Wedding Day Planning Essentials: Don't Forget These Crucial Details!

Kristina Stubblefield: [00:00:00] We're back with another episode of The Ring The Bling And All The Things here with my good friends, Sharon Rumsey and Michael Gaddie. I'm really ready to dive into this topic because we're gonna be talking about things that people may forget. 

Sharon Rumsey: Did I say that right? Things that they forget to think about when planning their wedding day and this is my jam. I love this stuff. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Woo. Mike, you are not

Michael Gaddie: she's, she's got a whole list. 

Kristina Stubblefield: You are not getting a word in 

Michael Gaddie: that's okay. That's alright. Let's go sharon 

Sharon Rumsey: I'll let you talk about the flowers. 

Michael Gaddie: Okay, go ahead. 

Sharon Rumsey: Okay. I have a month out planning sheet that I use with all my couples and it basically is a sheet of things that people don't think about.

So one of the first things that people don't think about is access times at their venue. Have you read that contract? Do you know what time you're allowed in the venue? Because are you telling vendors to arrive before you even have access? 

Kristina Stubblefield: I'm gonna stop you right there. So [00:01:00] if you have a wedding planner, yay, because they're probably have read through that contract. 

Sharon Rumsey: It's on my timeline. Access hours. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Absolutely. If you don't have a wedding planner, let's just talk about that for one second. It's really important to know those access times because Mike is the florist. He might need a certain amount of time to set up, if you're having a band, a dj, a chocolate fountain, you have to account for the time they need.

Michael Gaddie: Well, let me stop you right there. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Oh boy. Here we go. 

Michael Gaddie: But really it's very important because let me tell you, if you tell me, and this happens all the time, if you tell me to be there at 10 o'clock in the morning, everything's gonna be ready and if I show up 

Kristina Stubblefield: and there's no linens 

Michael Gaddie: there's no linens on the tables, the doors are locked. That's not to be disrespectful to you or my other brides that day. It's just that, that throws the whole schedule off. 

Sharon Rumsey: Right. 

Michael Gaddie: So it's very, very, very, important. 

Sharon Rumsey: That's a one of the major responsibilities of [00:02:00] a wedding planner. Is to line all that out. And I know that linens have to be on before the florist arrives and all that's part of the big puzzle that gets put together on wedding day, the logistics. But the main thing is if the doors are locked, nobody can do anything. 

Kristina Stubblefield: If you do not have a wedding planner. Make note of this, have your timeline straight from the beginning, the day of with your access times, 

Sharon Rumsey: Correct. Another thing that I feel like people forget a lot is, we make seating charts for the reception, but no one really thinks about where your VIPs, your family members are going to set at ceremony. So I actually do a ceremony seating diagram with my couples and I make place cards. And when we do rehearsal, I label each seat for the father of the bride, the mother of the bride. If there's a stepparent, if there's a [00:03:00] grandparent supposed to be on that road, because first of all, your wedding planner can be the bad guy because everybody thinks we came up with who's sitting where. But secondly, even if you don't have a wedding planner, those v I P guests, when they walk down the aisle, they need to know where to set, and that needs to be practiced at rehearsal as well. I think you just touched on the next thing on my list, making sure that you know how much time each vendor needs to set up. So reach out to that vendor, call your DJ and say, Hey, how much time do you want me to allow for you to set up? 

Kristina Stubblefield: I'm gonna flip this right back if you have a wedding planner probably are taking care of this or should be 

Sharon Rumsey: Always, yeah. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Confirming. And now I'm not gonna go down this rabbit hole of coordinator or wedding planner. I said if you have a wedding planner, most of the time confirming that information is, is part that they take care of.

Sharon Rumsey: Correct. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Okay.[00:04:00] 

Sharon Rumsey: On wedding day. So it's now wedding morning. It's wedding day. Have you thought of where hair and makeup are gonna set? Do those people have outlets? A hairstylist requires three outlets. A makeup artist requires one. Do they have outlets? Do they have natural light? Do they have appropriate chairs so that you don't throw your timeline off looking for all those things when your makeup artist is standing there and you're on the clock? The next thing on wedding day is how are you going to feed your bridal? 

Kristina Stubblefield: this is a big one

Sharon Rumsey: it's a big one. 

Kristina Stubblefield: It's a long day. Let's just start with that. You know, there's times you go have went in at events. I've heard you talk about at six or 7:00 AM and you're not out until 1 or 2 AM, 

Sharon Rumsey: right 

Kristina Stubblefield: And for your wedding party, the parents, that's a long time.

