It was 7.30 in the morning. Sandra was at her wits' end. Jo was never going to forgive her. Ever since she called the happy bride-to-be that Saturday and promised her to organize her wedding, nothing had gone according to plan. At first, she thought, with her strong corporate event management background, it should not be difficult to pull together a wedding. She realized only too late the amount of effort it required to prepare such an important occasion. Even something as simple and straightforward as a wedding cake was bringing her down. There were a whole lot of other things, not to mention the bride's gown. Oh dear, the gown! She had not bought those additional beadings yet!
She should have seen it coming. Weddings were not corporate events. They came with higher expectations and must proceed without a hitch. In other words, the pressure was intense. She swore to herself that she would be more prepared next time. What next time? She must be dreaming. Who in her right mid would want to employ her as the wedding planner after this? Even if by some miracle she managed to pull off this wedding, she was not even sure that she had the mettle to go through the same process again.
No matter how grave the situation was, Sandra had to press on. The wedding theme was already decided after poring through various suggestions with Jo and her fianc. A Christmas wedding it was. What they had not taken in account was how their decision would further complicate things for Sandra. Belatedly, she found out that most churches and popular places were fully booked. The couple was left with no choice but to have a garden wedding and reception at the family's yard.
That was the least of Sandra's problems. The nightmare had just begun. Just last week, Sandra dashed to virtually every craft shop in town to get the supplies she needed for the wedding. It was not the craft shops' fault that they did not have enough supplies since it was at the height of the gift-giving season. The only thing Sandra could do was try to secure as many supplies as possible from each shop. As she was rushing in and out with both arms loaded with organza ribbons and tulle, it suddenly dawned on her she was wasting precious time playing Martha Stewart. She should have asked the professionals to be in charge but it was too late now.
Fortunately, there was an online craft retailer who had the rest of the wedding supplies she needed so desperately, ending her hunt. For now. Next she just had to place some phone calls to the bride's relatives and friends and see if they could come over to her house to help with the wedding favours. She was in for another heart attack. With the festive season coming up, none of them could lend her a hand because they were preoccupied with their own holiday preparations. It took more than a dozen cups of calming herbal tea to convince herself that things would turn out fine. After many frantic phone calls, she managed to gather a mixed group of eager helpers. But because they were inexperienced, Sandra found herself besieged by yards of wrappers and ribbons scattered around her living room the next morning. She had purchased the wrong material and now about a hundred or more potpourri pouches and their contents were lying on the floor.
Sandra would not have felt so defeated if only she had more time. But time was sorely against her with so many other pressing matters demanding her attention. One of the latest crises was the cake. It was not until the fourth phone call before Sandra could find the confectionery that was able to make the singular Christmas log design the couple wanted for their wedding cake. Then she had to pick a wedding cake topper that would not only suit the wedding concept but also be available at this time of the year. Now, all the trouble she went through seemed trivial after she received a very disgruntled call from Jo's mother the night before. The mother-of-the-bride made it very clear to Sandra that the wedding cake design was unacceptable. What was she supposed to do now?
Soon after, the bride herself called. Jo was sobbing uncontrollably as she tried to explain to Sandra what catastrophe had happened. Only when she finally calmed down was Sandra able to understand that the gown rental shop had misplaced the designated set of bridal accessories that came with the gown Jo had selected. A new set was on the way but would not arrive in time for the wedding! No matter what, Sandra had to make an emergency shopping trip today and hope against hope that she would be able to find the extraordinary pair of bridal hair clips that Jo loved so much.
The digital clock now showed 7.45am. Sandra's day was definitely going to be one exciting day.
She should have seen it coming. Weddings were not corporate events. They came with higher expectations and must proceed without a hitch. In other words, the pressure was intense. She swore to herself that she would be more prepared next time. What next time? She must be dreaming. Who in her right mid would want to employ her as the wedding planner after this? Even if by some miracle she managed to pull off this wedding, she was not even sure that she had the mettle to go through the same process again.
No matter how grave the situation was, Sandra had to press on. The wedding theme was already decided after poring through various suggestions with Jo and her fianc. A Christmas wedding it was. What they had not taken in account was how their decision would further complicate things for Sandra. Belatedly, she found out that most churches and popular places were fully booked. The couple was left with no choice but to have a garden wedding and reception at the family's yard.
That was the least of Sandra's problems. The nightmare had just begun. Just last week, Sandra dashed to virtually every craft shop in town to get the supplies she needed for the wedding. It was not the craft shops' fault that they did not have enough supplies since it was at the height of the gift-giving season. The only thing Sandra could do was try to secure as many supplies as possible from each shop. As she was rushing in and out with both arms loaded with organza ribbons and tulle, it suddenly dawned on her she was wasting precious time playing Martha Stewart. She should have asked the professionals to be in charge but it was too late now.
Fortunately, there was an online craft retailer who had the rest of the wedding supplies she needed so desperately, ending her hunt. For now. Next she just had to place some phone calls to the bride's relatives and friends and see if they could come over to her house to help with the wedding favours. She was in for another heart attack. With the festive season coming up, none of them could lend her a hand because they were preoccupied with their own holiday preparations. It took more than a dozen cups of calming herbal tea to convince herself that things would turn out fine. After many frantic phone calls, she managed to gather a mixed group of eager helpers. But because they were inexperienced, Sandra found herself besieged by yards of wrappers and ribbons scattered around her living room the next morning. She had purchased the wrong material and now about a hundred or more potpourri pouches and their contents were lying on the floor.
Sandra would not have felt so defeated if only she had more time. But time was sorely against her with so many other pressing matters demanding her attention. One of the latest crises was the cake. It was not until the fourth phone call before Sandra could find the confectionery that was able to make the singular Christmas log design the couple wanted for their wedding cake. Then she had to pick a wedding cake topper that would not only suit the wedding concept but also be available at this time of the year. Now, all the trouble she went through seemed trivial after she received a very disgruntled call from Jo's mother the night before. The mother-of-the-bride made it very clear to Sandra that the wedding cake design was unacceptable. What was she supposed to do now?
Soon after, the bride herself called. Jo was sobbing uncontrollably as she tried to explain to Sandra what catastrophe had happened. Only when she finally calmed down was Sandra able to understand that the gown rental shop had misplaced the designated set of bridal accessories that came with the gown Jo had selected. A new set was on the way but would not arrive in time for the wedding! No matter what, Sandra had to make an emergency shopping trip today and hope against hope that she would be able to find the extraordinary pair of bridal hair clips that Jo loved so much.
The digital clock now showed 7.45am. Sandra's day was definitely going to be one exciting day.