Oy. I’m spending the weekend
following the Wedding Planner around Cape May.
 Note
that I said "The Wedding Planner" because Cape May really only has one true
wedding planner and that's Catherine Walton. Ms Walton does the traditional
Jennifer Lopez movie kind of planning right down to the last detail.
Many of the larger reception venues have a bridal consultant on
hand, but that person is more an events coordinator. Follow me and
I’ll show you what I mean.
Catherine chose the weekend of May 20th for me to come along because
it is the largest spring wedding weekend. Three or four beach
weddings are planned for Friday, May 20th and 12 that we know of,
are scheduled for Saturday May 21st.
“It’s the last weekend before the rates go up at the hotels, B&Bs
and restaurants,” said Catherine, “And these are just couples who
are actually getting married in Cape May. There could be more who
are getting married elsewhere but holding their reception here in
Cape May.”
So, let’s fast forward to Friday, May 20th.
I wake up at 5:50 a.m. in a panic. It’s raining for gawd’s sake. No,
no, you don’t understand. This is rain as in the gods are fed up
with mankind and are unleashing their vengeance kind of rain. (3-5
inches of rain ended up falling that day, plus gale force winds –
that constitutes a coastal storm) Now, if I’m worried about this,
imagine the panic the wedding planner is in?
There are three or four weddings scheduled for today, two
were to be beach weddings. Catherine planned one of the weddings
which was being held in St. Agnes Church, Cape May Point with a
reception at the Chalfonte Hotel. However, the couple had planned
for beach photos of the wedding party.
Catherine, her assistant Vanessa Rodkin, and I would be overseeing
the rehearsal of two weddings. The first is to be a beach wedding
Saturday morning at The Cove Pavilion with a reception at
The
Pelican Club. It is a wedding of about 85 people and Catherine will
be providing Full Service consultation. In other words, she never
leaves the bride's side from early in the morning until the
reception is over.The second wedding will be
held at Congress Hall
Beach Saturday afternoon with a reception following at Congress Hall Ballroom.
It is a wedding of about 250 people. Catherine was brought in at the end of the
planning stage. Catherine and Vanessa will only be overseeing the
arrangements for the rehearsal today and the actual wedding ceremony
tomorrow.
 I am to meet Catherine and Vanessa at 4 p.m. As I walk in, Catherine has the
television tuned to the weather channel and is on the phone with the
mother of some bride assuring her that if she doesn’t feel she needs
a wedding planner then by all means cancel the contract. The gist of
it, as I can tell, is that the bride’s mother hired Catherine because they needed a venue for the wedding and once that had
been secured, she wanted to weasel out of the contract. Catherine is
very calm, very matter of fact, and very decisive. I’m nervous, in a panic
and can't decide if I should sit or stand.
Vanessa is very quiet and sitting
patiently with a pink clipboard in her lap. Vanessa decided in March
on a career as a wedding planner. This is her first bridal season.
Problem: Catherine has two nervous Nellie’s on
her hands. Vanessa says she’s nervous but looks very
calm and poised. I, on the other hand, look like the Wreck
of the Hesperus and my curly hair is growing as we speak. I remove
the copy of Martha Stewart’s Spring 2005 Wedding magazine from the
chair and settle in to start with the nudging.
Dare I ask? Well, why not?
“Are we really going down to the beach for rehearsal?”
“The weather radar shows that the storm is moving out,” said
Catherine. “The rain should be over and clear for tomorrow.”
She heard that the two beach weddings scheduled for today had to be
moved to the lobbies of the hotels where the reception was held. And
this is the risk of planning a beach wedding. Many people come to
Cape May not because they have any emotional ties to the city but
for the amenities it has to offer. Cape May can deliver one really
romantic and memorable beach wedding. But – and this is a big but –
there are risks. Actually there’s one risk – the weather - and you
have to be prepared for that.
“But are we really going down to the beach for rehearsal?” I ask
again.
“I’ll find out now.” She calls the mother of the bride. Thank Gawd.
The bridal party is dressed for dinner, which will be held at A Ca
Mia, and decided they don’t want to be outside in the wet sand.