Sharon Rumsey: The parents aren't always there, but definitely your bridesmaids, your groomsman. I'm kind of of the mindset that I like everybody corralled in one [00:05:00] space. So I like to have a plan for breakfast, which is usually bridesmaids can bring, you know, donuts, muffins, whatever, mimosas. And then I like to have lunch actually delivered in because by the time lunch comes, we've started our day and we don't have time to send anybody away.

So I like to have it delivered in and I like it to be finger foods that you can hold while you're getting your hair and everybody can just kind of grab what they want as they want. 

Kristina Stubblefield: A side note to that is time is one of the most precious commodities anytime with any of us, but on wedding day, I've been there.

As part of that, it seems to slip away so fast. And sending somebody out to go through a drive through or something like that can go from a 10 or 15 minute run to 45 minute. And when you're on a time crunch or a specific timeline that can really mess things up. 

Sharon Rumsey: When I make a timeline, I allow 45 minutes for each person's hair, 45 minutes for each person's makeup except the [00:06:00] bride. And she gets an hour for each. So when you factor all that in, you've got six or seven ladies, it really does add up. And if it's your time to get your hair done, but you're sitting in the Chick-fil-A drive-through, you've messed up my whole day. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Okay, Mike. I think she's already got us up to like five different episodes and we're only part of the way through alright. What's the next one? 

Sharon Rumsey: The next thing as we move into the actual day is making kind of a plan for what is going to be set up and who's going to set it up. And I'll let you know, Mike, jump in here, but what is your wedding planners responsible for? So if you've got a certain way, you want your memory table to look a certain way, you want your gift and card table to look.

What I have my clients do is set that up in your house, on your dining room table or your kitchen counter or whatever. Take a picture of it. That picture is going to go in my team's wedding day packet so we know [00:07:00] exactly where everything goes. I also recommend when you're packing for your day that you pack a tote that is clearly labeled cake table, another tote, clearly labeled gift and card table.

So even if you don't have a wedding planner, if you have a friend setting that stuff up, they're not trying to read your mind and see where that stuff goes. 

Kristina Stubblefield: I wanna tie one thing, what you just mentioned about hair and makeup. Don't give me that look, it's gonna be a good one. Be careful about using people in your wedding party because you could be having them set something up

Sharon Rumsey: it should never be a member of the they're untouchable 

Michael Gaddie: It should never be a member

Sharon Rumsey: Your bridal party is untouchable. No cast. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Perfect. 

Sharon Rumsey: Then also 

Kristina Stubblefield: Mike, she said she was gonna let you maybe chime in, but she didn't. 

Michael Gaddie: That's alright. 

Sharon Rumsey: What's the plan at the end of the night for how all this stuff you brought is going home. Because let's face it, you're drunk.

Your bridal party's probably drunk, your parents might be drunk, so you need a plan for

Kristina Stubblefield: can [00:08:00] I put something in there? Because we may have some people that don't drink now they're tired. Whether you're drunk or not, you might feel like you are because you're so exhausted. 

Sharon Rumsey: I like to have a listing the following things.

Kristina Stubblefield: Oh boy. 

Sharon Rumsey: First of all, leftover cake. Because there's always leftover cake. Where's it go? 

Kristina Stubblefield: Who's taking that shit with them 

Sharon Rumsey: who's taking the cake. 

Kristina Stubblefield: I mean, stuff, I didn't mean that disrespectful to cake, but that's a lot to take care of. 

Sharon Rumsey: And what's it going in? Did you bring boxes, did you bring to go containers 

Kristina Stubblefield: or does the bakery supply you with To-Go things? We're at the, we're up to 15 episodes Mike.

Sharon Rumsey: I also like a plan for, if your caterer allows leftover food to go home, so the bride and the groom boys get a little To-Go box, but if there's more, if there's over and above that amount, who's taking it home? 

Kristina Stubblefield: What's it going in 

Sharon Rumsey: and what's it going in? So we need to go containers. Every couple that's A Perfect Plan couple is asked to bring To-Go containers, then your [00:09:00] gifts.

I usually recommend that my clients, you guys have heard me with my big redneck wedding trip. They rent a U-Haul, everything goes back in the U-Haul at the end of the night. So gifts can go in the U-Haul and be locked away. But if you didn't take my advice and you didn't rent a U-Haul 

Kristina Stubblefield: or listen to the episode 

Sharon Rumsey: I wanna know what vehicle these are going in and who's responsible for these gifts.

