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12°C
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12°C
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82%
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21 km/h
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Going to the chapel with some help |
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Thursday, 19 March 2009 |
 Members of the Wedding Bells project include Events Management program students Natasha Jordan, Stacy Simon, chair Miranda Fade, Tara Veltri, Liana Curtis, co-chair Amy Bergstrand and Cara Dunn. Missing are Chantal Muia and Brittany Newton. Photo by Laura Wikston
Staff Writer
Imagine being responsible for the most important day of someone else’s life and their being graded on it.
As part of the fourth annual Wedding Bells project, Niagara College Events Management (EM) program students took up the challenge of acting as wedding planners for two Niagara-area couples. The project is worth 50 per cent of their Independent Project course mark.
Handling brides and endless details can be challenging. As Janet Jakobsen, EM faculty adviser, quips, “A wedding planner has to be 90 per cent psychologist and 10 per cent logistics expert.”
Nine students divided into two committees are involved in this year’s project. They’ve taken on the stress and requirements of wedding planning. The couples delegate wedding day related tasks and work with the planning committees on key decisions and responsibilities.
Miranda Fade, 24, with a psychology degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, and Amy Bergstrand, 23, with a marketing degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, head up the committees. They agree communication is the No. 1 secret to planning a successful wedding.
“It’s very important to have good communication with the wedding party, the bride and the vendors,” Fade said.
“If you don’t interpret the bride’s ideas properly, the wedding won’t be a success,” Bergstrand added.
With the guidance of faculty, the committees chose the brides from a list of applicants. They chose Rhianon Shierlaw, of St. Catharines, and Erin O’Keefe of Niagara Falls. The decisions were based on the couples’ willingness to get married in March or April, the bride’s willingness to hand over control of her wedding plans, the number of guests, the location of the wedding and the couples’ wedding budget.
Shierlaw’s marriage to Rick Legacy is planned for tomorrow. A week before the wedding she said she was extremely relaxed and feeling no stress, thanks to her team of planners who touch base with her every two weeks.
“It’s been going really well, very easy. It’s great to have someone to share the work and the wedding experience with.”
O’Keefe’s marriage to Ron Winstanley is planned for March 28. Although she admits to being “a bit of a control freak,” she says she has no regrets about taking part in the project. Although she knew her team was taking care of details, and things have been running smoothly, she said she’s more comfortable speaking with her planners at least once a week.
Part of the planners’ job was finding sponsorships to support the weddings.
On board for Shierlaw’s wedding is Rockway Glen Golf Course and Estate Winery in St. Catharines, which is providing a discount for the couple’s reception. Expressions Flowers and Gifts in Niagara Falls will provide the flowers, and Niagara Classic Cars in Niagara-on-the-Lake will provide the couple with a limousine. Shierlaw says she’s “very” comfortable having her reception at Rockway Glen.
“They really seem to know what they’re doing.”
O’Keefe says she’s grateful for the generosity of her sponsors.
“Delphi Banquet Facilities [Niagara Falls] gave us an amazing discount,” O’Keefe said.
She says her fiancé is “a big car guy” and is “just thrilled” about the 1963 Rolls Royce that will be provided by Niagara Classic Cars. Other sponsors include Silver Leaf Designs in Fort Erie, providing the flowers, Pastries Rene in Fort Erie, The St. Catharines Standard and disc jockey Corey Mottley.
“We couldn’t have had this type of wedding without the sponsors,” O’Keefe said.
Both committees will be present at the weddings, taking care of details such as hall décor and directing guests through the reception logistics. Bergstrand admits she’s a little nervous about how things will go the day of Shierlaw’s wedding.
“There’s always a kind of worst-case scenario of everything going horribly wrong, but we’ve done a lot of planning and covered all of the bases.”
Fade says she’s not nervous about her committee’s role and the job they’ve done.
“But I’m the same as Erin when it comes to letting go of control. For example, the wedding party has its own jobs to do that we’re not in control of.”
Fade says being highly organized and detail oriented are keys assets for wedding planners.
“Particularly for this project. It’s been beneficial because it’s not just one planner dealing with one couple. It’s co-ordinating five planners that all have their own roles and their own information, and bringing it all together to plan one wedding.”
Bergstrand credits her group’s organizational skills too.
“We were able to look at the wedding as a whole, divide up the tasks and prioritize to get everything done on time.”
A wedding may be the bride’s big day, but odds are, at the end of it all, the biggest sigh of relief may just come from the wedding planners.
Brides-to-be interested in applying for next year’s Wedding Bells project should contact Shelley Merlo, co-ordinator, Event Management program, at (905) 641-2252, ext. 4233 or by email at
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