“We’re moving the rehearsal to Victoria Gardens at the
Marquis de
Lafayette Hotel,” Catherine says when she hangs up the phone. This
is where most of the wedding party is staying and
 where the
reception will be.
The Congress Hall wedding rehearsal party, however, have decided
they want to rehearse on the beach and neither wind nor wet sand
will stop them. So be it. Their wish is her, well our command.
Catherine and Vanessa go over the details of tomorrow’s weddings. It
is Vanessa’s first solo flight. Catherine hands her a pink sheet of
paper with the service itinerary to be clipped to the pink clip
board. How cute is that?
 Catherine’s husband John, “the chairman”
will set up the chairs on the beach. A beach ceremony is only
allowed to take up to 30 minutes so timing is essential. Vanessa is
responsible for making sure the guest book and bubbles, which will
be provided by the Congress Hall wedding planner, are taken to the
beach for the guests to sign. There will be 20 attendants. Vanessa is
responsible for herding them in and getting the procession started.
In addition to chairs, John will also put up white feather banners
at the beginning of the ramp leading down to the beach and two more
banners at the site of the wedding ceremony. This is, of course,
after he sets up the chairs for the morning wedding – takes them
down – and then sets them back up again for the afternoon wedding.
Catherine calls the chairman and reminds him to bring in the box of
shell party favors and place card holders. I don’t which wedding
they’re for and I’m already getting a headache.
Of the 12 weddings which are taking place in Cape May tomorrow,
Catherine Walton planned five, one of which is Full Service, plus
the Congress Hall ceremony.
Meanwhile, Catherine’s service itinerary for the nuptials of Susan
Harris and Dan Larsen reads like a military campaign. We will meet
at 9:30 a.m. Leave Catherine's shop by 9:45 a.m. Use the 15
minutes that we’re here to “put out any fires.” We need to collect
90 boxes of fudge for the party favors. Check the seating chart for
the Pelican Club reception. Oops the wedding cake is here.
We run into the back kitchen and greet Karen Dalbora of Sugar Plum
Bakery in Mays Landing. She’s wearing her rain slicker and the three
cake layers are well protected. Gee – it doesn’t look like a wedding
cake. Oh the phone’s ringing – someone needs a pair of white gloves
for a tea party later this afternoon. Oh someone’s coming in the
front door. The bride (not The bride, another bride) needs the
marriage license. Now where were we?. Tomorrow’s schedule.
“The trolley will arrive at the
Marquis de Lafayette Hotel at 10:15.
The groomsmen will leave for the Cove Pavilion first - followed by
the bridesmaids, the mother of the bride and the wedding planners.
The wedding is at 11:30 a.m. So, sometime between 10:30 and 11 a.m.
the horse-drawn carriage will take the bride and the father of the
bride to the Cove.
“There’s a wedding about every hour at the Cove tomorrow,” said
Catherine. “I already booked two weddings there for next year (the
Saturday before Memorial Day weekend). Has everybody eaten because
this will take us until 7 p.m. We need to be at Victoria Garden at
5:30 and at Congress Hall at 6:30. Where’s the rehearsal kit?”
She grabs a box which has a silk-flowered bouquet and a tiara. “It’s
the bride’s torture kit,” she smiles.
And off we go.
And just as an aside - the wedding
planner obviously doesn't eat until after the planning is done.
A Full Service Wedding plan means this: The bride need not worry
about a thing. Let the wedding planner worry about it. Here’s an
example:
Problem: Catherine receives a call from a bride at 2 a.m. It was an
afternoon wedding so the bridal party was out a little late. The
bride brings her wedding dress into the hotel room and needs to hang
it up. It’s too long to hang anywhere but on the arm of an old light
fixture (with a bare bulb). The dress is in a garment bag and is
five layers thick with silk, satin, lace and tulle. By the time the
bride steps into the shower and walks out of the bathroom, the bulb
has burned a hole through the back section of all five layers.
Solution: Catherine got up early the next morning and “just happen”
to have the exact lace appliqué needed to repair the damage. Happy
Ending.
