My Save-the-Day Secret: Vendors Share Their (Unexpected) Emergency Kit Must-Haves
We've spent the month of June talking about event day management: cultivating great vendor relationships and working as a team, dealing with annoying guests, getting into the right mindset to execute your events, effectively managing destination weddings, vendors' event day pet peeves, how to continue to market and sell new weddings even while you're working your existing weddings, and training your staff on how to get along with other wedding pros, how to prevent event-day emergencies and how to resolve them when they do arise. Whew!
Since unforeseen emergencies are an unfortunate fact of working in this industry, we figured that a reasonable conclusion to this month's content theme would be to turn to our fellow wedding professionals. We asked some leading vendors what (possibly unexpected) item turned out to be invaluable in resolving a wedding day crisis. Almost all wedding pros carry some form of an emergency kit to their events - you may want to consider adding the following things to yours!
James Berglie, Be Photography: "A Bluetooth speaker is a must – nothing is worse than silence! A bridesmaid will inevitably say, 'We need some music!' but cell phone speakers just don’t cut it for setting an upbeat mood in a large room full of bridesmaids, mothers, makeup artists and a photographer running around. Having that speaker in my bag and being able to offer it to borrow really helps get them into party mode as they can jam out to songs louder than a whisper while they are getting ready!"
Jen Taylor, Taylor'd Events: "We tote around two bags that have multiple kits of candle lighters (a must!), corkscrews, and metallic markers and black pens for those who forget to pack with the guest book."
Christi Lopez, Bergerons Flowers: "Some of the most unexpected items in our day-of emergency kit are glue dots and cable ties – you just never know when you have to 'MacGyver' something! I’d also advise taking extras of everything that you need so you can be prepared for any problems that may arise. With that said, a sense of humor is also something you need to bring along. Things happen and you just have to roll with it."
Mike Busada, Mike B Photography: "One thing that I always carry is Gaffers Tape in black and white colors, a Tide stain stick and a black Sharpie Marker. We wrap a few feet of the white tape around the stain stick and the black tape around the Sharpie. Gaffers tape is great because it’s sticky but removable and doesn’t leave and sticky residue. We have used the black tape to repair everything from torn seams in a groom’s pants to repairing clip-on ties when the clips broke. The Sharpie is great for covering up white scuffs on black shoes, and lots of other uses. The Stain Stick has been really useful in getting stains out of a bride’s gown before she walks down the aisle, and the white tape has been used to repair broken or missing buttons and hooks on a gown when needed. We have also used the white tape to repair unraveled ribbons on a bride's bouquet handle."
Alexandra Chalk, Taylor'd Events: "Two things come to mind. We have some fake rings. Groomsmen forgot the rings and we just had them use the fakes instead of causing a big stressful rescue mission to get them right before the ceremony. The groomsmen swung by and grabbed them before the reception, and the guests never knew the difference. We, of course, had the couple keep the rings as a funny memory of their wedding day. The other — sunscreen! I have had a few instances where groomsmen in particular are outside for photos much longer than expected. Especially the poor groomsmen with fair skin from a temperate climate or the groomsman who shaved off all his hair. Nobody wants any sunburnt heads in those photos, not to mention a miserable loved one."
Paula Ramirez, Historic Mankin Mansion: "As venue owners, we not only highly recommend it, but see regularly, the tremendous need and benefits for all wedding professionals to have an extensive emergency kit at the ready...as they say, you just never know! Even with our many years of experience with hosting weddings, it's still amazing how the smallest item can mean the world to the happy couple and offers yet another opportunity for you to save the day! Here are a few must haves: Red wine splashed on anyone at a lovely event is an immediate disaster and having Wine Away handy will be your saving grace! Within seconds, it literally makes the stain disappear, like it never even happened. Because small details are often forgotten the day of the wedding by the overwhelmed couple, it is recommended to always have a spare ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket, petals and even stand in wedding rings, on loan of course, just in case. Benadryl, Band-Aids, and an EpiPen are pivotal items that may truly save the day or in all seriousness, may even save a life!"
Be sure to visit WeddingIQ on Friday, when we roll out July's new content theme, something that's very important to evaluate in your wedding business this time of year!
(Editor's Note: Many thanks to Meghan Ely, wedding PR extraordinaire, and her team at OFD Consulting for helping us gather such fabulous vendor advice! Learn more about Meghan's services, and how they can benefit your wedding business, at her website!)
