HAPEL
Wedding plans
still largely in' j
hands of bride,
her family
By Margaret Behm
Staff writer
In the past, planning a wed
ding was the main responsibility
of the bride, but wedding coordi
nators now often take part.
“Tradition says that the bride
and her family plan everything,”
said David Martin, a wedding
coordinator for The Boulevard at
2602 Park Blvd. “But I’m here to
tell you that this is the dawn of the
new millennium, and that is not
the case anymore.”
Brides plan about 60 percent
of the wedding, and the groom is
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weddings, and I’m afraid that is
going to happen at mine.”
For brides who want outside
help for their weddings, they can
use a wedding coordinator.
Wedding coordinators have
seen everything possible happen at
weddings, so they know what deci
sions to make so the wedding day
runs smoothly, Martin said.
“I have participated in about
. 15,000 weddings,” Martin said. “I
have seen everything you can
imagine, good and bad.”
The most important thing
brides can do is start planning as
soon as they are engaged, Martin
said.
“The bride needs to plan far
enough in advance,” Martin said,
“so then they don’t have to worry
Josh Wolfe/DN
The night of the reception is the moment it all comes together for the wedding coordinators and their staffs. Ken and Abby Wenninghoff share a
kiss while Fran Borcherdlng, a catering manager at Lincoln Station, looks on.
later.”
The order of urgency in which a
bride should book the wedding is
the church, photographer, recep
tion facility, entertainment and then
the florists, Martin said.
It is important to make appoint
ments with those five as soon as the
couple get engaged, Martin said.
If the wedding will be in the
months between May and August,
the bride should plan at least 12
months in advance, Martin said.
“If you want to book a wedding
on a Saturday in a peak month,”
Martin said, “you may want to book
a photographer before you even tell
your parents.”
During the other months of the
year, the bride should plan for at
least six months, Martin said.
Overgaard said that she will
plan her wedding in segments so
she won’t get burnt out.
“I think if we plan the; wedding
in stages then it won’t be too stress
ful,” Overgaard said, “until about a
month before the wedding.”
Teresa Furnas, a wedding coor
dinator and owner of the Bridal
Trousseau, 650 J St., expects that a
lot of people are going to get mar
ried this year and that a lot of
engagements occurred on New
Year’s Eve.
“With the new millennium,
people are seeing their futures,”
Furnas said, “and wanting to settle
down.”
Many of the new brides who go
to her are college students or newly
graduated, because many people
plan their weddings to occur after
graduation, Furnas said.
“We picked a date in 2003,”
Overgaard said, “because Andy
doesn’t graduate until sometime in
that year.”
A decision that was hard to
make for Overgaard was who to
choose as her bridesmaids.
“It was really hard to decide on
who to put in the wedding,”
Overgaard said. “I don’t want to
offend anyone by not putting them
in die wedding.”
Most of the tension that occurs
in the bride’s wedding party is usu
ally between the bride and her
mother, Martin said.
The mother wants her daugh
ter’s wedding to be the storybook
wedding that the mother didn’t
have, while the daughter wants to
plan it herself, Martin said.
“Sometimes we’re not only
wedding coordinators,” Martin
said. “We’re also guidance coun
selors.”
The hardest part about organiz
ing the wedding party is to get all
the bridesmaids to agree on one
dress, Furnas said.
Bridesmaids often complain
about the price and style of the ‘ *
dress, Furnas said.
The bride should pick a dress
for the bridesmaids that can be used
for other occasions, Martin said.
“I usually suggest to pick a
style that can be inexpensively
altered,” Martin said. “Because |
usually the style and color of the
dress is only suitable for a wed
ding.”
Even though coordinators often
help the bride pick out die brides
maids’ dresses, Martin said, the
bride should pick out her dress on
her own.
“It’s an emotional choice,” \
Martin said.
“Literally, the bride needs to
fall in love with the dress.”
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