Catherine has a bag which she calls her “bridal survival kit.” It
has tampons, safety pins, needle and thread, lace, Kleenex, etc,
etc. “I tell my brides, I don’t care what time it is, I want to know
what the problem is so I can deal with it.
 Tell me,” she says as we
walk into the Marquis de Lafayette Hotel and prepare for the
rehearsal.
“Unfortunately, we can’t rehearse on the beach. They’ve (the bridal
party) never done
this before and at the end of the rehearsal, each person will know
what they’re going to do.” In order to accomplish this, Catherine
has to imagine what the stage setting will look like and recreate it
inside the restaurant (which is closed at the moment).
The rehearsal goes a bit late. Because of the storm, some people are
late arriving. Did you know that the groomsmen,
once they escort the guests up the aisle are not, according to
tradition, supposed to walk up the center of the aisle again until
the groom is married? That’s why you always see the groomsmen lined
up behind the groom on the side of the altar or to the left of the
officiator.
Anyway, all goes well and we’ll see the Harris-Larsen family
tomorrow morning. Off to the rehearsal of Kimberly and Jeremy.
The very large wedding party
 schlepped en masse down to Congress
Hall beach from Congress Hall – they too were very well attired for
their rehearsal dinner – one very smart man brought a rubber
pool-like thingy which he used for the smaller kids to grab onto so
they could cross the road safely.
I gotta a tell ya, I bailed after the first ten minutes – I was
tired, cold and hungry. The wedding planners, however, had donned
extra clothing and were doing their thing as I left them.
The Wedding Day – I awake at 6 a.m. and can’t believe it. The sun is
shining. It is a beautiful day. It’s as though yesterday never
happened. It’s even warm. We arrive at the Marquis de Lafayette
precisely on time. The groom is pacing nervously in the hotel lobby.
His groomsmen (there are 14 attendants) are drifting down slowly and
are ready to go. The first job of the wedding planner is to make
sure the groom is “conscious.” Honey I didn’t even ask about those
stories. But I can imagine. Any way this groom is all too conscious
but looking good and ready to go.
We waste no time and immediately go up to the bride’s room. I feel
so funny walking into this sanctuary – kind of like walking
backstage and pestering the star while she’s in costume and make-up.
The flowers are on the bed – they have just arrived.
Susan, the bride, is in a chair and being attended to by non other
than Emmy Award winning Celebrity Make-up Artist Marianne Skiba
while her assistant attends to the maid of honor.
“Catherine,” says the bride, “the flowers are on the bed. I don’t
know if the groomsmen’s boutonnières are there or not.”
Catherine immediately checks. They are.
“See,” the bride says to her maid of honor, “I don’t even have to worry
about it. I just tell her and it’s done.”
 Next, we go back down to the lobby to attach the boutonnières and to
make sure the groomsmen and the groom and his family are in the
trolley and off to the Cove.
The father of the bride is also nervously pacing back and forth. I
asked him why Cape May.
“Susan wanted a beach wedding and we started
searching for places. A friend told us about Cape May. We live in
Maryland. Did you know that Cape May is only third to Hawaii and Las
Vegas for destination weddings? We came down a year ago and met with
Catherine and here we are. And the sun is shining.”
Time – 10:40 a.m. The groomsmen and the bride groom’s family have
left. The bridesmaids are assembled and ready to go. No bride. The
father is sitting now talking with his wife.
“I promised Susan I wouldn’t make the wedding toast sound like a
summation to the jury.”
He looks at me. “I’ve been told that the job of the father of the
bride is to show up, pay up and shut up.”
Catherine has checked on the bride about two more times and is
confident we’re approaching the zero hour. And there she is.
 Radiant, beautiful
and ready to say “I do.”
The rest of us get
on board the trolley. There was a little confusion regarding where
the photographer was. Turns out he was sitting in his car in front
of the hotel. Catherine rounded him up and he was snapping away.
Down to the Cove we
go. The trolley lets us off and circles to park alongside the
Promenade. Problem: Someone has called the police about the trolley
parking along Beach Ave. Catherine spots the police and immediately
goes up to them.
“A new driver,” she
said. “I told him to go to
Second Ave., park, and wait for my
signal.”
