How to Plan the Perfect Wedding Morning and Stay On Time with Janice Carnevale
The wedding morning sets the tone for the entire day, but all too often, it’s rushed, stressful, and behind schedule.
Janice Carnevale of Bellwether Events joins us to share her best-kept secrets for a smooth, stress-free wedding morning, based on 22 years of timeline-building experience. From strategic glam schedules to PJ photos and built-in snack breaks, Janice walks us through how to map out a morning that flows beautifully and gets everyone to the ceremony on time.
In this episode, we dive into why most couples underestimate how long everything takes, how to avoid the dreaded 6AM wake-up call, and what seemingly small moments—like a well-timed bathroom break—can make or break your day. Whether you're planning a champagne toast in matching pajamas or just trying to avoid rushing into your dress, this episode is packed with smart, realistic advice for every couple.
Highlights:
- What time hair and makeup should actually be done
- How many hours to plan from beauty to ceremony start time
- The best way to schedule PJ photos, lunch, and downtime
- Why “getting dressed” takes way longer than you think
- The key person who needs to be ready before you
- How to build in extra time without making your morning feel rushed
- Why your planner might schedule bio breaks
- The difference between a good timeline and a great one
Planning your wedding morning? Don’t just wing it—tune in for expert tips that’ll help you stay relaxed, look your best, and walk down the aisle right on time.
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Transcript
Alright folks, welcome to another episode of Now That I'm Engaged, How Do I Get Married? We obviously have August with us today, but we're really excited because we have Janice Carnivale. Did I say it right? I think I did. I'm close enough. Perfect. Alright, she's going to be here to talk to us about how to have the best wedding morning and to be on time for your ceremony, which I feel is very, very important. But before we do it, Janice, can you jump in and tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Great job.
planner in the DC area since: August Yocher (:you
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:⁓ ebook that you can find on my website. And ⁓ I have a background in catering and restaurants. So I really have a specific logistical mindset. ⁓ But I think that that is kind of the long and the short of it. Otherwise, you'll find me at local sporting events here in DC.
Kevin Dennis (:I will say ⁓ I got to go speak at winning when I world when winning where was the thing back in the day in DC and we got ⁓ my co-worker and I went to a Washington Nationals game and it was the breath best crab sandwich I've ever eaten in my entire life. So was that the Washington Nationals? So you're very lucky to get to go to their baseball game. So anyway, alright, so we're gonna get going. What is the first thing someone should consider when prepping their wedding morning timeline?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Mm-hmm.
The first question I ask couples when I'm working with them is, you doing a first look? Because doing a first look is going to be kind of the choose your own adventure starting point. The second kind of variable in having a solid wedding morning timeline is, you have to travel anywhere and how many places? Are we going from, you know,
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:your hotel room to your hotel ballroom, or are we getting in a limo on a bus and heading that way? So that is the first kind of component that ⁓ will help drive all the other timing for your wedding morning in order to make it successful.
Kevin Dennis (:amazing.
August Yocher (:Yeah, so that's definitely something you got to get down first or else like, everything else is just all for not. ⁓ So what kind of vendors do you typically like to include when we're building this kind of timeline in the morning?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Well, it's very important if you have, ⁓ and I'm gonna generally speak about couples that have one bride and one groom, and that are not any specific cultural ⁓ persuasion, but, ⁓ so take that caveat here at the top. ⁓ you definitely, the most important is to be very clear with your hair and makeup folks.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:about how many people expect to have which services and then what time you need to end. And I usually, one of my little tips and tricks is the time between when beauty ends and when a bride is getting into her dress, I like to leave a 15 minute gap.
because if you have matching pajamas or matching robes or you wanna do a champagne toast, that is when we do that photo. And it needs to be in the timeline because otherwise it sets us back a little bit. So that's why it's so important for beauty to know exactly how many people and what your end time is. And usually for me, if you are doing a first look,
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm. ⁓
Janice | Bellwether Events (:End time is usually four hours before the start of your ceremony. And we can, I'm happy to get into, I'm happy to rattle off a bunch of T minus 30 minutes here for you, but that. Yes.
August Yocher (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yes please do, do, do so.
