Project 2 Final Paper

Project Two: Exploring and Analyzing Genre Practices

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     One day when I was a little girl, I was eating dinner at a restaurant overlooking the beach in West Palm Beach, Florida. What was so special about this dinner particularly is that there was a wedding going on at the beach that we could see from our table. To me, a five-year-old girl at the time, I thought the bride looked like a princess because of the way the sun reflected off of her sequenced white dress. Everyone who was attending the wedding was staring at her with a smile on their face. It made me happy to see these people I didn’t even know thrilled with joy. Seeing how beautiful the scenery was, everything just seemed so special and perfect. There were dozens and dozens of colorful flowers that complemented the attire of the bride, groom and their wedding party. It made me begin to envision my own fairytale wedding. I know months and months of planning and preparation must have gone on to make an event seem so over the top and jaw dropping. Ever since that day, I thought weddings were incredible. Attending weddings have made them seem even more fascinating to me. Seeing how precise every little detail can be so interesting to me. Whether it is the food selection, how the venue is set up, or the little decorations that make a big difference, it is all intriguing. It makes you wonder who was in charge of putting together such a phenomenal event. Wedding planners are responsible for setting up a dream wedding for their clients. They go above and beyond to make sure a couple has the perfect wedding day.

 

      Being a wedding planner has since then been a dream of mine. Currently, I am a Hospitality Management major who is working on making this dream come true. What draws me to having this as a future career is that it is a job where you are trying your best to make other people happy. You are planning possibly the most important day in a couples lives. I am very passionate about organizing, planning, and helping people out, which is why I strongly am leaning towards making this a future career of mine. I would like to research more about wedding planning though. Although it does seem like such a fun and exciting career to me, I’m sure it can be quite stressful too, as things don’t always go as planned. A question I always wonder is how do wedding planners draw in their cliental? Hiring a planner cost a lot of money so they have to make sure that they are advertising themselves well. So, the customers want to make sure that they are hiring a company that’s worth paying all of that money for. To be able to attract the customers, they will have to go above and beyond the standard idea of wedding planning to ensure that they stand out and are worth their clients putting all their trust in them to make sure they can make their special day go perfectly. Planners need to make sure they are doing something that their competition is not doing. If a couple sees that they could get the same deal from a much cheaper planner, they would go to the less expensive one so that they could save some money. So, it is important to have a unique company.

 

      I interviewed Kate Pararo, owner of A Piece of Cake Event Planning. Her company is local, here in Tallahassee. She even has an event planner who has graduated from Florida State University who works aside her. Kate has had a successful Event Planning business since 2011. “A Piece of Cake Event Planning placed in the top 3 in the Tally Awards 2013-2017 as well as Wedding Wire Couples Choice award from 2014-2017.” (Kate Pararo). She has also planned a celebrity from MTV’s wedding. Kate said that the amount of guests which attend each wedding varies depending on the bride and grooms wants. She has planned weddings as small as a 50 guest party to huge weddings with up to 600 guests. Kate said that her clients are mostly referred by friends, wedding vendors and photographers, and online too. “A Piece of Cake Event Planning” is featured on websites such as wedding wire and the knot. Kate does her own advertising too on social media websites which are Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. She has also been featured in US weekly magazine.  What’s so special about A Piece of Cake Event Planning is that Kate goes above and Beyond to make sure her clients have a stress free event. The services her and her team provide draws her clients to her. They do have a variety of event packages to pick from depending how involved you want to be in planning your wedding. This selection gives their customers the opportunity to have exactly what they want. The simplest package only includes the planners decorating for you on the day of your event, which means the rest of the wedding is in the bride and groom’s hands. The starting price for that package is $1,700 and ranges depending on the decorations you wish to have. Kate’s team will show up to the venue the day of your wedding and decorate it and leave the rest to you. The most extraordinary package, the Diamond package, includes all personal services including the venue, decorating, helping pick hotels for guests and plenty of recommendations. The price for that package is $3,500. Kate said that the “Champagne Package” is most popular amongst her brides. The Champagne Package allows the couple to be involved with planning, but still gives you the professional assistance you may need to plan it. This is perfect for those who want to be sure their special day is exactly the way they want it to be, but more of the hard work such as booking venues and calling catering companies goes to the Event Planner.

 

       “Service Encounter and Marketing of Micro creative industries: A Study of Wedding Planning” describes how wedding planners play an important role in the wedding industry. They are able to build a beautiful wedding from the start. It also says how wedding planners benefit by “word-of-mouth,” that is the same way Kate, owner of A Piece of Cake Event Planning told me much of the clients were referred by a friend. Having someone recommend a Wedding Planner to you rather than just stumbling across them on the internet may be more eye-opening to potential clients as they personally know someone who is supporting that specific person. Whether it was from attending a friend’s wedding or having a friend just suggest the business, it has helped Kate become very successful in the Wedding market. “Per year, we plan around 30 wedding and 50 Events, we even have some people plan annual events with us.” (Kate Pararo).

