s asking for trouble.”
‘Trouble? From who?”
Chris,” she says using the shortened version of my name. “It’s dangerous. A good idea but dangerous. Too dangerous.”
“Why do you say it’s dangerous?”
She leans forward, crosses her legs, and rests her elbow on her knee. In turn, she rests her chin on her hand as she always does when she’s about to make a very important point. “What happens if this wedding whisperer talks the bride or groom into getting married and a few months or years later, they get divorced?”
“I’m not sure I follow you, Lacy.”
“Well, people get pretty bitter when they get divorced. They need people to blame. They need to put their anger on someone else and if they can say they got married because they felt pressured to do so by a wedding whisperer, I’d say you’re going to have lawyers kicking down your door very quickly.”
I absorb what Lacy has just told me. I know she’s right and in my mind, the donkey finally gets the carrot on the stick.
I nod my understanding. “Thanks, Lacy. That makes sense. I can always count on you.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” she smiles.
“That’s all for now.”
Lacy gets up and leaves my office.
I almost jump for joy. I can’t believe I didn’t see the possibilities of what she just told me. I look at the brochure again. Nothing. Not a word about a wedding whisperer.
And now I know why. It’s a bomb looking for a detonator and a place to be set off. Any wedding could be the place and the detonator.
I laugh with joy.
I know what I need to do.
VIOLA
Cold feet.
No, I don’t mean cold feet as in the kind you get from being out in the cold or swimming in water that’s too cold or simply not dressing warm enough.
I mean the other kind of cold feet.
The worst kind.
The kind that some women, and to a lesser extent, some men get just before their wedding. Yes, that kind.
My biggest pet hate. Why? Because in my line of work, they can ruin everything.
What is my line of work?
I’m a wedding planner. Any wedding planner hates and fears cold feet. They can derail everything. The whole day. Ruin you financially and possibly your reputation too.
I’ve been in this game a long time though and I’ve learned the hard way. When you’ve had enough cancellations because of cold feet you become hard. It becomes a matter of survival as well as doing what you love.
I now insist on non-refundable deposits from clients. They sign a contract when they hire me and they accept that they will lose their hard-earned money if they dare cancel. The deposit covers the location rental, decorations, cakes, caterers, furniture and marquee, photographer, band, and absolutely everything I need to cover.
I’ve gone a step further with my service. I include a counselor who provides last-minute counseling if the bride or the groom gets cold feet. They don’t know the person they’re speaking to is a counselor if I send them in. The counselor works the magic they need to, to keep the show on the road.
I’m the best. Not just as far as clients are