August Yocher (:Yeah, I want to know what's in that four hour period, because that it feels like a lot of time,
but you know, we always know on the wedding that time is just always escaping us. So yeah, what goes on in that time frame?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yes,
it real. Yes, you're just on Saturday. The I brought ⁓ the parents actually wanted to do a room reveal. And so I brought the parents down and they're like, it's six. It's seven thirty already. And I'm like, I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The time is going so fast. ⁓ So but I do want to go back to beauty real fast. So if if beauty services come back to you and say, OK, in order to achieve this.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:we need to start at 6 a.m. or some time that you are unhappy with. The solution may be, can you hire more artists? Instead of having one person doing hair and one person doing beauty, can you have two people doing hair and two people doing beauty? And that gets through your group of folks a lot faster and you will ⁓ not have to get up at zero dark 30 on your wedding day, which most people don't want to do.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Okay, so if you're doing
August Yocher (:And it happens more
often than you think. mean, we had a bride the other day where she said she got up at like two or three in the morning to start getting ready before her hair and makeup. And I just, we felt bad because even though it was a daytime event, she was just so tired once we were kind of hitting that, you know, the climax were going down with the event and she was kind of going down with it. So no, that's such a good point, though. Yeah, hiring more artists for sure.
Kevin Dennis (:Right?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, and I, there are so many things I love about a brunch wedding, most importantly the food, because it is my favorite meal. But, ⁓ your day is starting early for a brunch wedding. Unless you have no wedding party, you have no one else doing hair and makeup with you, caveats, you can always not get up at two or three in the morning. So, we're finishing hair and makeup four hours before.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, I agree.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Then for about 15, maybe 30 minutes, we are doing our PJ photos. ⁓ You're eating lunch if you haven't already eaten lunch, but if you are gonna eat lunch after beauty ends, you need to make sure you have backup lipstick. And it is a worthy, if the ladies, if the folks, if the people, if the humans getting ready with you are also gonna eat a meal and...
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:sidebar we're gonna come back to, you have to eat. ⁓ Then they all should just spend the $20 and get the lipstick, unless it's their own lipstick and they already have it and that's fine too, but just spend the $20 and get the lipstick so that you can reapply after you've had ⁓ a solid lunch. So in that 30 minutes, so we're now four hours before ceremony time, we are eating lunch.
August Yocher (:Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:We are ⁓ doing our PJ photo or champagne clink photo. We're doing a TikTok dance, like whatever that is. And then whoever is going to help the bride, a bride get into their gown or their outfit, they need to go get dressed because they need to, you probably, I mean, this is personal choice, but you probably don't want that person in their pajamas.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:or casual wear in those photographs when you are getting into your wedding day attire. You probably also want them dressed. So those folks, now they don't have to necessarily have their shoes on or they don't necessarily have to have all their jewelry on. Like this is a little bit of a quick turn, you know, for that person or persons to go get dressed. So three and a half hours before the wedding.
Kevin Dennis (:Makes sense. Yeah, it makes sense.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:ceremony start time, we're getting dressed and I give an hour for this and people look at me, some people, not all people, some people look at me like I'm crazy, like August is looking at me right now. I'm just kidding. That wasn't crazy. But
August Yocher (:Mmm.
Yeah, yeah. It's just, it's just a
Kevin Dennis (:No
August Yocher (:curiosity, you know? I'm just wondering what's piled in there.
Kevin Dennis (:You
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, so I mean, first of all, it never starts on time. So this is like where we're, this is where, this is where we're padding, right? This is where I'm padding the timeline a little bit. And then once you're photographer, first of all, some dresses are easy to get into and some dresses are not. And some undergarments are easy to get into and some undergarment slash body tape plans are not. And I just plan for it to
Kevin Dennis (:True.
Correct.
August Yocher (:Yep.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:go badly and then we have time and then we're ahead of schedule. So I give an hour for dressing. And also once you've kind of as covered up as you feel comfortable with your gown, your photographer is gonna pop in there and then everything goes real slow, right? ⁓ fluff the veil. ⁓ tweak the earring. Put your bracelet on, put it on again. And it's not a criticism, it's just a fact. The photographer is slowing things down.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:And then once we're done, they're going to take a few portraits, right? Go stand by the window with the beautiful soft light coming through, you know, the gauzy curtain, holding your bouquet, like looking, you know, staring out onto the horizon, like we're going to get those gorgeous pictures during that time as well. So that gets us to two and a half hours before the ceremony. This is when I would like to be doing first look and couple portraits. Now, if you have to travel somewhere,
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:this you need to buff, you need to build in, you know, your travel time at this point ⁓ in the timeline. So two and a half hours before the ceremony, I want to do first look and I want to do a couple of portraits and I want to give the photographers an hour. Again, this is slightly padded. If they're done early, great. Maybe this hour, maybe the 60 minutes includes your travel time somewhere one way or the other. But I like to give an hour for these photos. Some people don't want it.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Some people split it up between, we'll do an hour of couple portraits now, and we'll do, I mean, we'll do, I'm sorry. We'll do a half hour of couple portraits now, we'll do a half hour couple portraits later, golden hour, nighttime, whatever. But generally I'm giving an hour. So then we are at 90 minutes, T minus 90, 90 minutes before your ceremony, and we're doing wedding party portraits.
