Albina & Ryan September 21st, 2019
How They Met: “I had been working at my job in New York for over a year when Ryan started in 2013. I knew about him when he started but didn’t speak to him until a couple of weeks later. I was in a meeting and had a question that I thought Ryan could help me answer so I marched right up to him, introduced myself, and asked my question. Shortly thereafter, we became work best friends, and daily lunch buddies, calling each other “work wife” and “work husband”. We had flirted with one another here and there but always kept it platonic, eventually getting into relationships with other people for a couple of years. We also ended up supporting one another when we both dealt with break-ups in 2015. Our friendship grew stronger during that time and a few months later, Ryan told me he made the decision to move back to Atlanta to be closer to his family and nieces after living away from home throughout high school, college, and his entire working career. Something about realizing we’d lose one another made us want to give us as a couple of tries. We did long distance for a year, me in NYC and Ryan in Atlanta, fitting in visits as often we could. One year later, I left New York after living there my entire life to join Ryan in Atlanta.”
-Albina, the bride
I wanted to start the New Year with a wedding that brought 2019 to a beautiful close. I was hired by Albina and Ryan to take on their “month of” wedding coordinating and from start to finish, it was a lovely experience.
Like I’ve written in previous blog posts, coordinating a “month of” requires the most attention to detail because you are only allotted a 30-day frame. When I met up with Albina and Ryan for the first time, I remember how absolutely invested I was as soon as we spoke. It’s important to have such a natural connection with your clients (and with your coordinator!) All of you are involved in creating and organizing the perfect day. All details are taken into account: followup phone calls, confirmations of dates, times and venue services and most importantly: making sure the wedded couple to-be and their bridal party are happy and comfortable throughout the entire process.
The Proposal: “Ryan and I had just come back from Napa Valley and were craving another winery trip so we planned to visit the wineries in Dahlonega, Georgia for our 3-year anniversary. We stayed at the cutest B&B, and before our winery tour, chose to visit the greenery and ponds on the grounds surrounding the B&B. As we walk down the very wet path (it had rained all night), I held on to Ryan with one hand, sandwich in another (before the walk, I decided that I must bring a sandwich for the 10 minute walk), and even got a piggyback ride for a bit! We finally got to the ponds and just admired the views for quite a bit of time while I continued to eat my sandwich. (If you ask Ryan, he'll say that's the longest anyone has ever taken to eat a sandwich.) I noticed that Ryan was unusually quiet, but we just kept on walking around the grounds until I notice a perfectly square box in the pocket of Ryan's shorts. For a moment, I thought it was a ring box. I was very giddy but took another peek, and whatever was in his pocket looked much smaller than a ring box. I told myself that I was imagining things, but the thought made me anxious and excited, and I started practically walking around in circles. In that moment, Ryan turned me around to face him, knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him! I couldn't talk and nodded with an "mhmm" while I started to cry. It took me a bit to hold in the tears and say "yes" but we did it!”
-Albina, the bride
Albina was super receptive to my advice during the last few weeks of her wedding plan, which gave us enough time throughout the day to successfully coordinate the wedding per timeline. Sometimes couples won’t be realistic with timing, but Albina gave me 100% of her trust on timing for each area. We had visited Prospect Park, (I contacted The Boathouse in Prospect Park to see if they required permits. Luckily, we didn’t). I made sure to allocate enough time to take photos at Prospect Park, which included a first look and bridal party photos. We made our way to Brooklyn Museum for some couple photos, keeping in mind the Brooklyn Museum is a highly busy area.
Since the timeline had enough time throughout the day in each area, it wasn’t stressful, if anything it was a lot of fun. It was my first time working in this specific venue. Our photo locations and starting point was not close to the venue. It took a tremendous amount of attention to detail to map out addresses (drive time) and of course coordinating a large group of people. What made it fun was seeing how well we were able to plan and foresee any issues and because of that we created the perfect timeline. The end result of seeing the family, bridal party and couple enjoying the day, with minimal stress, made it worth it.
When I consider every detail, even the food and beverages needed to be carefully organized. How to transport, making sure everything was cooled and presented well, having the day well planned route wise (for transportation purposes and photos) and timing was essential. Luckily everything went perfect! Myself and my assistant coordinator, Sylvia were with the group the entire time from location to location; coordinating which spot to photograph, where the shuttle would park and meet. Having a team of coordinators at these areas made this all possible. If you’re considering hiring a wedding coordinator for either a full-wedding plan, month-of or day-of, it’s crucial to know that we are here to handle everything for you, your partner and guests. You’re only job is to enjoy the day, plain and simple.
Your wedding coordinator is here for all the needs to be met to secure a successful and stellar wedding day experience. Albina and Ryan were the ideal couple for this particular wedding day because we established such a trustworthy relationship. Yes, it’s hard to let go a bit and allow someone else to take control over one of the most important days of your life, but there’s a reason we exist: to create a stress-free environment for you and everyone involved in your wedding planning process.
The Wedding: “After getting ready with our bridesmaids and groomsmen for hours that morning, the only thing I wanted was to finally see Ryan in his tux. I was incredibly anxious that morning to make sure everything goes according to plan, but all those cares went away after the first look because we were finally together. I had planned a pretty packed schedule for photo locations and I'm so glad I did! We captured so many photos in a variety of locations, and I look at them way more than I had ever expected. When we got to the ceremony, all the nerves from the day turned into excitement and it was time to get married! By the time the ceremony was over, all Ryan and I wanted to do was eat, drink, dance, and party with our guests and that's 100% what we did! I still can't believe how quickly the day went by, but Ryan and I made our best effort to stay in the moment and enjoy the day. When I think back to some moments of the day - Ryan turning around during the first look, walking down the aisle to him, how happy we were after the ceremony - and I can't help but cry because it was the best day.”
-Albina, the bride
{links to venue + vendors, below}
VENUE: Baku Palace https://www.bakupalace.com/
PHOTOGRAPHER: Pearl Paper Studio https://pearlpaperstudio.com
VIDEOGRAPHER: MVH Weddings Cinema https://www.mvhweddings.com/
DJ: Kernsy Events http://www.kernsyevents.com/
