Keep in mind, I'm writing this as a freshly minted groom as of July 6, 2013…read more..
I'm nothing more than an average male. For some reason, my now beautiful wife agreed to marry me. Before she said yes to my proposal, I never dreamed of how my wedding would look or what food would be served to our wedding guests or what I'd wear. I assumed we be visiting a justice of the peace.
When the now wife said she wanted a fairly traditional wedding, I tried to encourage her to try a DIY wedding. We'd book a venue, we'd book a caterer, a DJ, a bartender, buy the booze, find someone for decorations, find a florist, etc. I didn't want to hire a wedding planner...probably because I disliked that J-Lo movie.
After writing down all of the things we needed to arrange for to pull off a proper yet contemporary wedding that would satisfy my Chaldean family and her American family, we both felt overwhelmed. Even though my better half is very organized (me, not so much), we still were feeling extremely insecure. We were drowning under "what ifs" and "should wes" and "do you thinks." Frankly, as time ticked closer to summer, we became more lost. Our only accomplishment was booking a ceremony and reception venue on the date we wanted.
The then fiancée happened to walk past an event being held at our reception venue about four months before our date. We were both still reeling under the chest pressure of trying to create, plan and pull off our day. When she looked inside, she was floored by the look, smell, sound and feel of the venue. With some pushy prying and some happenstance, she met the event planner, Lauren Lisker, that night.
Later that night, I was told tales of Lauren's talent and we met with Lauren and her Joie de Vivre parter, Erica, for an interview.
Both women instantly struck me as being confident, experienced, classy and completely organized. More importantly, neither of the two women gave off any vibe like they were running a for profit business. They both were sincere about wanting to make our wedding day special. They were patient with us, which was important, as we didn't have a large budget. And even though we told them our below average budget, they didn't laugh at us, flinch or find a way to leave the meeting early. They never made us feel ashamed. They said they would find a way. We hired them and Lauren sure did find the way!
Lauren is probably the most thorough, most organized and most wedding industry connected person I will ever have the chance to meet. She ushered us calmly and creatively out of our self induced wedding pressure chamber onto an organized pathway to the perfect party.
She was so calm that I wanted to check her for a pulse or add her as a closer on my fantasy baseball team.
She responded promptly to emails and phone calls and made us feel like she was working only for us even though we knew she had other clients at the same time. Lauren always had options for us. She never told us we couldn't do something. She always found a way to make it work, within our budget, and to our liking.
Most importantly, Lauren was always gracefully glowing, happy, positive and encouraging. So much so, that after it was done, our bridesmaids told me my bride showed no signs of pre-wedding stress at all. I owe that to Lauren being there and being ready for anything.
I can't write enough good things about Lauren Lisker and Joie de Vivre without sounding like I'm on their payroll, which I'm not!
From the groom's perspective, if you're thinking about a DIY wedding that's more than a simple backyard affair, don't. Hire Joie de Vivre. They kicked ass! They did such a good job that I may have cried a couple of times at my wedding and my buddies from work probably won't let me forget about it for the rest of my career.
Thank you, Lauren! You are great at what you do and you are an incredible person!