Kristina Stubblefield: Can I say just a little something like that. You've made, you've talked about this on previous episodes, about your gifts and your cards, and things. If you don't have a wedding planner, have someone designated that gets that stuff throughout the night. Just take the time to have some kind of plan you've shared that. 

Sharon Rumsey: Cards to me are a whole different ballgame because, I mean, losing a gift would be bad, but cards usually have cash or checks in them. So someone you know, if you have a wedding planner, those cards should be pulled and locked away immediately following your ceremony. And then again, 45 minutes into reception.

That's [00:10:00] our guideline for my people, and we lock those away. But at the end of the night, who do you trust to send those cards home with. A lot of my couples want that cash for their honeymoons, so it needs to be someone that you're gonna have access to the next day. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Obviously Mike's someone that's not drunk with a hangover, 

Sharon Rumsey: right.

Kristina Stubblefield: Who's not answering their phone. 

Michael Gaddie: Let's go down to the bar down the street after it's over. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Right, then don't answer their phone until one and your plane left at noon. 

Michael Gaddie: I wanna talk about something real quick. That what you said about the

Sharon Rumsey: sorry.

Michael Gaddie: The U-Haul. I've been working with Sharon quite a few years now, and that U-Haul is, and you say it's a redneck thing, but I'm gonna tell you, it's the best thing that you can do if you don't get anything else out of this episode right here. That U-Haul is the most important thing because it comes to decorations, not just cake. Not just gifts

Sharon Rumsey: right

Michael Gaddie: because if you've ordered all these flowers from me, those flowers are gonna sit there, or they're gonna go [00:11:00] to in my van and go into the garbage.

That way you can put them on your U-Haul, take them to the the cemetery, take them to the nursing home. You can distribute those flowers, but you're going to have to have a truck to put all that in. 

Sharon Rumsey: Yeah, I like for everything that the family is providing to come in a U-Haul, clearly labeled in the totes.

And then at the end of the night, we put it all back in the U-Haul except for food. Because that would spoil. 

Michael Gaddie: Right.

Sharon Rumsey: But we put it back in the U-Haul. And nobody has to worry about it on wedding night. Everybody's tired, so you just worry about it the next day. 

Kristina Stubblefield: And let's be honest, now we have people watching and listening from all over. I mean, they love us. Let's just be honest. They do. But in all reality, whether you're on the West coast, East coast, or in another country, renting a U-Haul. I can speak about around this area. I don't know if it's $50. 

Sharon Rumsey: We just just rented one. We had to move one of our family members and it was $35 for the whole entire day.[00:12:00] 

Kristina Stubblefield: Point made 

Sharon Rumsey: And they're not the prettiest vehicle, but you unload it and then you go park it in the back of the venue. Nobody knows it's there. 

Kristina Stubblefield: There's another tip she threw in. Park it in the back. Nobody know. 

Sharon Rumsey: Nobody knows it's there. 

Kristina Stubblefield: I know she's got a whole list, Mike. I got, we gotta keep her moving.

Sharon Rumsey: Honestly. I'm about done but my last thing is I feel like everybody gets really focused on how the reception's going to start, they pick these amazing songs for like bridal party introductions. They pick their great first dance song, their parent dance songs. But I like to kind of go full circle and I always wanna talk with my couples about how are we gonna end this thing?

I don't like just to be like, okay, here, this is our last song. Three minutes later the lights go up and we're done.

Kristina Stubblefield: People are still on the dance floor, like yeah, as the lights.

Sharon Rumsey: I think you need as good a plan to end. As you do to start it, because I like guests to go home on that high note, still remembering what a good time they had.

So a couple of things that [00:13:00] I like to think about with ending the night. First of all, I don't believe in last calls. Every timeline you see come from me will instruct the bar not to announce a last call. I feel like that is telling a bunch of people that have already probably had a little bit, maybe too much to drink.

I'm giving you five minutes to get one more drink. . So what I like to do is quietly close my bar and have the bartenders then set bottled water out on the bar for guests to get. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Love that. 

Sharon Rumsey: As they're leaving, I just feel like it's a nice touch. Let's hydrate them up before we send them out. Then I like for my couple to pick two more songs.

I like a last song for the crowd, Mike has been there when we've done this before. I've even pulled him out there and had him do it with us. So I want a last song that everybody knows. I could name a few, but just a song, you know, Sweet Caroline, Wagon Wheel, Friends in Low Places, [00:14:00] Closing Time. Any of those songs that you feel like your guests are gonna know, you bring everybody out onto the dance floor.