bridesmaids, groomsmen, et cetera, all of your wedding attendants, flower girls, ring bears, all those folks. If you have that, if you don't have that, you can cut this section out and move everything forward in time. So I give 30 minutes for wedding party portraits. That's usually enough. If you have an extremely large wedding party and you want individual photos with the couple and each person separately together, et cetera, you might need a little bit more time to talk to your photographer about that.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:60 minutes prior to ceremony start time, I wanna do immediate family. And to me, immediate family is parents, siblings and partners, if they have them, nieces and nephews, if you have them, and grandparents. This should be easy to do with a small-ish, 12-ish, 16-ish amount of people. This should be easy to accomplish in 30 minutes.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Now we are 30 minutes prior to the ceremony and guess what? You get to relax. You get to relax. get to...
Kevin Dennis (:I was going to say, woo, okay,
August Yocher (:Yes, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:I was wondering when that was going to happen.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, so my goal is for the couple and the wedding party and the parents to be doing nothing 30 minutes prior. Now, if it's a Jewish ceremony, we're gonna sign the ketubah during this 30 minute break. But otherwise, this is like chill, reapply lipstick, drink some water. I've started scheduling bio breaks, bathroom breaks and snack breaks for couples because then you have a plan for it and they're not, you know, how many times
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Smart.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:does a bride slip away to the restroom and you're like, oh shoot, we were just about to do toasts. And now, you know, going to the bathroom in a wedding dress is not always an in and out, you know, minute 90 second situation. takes a little longer, so.
August Yocher (:Nope.
Kevin Dennis (:No, it's
a 3-4 team process.
August Yocher (:You
Janice | Bellwether Events (:And people are talking to you in the bathroom and like it's you know, you're not you're you're know, you're being stopped along the way by your loved ones, which is perfectly understandable. So, yeah, so that is what we're doing during the last 30 minutes. And then it's ceremony time, which, by the way, should be what you are putting on your invitation. This the the the publicized start time should be the actual start time, generally speaking.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
if you don't want to irritate the guests. I feel like that's happening a lot. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:or you need to have hospitality. I think you
August Yocher (:Yeah, do you
Janice | Bellwether Events (:know.
August Yocher (:ever recommend, like, the fall start time? Is that something you like to do or no?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Well, so it's funny, Kevin, think you know Kelly McWilliams from Florida, ⁓ the planner. Yeah, so she coined the phrase warm welcome and I love this. I love like giving this 30 minute time. That's so fun, right? And it makes it intentional. It sounds fun. Now she is in a market where almost all of her guests are arriving on a bus. So she has like extreme control over that. That is not.
Kevin Dennis (:Yes, yep, yep.
Ooh, I do, yeah!
Yeah!
Hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:the DC market, you know, we have local people, we have people on buses, we have people lifting from a hotel, et cetera. generally I do not, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah. So generally August, to answer your question, I do not mislead people on the invitation, but that can be a decision, a personal decision if you know,
Kevin Dennis (:Nah.
And we're in the same. We're in the same market. It's the same here.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:your friends and family and you know that they are tardy to everything all the time. ⁓
August Yocher (:Yeah, because that was going to be
my question because back when I was at a venue, would we would obviously do the same thing, like, you know, put the decision in their hands, but it would always be under the disclaimer, you know, your family and friends best. And if you know they're tardy, then, you know, maybe this is a good idea. But then, you know, sometimes it didn't work out like, you know, everyone had it together that day and everyone did show up on times. We had this very, you know, awkward.
