Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Haircut day is always a good one around Casa Kenju, and today was no exception. We both enjoy getting our "ears lowered". I've always wondered about the derivation of that phrase, especially since I can't see how it applies to getting your hair cut. Do you know where it came from? I'd love to hear all about it.

This past weekend was good; I worked three days and Saturday I went from 11:30 am to almost 9:00 pm before getting home. Three of us delivered one wedding and set it up. It was supposed to be out-of-doors in a garden, but due to an all-day misty rain, it was moved inside. The room for the ceremony had to be the same one as for the reception, which makes set-up more involved and always takes longer. The second wedding was delivered by another crew, but due to its being moved inside, we had the same problem, so two of us from the first wedding went to help the other four. The bride and groom and their families had about 240 people coming, and after the chairs were set for the ceremony, the ballroom had to be split in two with "pipe and drape", to hide all the reception tables, which were set up and ready to go, except for the centerpieces. 

Had the centerpieces been simple, we could have just placed them and left - but we had three different types of centerpieces, and they have to be strategically placed throughout the room, which meant that we had to wait around until the ceremony was over. The cocktail hour was set up in the lobby of the country club, and people left the ceremony area fairly quickly, so we were called back to get busy. While the ceremony was taking place, we went to the bar and grill in the club and had wings, chips, etc. and soft drinks. It was nice to have a food break and get to sit a bit.

The club staff got busy quickly setting tables in place, but most of them had to be moved again, in order to conform to the seating plan - so that meant that the first set of centerpieces we put into place had to be moved, yet again. We ran around like the proverbial "chickens with their heads cut off", trying to get everything in place, light candles, clean up our supplies and get out of there so that the guests could be allowed back into the room.  WHEW!!  

Maybe you will now have a greater appreciation for the people who work as wait staff, decorators, florists, band members or DJs, since we are all subject to the quixotic nature of weather (and brides.)

I will say this:   this group was one of the nicest wedding parties with which I have ever come into contact. The bride, her mother, all her bridesmaids and grandmothers could not have been nicer - in spite of all the changes that had to be made. And topping that off was how gorgeous they all were. I have seldom seen a prettier group of people - and the bride's dad was so cute!  I told him he didn't look old enough to have a daughter getting married, and I thought they must have had her when they were 15. He smiled and said...."No, we were 12."  I almost believed him... LOL!

9 comments:

Arkansas Patti said...

I'll admit I took the magicical settings at weddings and receptions for granted and never realized the work involved. Thanks for showing me a new apprectiation.

Sparkling Red said...

I've never heard that saying, but I like it. It makes sense for short haircuts only. I'm guess it's because when you trim short hair the distance between the ends of your hair and the tops of your ears increases, and you could blame the hair getting higher or joke that your ears have gotten lower. I'm thinking it probably made more sense for ye olde-fashioned haircuts that people did at home, with a bowl over the head.

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

The malware problem has been going on around the many different blogs. The best thing to do is delete your blogroll, someone on your blogroll has been infected. After that I would delete temp file and cache and you should be fine,this has corrected the problems on the other blogs I have visited.

Anonymous said...

Judy--What a day/weekend you had! Glad you got through it all. Better you should wrestle with such problems than that anyone should think that I could be of any help. *laughing*

Hope you don't get spammed to pieces here!
Cop Car

OldLady Of The Hills said...

It is really something, Judy---the unplanned things that you encounter in your work---Rain changes everything to Plan "B", doesn't it---(If there is a Plan "B"?)...I do have a great appreciation for all the people who participate in making Weddings happen and who make it look like it is all easy....Having Officiated at 38 Weddings myself, I have encountered many unplanned 'happenings'....Bravo to you and all those you work with and create with....!

Pat said...

Some people put their feet up at the week-end.
It must be rewarding when it all falls into place and the people are appreciative. Sounds like a good gig.

Granny Annie said...

Twelve-year-olds having kids? Great post so why did I get stuck there? LOL

Stacie said...

I really enjoy reading your floral and weddining stories. I am a floral designer in Portland, Oregon, and I can easily relate to the "Hurry up and wait" aspect of our job. It's always amusing to read about other people's experiences in our industry. :-)

Joy Des Jardins said...

Welcome back to your old site Judy. I'll be glad to come here to visit you....and I hope good bye and good ridance to any malware and virus bugs floating around....so terribly frustrating. I did leave a long comment on your other site today when I suddenly COULD get on it without getting a warning message. See you dear friend... ~Joy xo