She moves onto the
next mini problem. She instructs the groomsmen and
 bridesmaids about
exactly what they are to do and when they are to do it. Every detail
has been thought through and every question asked. And there were lots of
questions. Most of the bridesmaids have decided to remove their shoes for the promenade down the imaginary aisle. Their very pretty
heels are lined up along the of the
Promenade. They look like something out of a fairy tail so dainty
and abandoned.
 From the time the
bride arrives, until she and her father actually begin the walk,
Catherine never leaves her side. She assists her from the carriage.
She arranges the train. It is a bit windy and she rearranges the
veil. And then rearranges it again. The bride kicks off her shoes –
and the wedding procession begins.
The ceremony begins.
Standing from the Cove Pavilion, the setting is picture perfect. The
groomsmen
 lined up on one side. The bridesmaids on the other. And
the sea, as though on cue, sends waves to shore with perfect white
caps on their ends. Tourists are stand frozen on the Promenade
watching as the groom kisses the bride.
Time to take
pictures. Time to go to the reception.
There are more
questions once the wedding party arrives at The Pelican Club.
 The DJ
is about the announce them and to present for the first time Mr. and
Mrs. Dan Larsen. Catherine supervises this stage direction at every
interval.
And the wedding
cake! When did it transform into a beautiful sea shell?
The father of the
bride is making his toast.
Problem: The wedding
planner’s phone rings in the middle of it. There is a problem with
the Congress Hall wedding ceremony. It seems that too many wedding
planners is similar to the problem of too many cooks spoiling the
broth. The Congress Hall wedding planner does not handle anything
outside of Congress Hall – meaning the wedding on the beach -hence
the need to bring Catherine in. However, the Congress Hall
consultant still coordinates all
the other facets of the wedding. The bride wanted an arbor (the
thing under which the couple exchange vows) . The
florist was under the impression that Catherine was
responsible for the arbor. No, said Catherine, that was to be the florist’s
responsibility. An arbor was not in the contract and, in fact, is
being used for the 4 p.m. beach wedding.
Solution: “If the
florist doesn’t have an arbor, we can use the feathered banners.
It’ll be even more dramatic than an arbor. Is this our problem? No. But
we still want to do what’s right to make the wedding happen.”
Next Problem: The bride
wants to light candles on the beach after the ceremony but it's not
clear that the hurricane candleholders are all present and accounted
for or that the windscreens Catherine has will fit the lamps. The
hurricane lamps as well as the windscreens are both needed to keep the
flames from blowing out. It’s windy you see, ‘cause we’re by the
sea.
Solution: Vanessa must go to the
bridegroom - NOT the bride - and tell him the problem and recommend
that the candles be lit back at Congress Hall. Then Vanessa must go
to the minister who will relay that information to the guests after
the ceremony.
 And there’s
confusion about other small details as well. The first wedding went
off like clockwork. At the reception the mother of the bride is
thanking Catherine. The second wedding was absolutely beautiful, the
bride just as radiant. But the second wedding was not smooth.
The difference? One person to coordinate the entire event, therefore
no misunderstandings. Two planners just might be two too
many. The other difference? Experience.
Catherine Walton has
been planning weddings for ten years. Even when she gave Vanessa her
last minute instructions, including getting to the site an hour
earlier than she had intended, she stressed attention to detail.
“Measure twice, measure again, look at it, measure a third time and
then cut.” Nothing can be left to chance.
People do come to
Cape May sometimes only to have a beach wedding. They
very often do not live near here and like the Harris-Larsen wedding
they’ve only been to Cape May once
before to look around. The next time they’re here is the day before
the wedding. So you really need someone who’s going to look after
your best interests and who knows the quirks of a small Victorian
town. Also, after the consultation, if you find you really do not
need a wedding planner but just want to know how to have a beach
wedding – she’s more than happy to give you the rundown.
Me? Honey after the
Congress Hall wedding, I’m exhausted. It’s 4:10 p.m. I don’t even
wait for the wedding party to come back off the beach. I head
straight up to the nearest bar for a cocktail.
Meanwhile, Catherine
Walton had a another wedding to attend to. |