 

      “Journal of Feminist Family Therapy” discusses how it is not mandatory to hire a wedding planner because you can by a wedding planning book yourself. Although this is true, I believe it is less stressful and less informative than it would be to hire a wedding planner. Wedding Planners are definitely more expensive than it would be to plan the wedding by yourself. But, on possible the most important day of your life, you should be able to carefully plan it and have someone help/guide you. A Wedding Planner’s job is to make sure you’re happy and get exactly what you want for your wedding. “Is it our day or the Brides day? The Division of Wedding Labor and its meaning for couples” discusses how wedding duties typically fall on the women. During my interview, the company I talked to told me they typically get more phone calls and emails from soon-to-be brides who are reaching out to them, rather than their fiancés.  A bride taking the full responsibility of planning a wedding can be more work than it seems. It is important that a bride remains stress free while anticipating her wedding day. Hiring a planner would make her more at ease.

 

      Wedding planners can get caught up in all of the things they have to do so it’s important for them to keep track of their activities and meetings. Pamela J. Mckenzie wrote “Documentary tools in everyday life: the wedding planner.” This article discusses the importance of planning tools, such as calendars, daybooks, planners, and worksheets and how they help coordinate your life from day to day. They are used for larger projects such as planning a social event. A calendar allows a wedding planner to schedule out all events for their records. Planning tools allow for organization and staying on task. When interviewing Kate, I asked her what the most efficient way for her to schedule events is. “When scheduling events, I make sure to put the dates, times, and any important notes in my iPhone.” (Kate Pararo). Forgetting an event can be crucial to the wedding so it is necessary that the event planner remembers to schedule in events or meetings of any importance.

 

      It is important for wedding planners to make sure brides are okay even from the start of planning, which is another reason why the service they are providing is extremely important. Lauren Stafford author of “Exploring Postnuptial Depressive symptoms” said “Blue brides described feeling uncertain in their marriages, focused on self during wedding planning, and characterized their wedding as an ending followed by unmet expectations. Happier brides expressed relational confidence, demonstrated a relational focus during wedding planning, and framed their wedding in terms of new beginnings and unexpected positive emotions.” (Stafford). Planners have much work than just setting up a wedding. They should make sure that the bride is making the right decision to prevent possibility for a pride to have post wedding depression. Ways brides could have post-wedding depression could be from having unrealistic expectations, their day not going as planned and not truly having the wedding they dreamed of. Making sure your bride is happy may be easier said than done. I think that it’s important to keep up with your bride and really understand what she wants for her special day and how to make it memorable for her. “I try my best to make sure the bride is going to have exactly what she wants for her wedding day. Our company will guide her and try to meet her with exactly what she wants and will work to keep it in her budget.” (Kate Pararo). This seems really important to me because brides put in so much time and effort on their wedding day. If their expectations fall short, I can see how it could put them in a depression as they could feel like their fantasy hasn’t come true. This shows me how important it is to have a good connection with the bride and really see where their head is while months of planning go on. “Service Encounter and Marketing of Micro creative industries: A Study of Wedding Planning” also discusses the importance of having a good relationship with the couple you’re planning a wedding for. Good communication could lead to a happier, more organized and evaluated wedding. It could prevent future post-wedding depression as it’ll be more likely that your couple is satisfied with their wedding day. A couples wedding day could potentially map out the beginning of the newly-weds married life. A great wedding day with tons of memories will be the start of their marriage.  

 

            Clients could be attracted to pick a wedding planner based off of how much work they’re willing to put into the bride and grooms wedding. With all the stress of wanting to look and feel your best on your wedding day, getting a planner may seem important to relieve the stress off overall. “Weight and Weddings. Engaged Men’s Body Weight Ideals and Wedding Weight Management Behaviors” discusses how a percentage of both brides and grooms try to get into shape and feel the best possible on their big day. If a planner is hired, the bride and groom will have time to focus on other things such as losing the desired weight. The planner will be able to focus on major aspects of the wedding which will free up some time for the couple. Some planners do the most including finding hotel and transportation accommodations for you and your guest. Giovanna Betella, author of The Emergence of Tuscany as a Wedding Destination: The Role of Local Wedding Planners says “Although strictly related to the wedding event, these forms of tourism are not included in the definition of wedding tourism that is adopted by this study. The term “wedding tourism” here is used to indicate the flows of tourists who travel to participate in weddings that are celebrated in a destination where neither the bride nor the groom lives.” (Bertella). While interviewing Kate, she said “In our full-wedding package, we will negotiate room blocks for you and your guests, we also assist coordinating transportation for you and your guests.” (Kate Pararo). Something that clients have to think about when selecting a wedding planner is how big they plan their wedding to be. Some planners may be better at planning smaller, simpler weddings while other may focus on planning over the top weddings. “Journal of Divorce and Remarriage” by Aine Humble discusses how if someone gets married the second time around, they are more likely to have a smaller wedding. “Although remarriages tended to involve smaller and less complicated weddings, the majority of the couples replicated gendered patterns from their first weddings in subsequent weddings.” (Humble).

 

            Wedding planners seem to be a key to have for a wedding. For the bride and groom, it could take a lot of stress off of their back as they have someone to help them manage their time in this very exciting yet stressful time of their lives. A Wedding Planner knows that their job is to keep the couple happy and start off a great beginning to their marriage. Without Wedding Planners, couples may be lost while trying to plan their wedding day. Being a Wedding Planner seems like a great job to be. It will always be something that I am very interested in and hope to pursue in my future.