Gossip here for you.....as the stores are trying to sell you on all the re-mix music or television shows or the thought that Christmas is all about the things we get keep in mind the basics of what you need.
Not to long ago I attended a conference that was telling wedding planners all they had to do was get a website to make money. That brides today do not want to bother meeting with people in order to plan their weddings. So I decided to go on a quest my self to find out how people really felt about the Internet and the desire of doing things (meaning) planning their weddings as promised by Internet website. Plan your wedding in 5 minutes.
Funny how music and life reflect each other. Re-mix music is popular only because it breaks the generational gaps between parent and children, but the truth is the artist is lacking original something to write in order to create a new song. Much link an author. It is about our experiences that we write about. They are only thinking about the many money part. Yes, there is some creativity to the remix, however is it not done in the studio with with equipment vs the research and people power. To write a song that speaks to people you have to know the basics of what it is to be human. You have to know their heart so to speak or their feelings.
The same is true in planning a wedding or an event. Yes, you can go to a website and get the vendors in the area that preform a task, but what you miss out on is what the vendors speciality is about. What makes them good at what they do. Why they are in their speciality. In this quest to find out what is more important, if I as a wedding planner, event planner was missing I discovered some things about this industry I am not liking. Do you remember when you were young, your parents would take you to the local store to purchase a book for you, or a toy? They would let you look at things, get a feel for what you wanted. Now the local book store has been taken over by Barns and Noble, to compliment them they allow their customers to feel, to touch, to read their books for hours before you purchase. Other stores are not this way. The Internet is not this way. It will let you look and you can certainly touch the screen, but in now way can you get reality from it.
Here was my experiment: I called several boutique owners to find out what has happened to the wedding industry that has changed brides couples from personally shopping for the biggest day of their lives. I lined up several "brides" that were going to pose for pictures. I pre-called high end boutiques to make appointments. Some of the boutiques returned my calls, others did not. What was most amazing is the boutique owners, found it an inconvenience to have brides, or future brides come look at their dresses. An industry of glamour, fashion, beauty has lost all these things to the Internet. The "mom and pop" or "neighborhood merchants" stores are being sold out to the fast pace of "I want it now". Here is the saddest part. Just a year ago when you look up "event planning" you would find event companies all owned by people like you and me. Now the top 10 companies are company's that are Internet based. I don't mean they just have a website. The whole shopping planning of the event is done on line. They have taken the personal out of the event. Strangers show up at your wedding or event. Maybe they don't show up. It is so impersonal you don't know what you are getting.Events are special because of the people you celebrate it with. They are remembered by the people who attend. They are created by the people hired to plan this for you. Yes, it is "big business', yes, it is 'big money'. It's your money, do you not want to know something about the person who is planning your wedding, your celebration? Don't you want to remember them? They will be in you pictures.
The story has been portrayed a thousand times at Christmas. There is "Scrooge". There is "A Night Before Christmas" There are movies that talk about how dehumanizing it all can get. Yesterday on the news, it talked about all the military children that will not get toys. Is this not an event? Why because we are all at our computers ordering our items for Christmas instead of shopping in retail stores, in boutiques, at your local merchants. We forget about how to follow our spirits, how to have etiquette with one another. We are all about ourselves.
If this is what the event planning industry is turning to I am concerned. It is the interaction between humans that help shape the events of our lives. To go on with my story. One of my brides wanted the information. It was free. She wanted to meet with the boutique store owner. The other one never called back. The boutique owner got upset with me implying I was wasting her time, because the bride never purchase her dress. She closes her shop down during the month of December. The bride I am still waiting to hear from. I am sure she will make the right choice for her. That is what we do, help brides make the right choice for them. Not the vendors, not about spending money, but about what is right for her on her day. It's allot of responsibility and unselfishness. The camera battery was low so the pictures where not taken. Some might look at this as all terrible things. I look at it as part of the "Joy" of Christmas. Not that it was joyful because things didn't turn out my way, but because it is remembering what the season is about. The interaction, that makes our lives spirit filled and fun.
Shop locally. Talk to people. For the most part, they too are looking to be respected, cared for and wished good things in their lives. We all are human beings, we all desire the things our nation are founded on. We all share things in common with other humans, therefore shouldn't we care about them as well?
To all you brides out there who will be looking for things for your wedding. Take the time to educate yourself on what the vendor you hire will really be giving you. What you see is not always what you get. Internet companies. Have some integrity and ask your vendors for business license number or some type of credential before you allow them to advertise on your site. If you don't have control like I do on this site, then say so.
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