Catering stops what they're doing. If Mike's team's there, they're going to stop what they're, my team's going to stop. Anybody that is in that room is on that floor. Make a circle around your couple and it is just, you'll see the cell phones come out. It's a great time. People are shooting videos, it's just a great memory and everybody sings.

That last song gets, tells the couple congratulations. Then my new favorite thing that I started doing last year that I'm in love with is a private last dance. So I like then to clear that room, I'm leaving, everybody's leaving. If catering's busing tables. Give me three minutes, man. We're gonna pull off this, this last song.

Everybody out of the room, you pick a last song. Some couples replay their first dance song, so it's their first dance and their last dance. [00:15:00] Some couples pick a different song. DJ hits play, DJ leaves the room, and you just have that moment, just the two of you to remember why you're there and kind of take in the day and have that last dance.

And then that also gives time if you're doing like a Sparkler Exit or something that you can get all your guests lined up outside to do whatever type of exit you want. 

Kristina Stubblefield: In all seriousness, you're really killing two birds, one stone because you need all those people out there if they're doing some kind of special exit anyway. Yeah, and it gives a private moments. 

Michael Gaddie: Sharon, I'm going to give you kudos because every wedding I've done with you, it's always been something special for the ending and it's like a storybook. 

Kristina Stubblefield: It's an experience. 

Michael Gaddie: You opened the book, you've started coming down the aisle, now you're gonna exit and you're like, you said you're gonna start turning lights on see you later. Bye. 

Sharon Rumsey: I hate that. 

Michael Gaddie: I hate that too. 

Sharon Rumsey: Yeah. 

Michael Gaddie: And you made it. 

Sharon Rumsey: It's too much dag on money. 

Michael Gaddie: Yeah and you made it worthwhile. And you made it a whole [00:16:00] experience. And I give you kudos on that. 

Sharon Rumsey: Thank you. 

Michael Gaddie: Because you always do a great job. 

Sharon Rumsey: It's one of my favorite parts of the night. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Well, and here's the deal. I know there's probably at least 15 episodes in just the stuff that she mentioned throughout. 

Sharon Rumsey: I tried to go quick because you told me not to talk too long. 

Kristina Stubblefield: I think this is one of those episodes I want everyone to listen to. Not be like, oh gosh, how much stuff is this? Because this is something parents, wedding party, the couple can listen to this episode and be like, oh, I get it now. It's not just being strict or not just following a timeline. This is why, but I really do feel like there's topics in here we need to dive deeper in, even give more of an explanation and talk about, because, the things you mentioned can make a big difference with flow with the logistics.

Sharon Rumsey: Yes. 

Michael Gaddie: Well, if you stop and think about it, you're planning for a year out, you know, you started a year before and you're squeezing that whole year into less than a 24 hour period, [00:17:00] right? So, I mean, and you want every minute to be just as important and you want to make sure every little detail's covered. I mean, it's so important to, to get all that in there.

Sharon Rumsey: and I truly believe, like most of you guys know, my background is labor and delivery. I was in healthcare for most of my life and we used to remind ourselves on labor and delivery a lot. You know, we do this every day. We do this for a living, but for this couple, having this baby, this is crazy special day that, you know is their dream once in a lifetime.

Weddings are the exact same way. Someone's trusting us as wedding professionals with probably the biggest event they're ever gonna throw in their life. A ton of money on one day plus the most special day in their life as they start their journey as a married couple. So I'm not wasting 30 seconds of it, like we are gonna milk it and get everything out of [00:18:00] that wedding day that we can.

Michael Gaddie: And that's why it's so important to hire a wedding planner 

Kristina Stubblefield: and professional vendors 

Michael Gaddie: professional. 

Kristina Stubblefield: We've talked about all along. 

Michael Gaddie: Yes. 

Kristina Stubblefield: Okay. If there's something you didn't hear us say that you're like, oh, you all didn't mention this. Hey, we want your feedback. So go to our website, hit the mic to record a message.

Or reach out to us on social media, whatever your favorite platform is, Sharon. Great, great items that you listed out there. 

Sharon Rumsey: Thank you 

Kristina Stubblefield: Thank you so much for listening. Mike. Take it away. Sharon normally says this, but what would we love to get? 

Michael Gaddie: We would love for you to give us a five star glowing review.

Kristina Stubblefield: All right, everyone. Take care.