By Cindy Novotny, Master Connection Associates

The excitement is in the air – he proposed and you said YES!  Now comes the work of planning one of the most important days of your life.  YOUR WEDDING.

I am a consultant in the world of business as it relates to hotels, venues, wedding planners, event designers, musicians and all that surrounds you ‘The Bride’! Because of the overwhelming amount of event professionals in the wedding industry it is crucial you do your due diligence and find the best fit, professionally and creatively, for YOU.  It is about knowing what you want in detail and being prepared to share your thoughts and expectations with potential event professionals from the get-go.

There are two types of needs/wants that you have to share: SPECIFIC AND IMPLIED. 

YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS ARE EASY TO SHARE

1. Date of Wedding
2. Type of venue
3. Number of people
4. A certain budget

Those are specific needs – but what will really hit your heart strings are the implied wants.  These are things that will create the memory.  The goal of a good event professional is to help you create a dream and not wake up to a nightmare.

THINK ABOUT YOUR IMPLIED NEEDS BEFORE YOU HIRE YOUR EVENT TEAM

1. Feel of the ceremony
2. Family Expectations
3. Traditions and Rituals
4. Theme or Colors

All of these are in your mind but you may not have them clearly sorted out right away.  However, you will save a lot of time, energy, and money if you are prepared to discuss these ideas in detail with your potential event professionals.  A good wedding vendor will ask you a lot of open-ended questions (as any good consultant would and should do) to help you find your way.  Your job as the bride is to be able to answer these questions early on with some clarity and direction.  The wedding professional may be able to give you many alternative ideas which will build from your original thoughts, enhancing your wedding vision beyond your own imaginings. But just sitting back at the beginning, without any clear direction and saying “what can you do for me?” is a problem waiting to happen.

You need to give the event professional a foundation to work from and let them create your dream from there.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING A CONNECTION WITH YOUR EVENT PROFESSIONALS

In addition to knowing your needs/wants before you meet with prospective vendors, remember the next important element is how you get to know them and how they connect with you.  They may be the best at what they do, but if it feels like oil mixing with water then the relationship will never work and you will have more headaches, drama and conflict than you can imagine.

However, getting to know your prospective event professional before you actually start doing business with them is no easy task. You need to see through the sales pitch and dig deep inside the vendor to really find out who you will be working with as it may not be the principle of the organization. Referrals are good, but remember your best friend who loved one professional is NOT you and so make these decisions yourself.  Ask for face-to-face or phone meetings with some of the professional’s existing clients. If the professional will not allow you to talk directly with people on their team, that should immediately raise red flags about how they operate. What you should be “digging for” is to determine whether the vendor is a good “fit” for you professionally and creatively.

WHILE PERSONAL IN NATURE, IT REALLY IS… JUST BUSINESS

A wedding is a beautiful event that should be the calmest day of your life.  You are the star and the movie should go on around you.  If you are too controlling and not open to ideas or feedback you will set yourself up for disappointment.  The reason you carefully choose an efficient wedding planner, the perfect hotel or venue, the best caterer, the most creative wedding invitation designer, the incredibly talented event designer, and so on, is that all of these event professionals have the ability to produce MAGIC. After all, they are experts in their field.  But YOUR JOB as the bride and their client, is to do your part. Do your homework and communicate clearly.

Like any relationship, it takes two to make a thing go right.

READ MORE ABOUT CINDY:

“Radical Mentor” Consultant, Speaker, Author and Executive Facilitator. Cindy Novotny is recognized by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) as one of nine most powerful and innovative speakers. Cindy has been branded the “Radical Mentor” by thousands of executives around the world for her straight forward, no nonsense approach to leadership. Cindy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Training Magazine, Successful Meetings, and broadcast live on the BBC. Cindy spans the globe speaking to vast audiences that range from line employees to top executives. She has shared the stage with global leaders such as former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani. Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) recognized Cindy as one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing. The Award is given for the most innovation, vision and achievement in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry.

Cindy founded Master Connection Associates and it is now one of the premiere international consulting and training organizations specializing in service delivery, sales and leadership performance. MCA’s work contributed to client success including The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company earning an unprecedented two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards, Alston & Bird, LLP Law Firm reaching number two on Fortune Magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ List and Barclays Bank (UK) becoming the #1 service provider in their competitive set while winning more than 17 national and international service excellence awards…and counting.

Energy, passion, and drive guarantee Cindy’s message will captivate each person in her audience. Her targeted message and popularity has no boundaries as she addresses groups around the world. Her charismatic, humorous, no nonsense approach, combined with in-depth knowledge, bring an audience alive with reality-based skills and cutting edge training technology. Speaking topics include sales, customer service, leadership, conflict resolution, innovation, building dynamic teams and quality processes relative to service. Based on Cindy’s skill and expertise, MCA has built a client list that is truly a who’s who in virtually every aspect of the global industry including Hotels, Resorts, Convention Bureaus, Travel Agencies, Destination Management Companies, Retail, Insurance, Real Estate, Medical, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Legal, Financial and the U.S. Military. She has become an expert in the luxury consumer market. As the author of the book “LIVING WITH NO BALANCE…And Loving It!” Cindy challenges people to feel good about trying to do it all and living in a less than balanced world. Her message applies to anyone interested in having a fulfilling life.

A true “road warrior,” she travels almost 50 weeks per year delivering her message to diverse groups of people and industries worldwide. Cindy is also a partner in one of Orange County, California’s leading restaurants, Hanna’s Restaurant & Bar.