20-30 minute period where everyone's just kind of waiting for things to get rolling.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, but if you have like you were saying Janice cocktail like some kind of like well like a drink or it doesn't even have to be alcoholic, you know, just something where the people and the guests can gather outside the sun if it's a summer wet, you know, or or outside the cold if it's a winter wedding, you know, there's so people have a place to gather and I think that people enjoy that a little bit as well. So
Janice | Bellwether Events (:And if
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:I think, you you're both correct. And if you decide to publish a different ceremony start time on your invitation than you actually plan on, because you are concerned about a large portion of guests arriving late, you need to have hospitality ready for the guests who arrived on time. And here in DC, on time means, if I say 5.30 on the wedding invitation,
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:I will have guests rolling in at five. So if you say 5.30 on the invitation, but you really mean six because a lot of guests are late, you still need to anticipate some guests at five. And to Kevin's point, and to Kevin's point, if it's hot, you need to keep them cool. You need to keep them in the shade. If it's cool outside, need to have hot cider. You need to have some kind of hospitality, pashminas, heat lamps, et cetera. ⁓ Cause they could be there potentially for an hour.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:with not a lot to do.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, I always feel like in you so I always err on the side of guest experience and if couples go with the guest experience and they and their guests are that's they continue to talk about like my wife and I got married 17 years ago and we kind of I we had a New Year's Eve wedding and I was like, alright, I wanted like drunk food because we were going to ring in the new year and you don't normally so it was like so we
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:we I was trying to do something but the venue goes just get some take and bake pizzas. We'll bring them out. People still to this day talk about the pizzas that came out and it was like it cost me 200 bucks, know, like additional but it's so but it's again guest experience kind of, you know, things that you can do and it's the same thing and you're bringing them in early and if they're standing around they're miserable. That's not a good guest experience.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, and that's what they're going to remember. They're going to remember that things did not start on time. And they're never going to blame the couple. Probably not. They're going to blame the venue. You know, August, like they're going to blame the venue. They're going to blame the planner, the caterer. You know, the blame will fall on the hired folks, not necessarily on the couple themselves. And so I do think also part of that hospitality is communicating to those earlier arrivers. We're actually starting the ceremony at
Kevin Dennis (:No.
August Yocher (:Mm-mm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:this certain time, you know, and maybe that's like on a poster board or maybe that's just you have some family members greeting guests at the warm welcome and letting them know.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Yeah, but I think it's also like I'm thinking about it more like it's really important that you keep them in an area because like say it was a hotel wedding and you don't lose them all to the hotel bar and next thing you know, you're all you're trying to fish them out of the bar and they don't want to leave because they just got a cocktail, you know, like there's so you it's definitely having some kind of holding area or something that works. It's comfortable and inviting and not not wanting them to run to the hotel bar.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:And there's music playing, know, there's some ambiance being created. ⁓ So yeah, there's definitely things that you can do to, like I said, to welcome those early arrivers.
Kevin Dennis (:⁓ yeah? Yep.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:And so
I had so many questions went through when you were going through your T minus four hours kind of thing. like we have a lot of Asian weddings here in Northern California. So the tea ceremony is very similar to the signing the ketuba. So I would, you know, so plant, you'd have to plan because sometimes the tea ceremonies will last, you know, 30, 45 minutes. So that, you know, so you're backing up things. And then I was thinking like those weddings that have massive bridal parties. having multiple makeup artists or whatever.
August Yocher (:Yeah
or sponsors,
you know, when they get, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah.
And then I was even thinking about what if it's a... so Filipino. So Filipino, yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:I'm unclear what what what does August mean by a sponsor? ⁓
August Yocher (:Yeah, we're pretty
diverse out here, so we work with a lot of different cultures.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, so
lot of cultures out here, we're I joke we're a huge melting pot. Yeah. And so so in the Filipino culture, you know, like the godparents may sponsor a part of the wedding and that's their gift to the couple is their their pain for the cake or they paid for the cocktail hour they paid for the bar, you know, whatever it know, every every sponsor is pretty different. You know, they all have different things that they give for. Yeah. And it's just kind of, you know, what they can provide. But that's kind of
Janice | Bellwether Events (:⁓ I love learning something.
Okay.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Well, in like
one wedding I had, it was a Filipino wedding and I think in total, including the, you know, the wedding party and the sponsors, parents, everyone that was walking down the aisle, it ended up being like 45, 46 people and I had ⁓ boutonnieres and corsages for every single one of them. So it was like getting everyone lined up in the right order, making sure everyone's wearing everything and then, yeah, sending them all down. So
Kevin Dennis (:Wanda
August Yocher (:That is definitely something that would require some buffer time in a morning timeline.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, well,
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:yeah, and because the sponsors to you they walk down the aisle for the ceremony to get recognized But but they also get introduced into the room for the reception. So yeah, it's yes the most I've ever done was 63 people for yeah with the bridal party at a Filipino, but it was also a 320 Phil. Yeah, it was a huge Filipino wedding, but but yeah, it's just I was thinking about that But then then I started thinking of same-sex bride both brides wearing traditional gowns like that must
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm. They do. Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Okay.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Mmm.
August Yocher (:my gosh.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:bring a whole nother level of makeup artistry. Yes, I was like, so this is so crazy.
August Yocher (:So many variables.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Well, yeah,
so two prizes interesting, right? Are you gonna get ready in the same room or are gonna get ready in different rooms? And if you're gonna get ready in different rooms but you both want the, let's call them the primary hair person, the primary makeup person, is that person moving and then that takes a little bit more time. But again, a really great beauty professional.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:⁓
Janice | Bellwether Events (:will know that and they will build that into their schedule of, okay, this is the 15 minutes where I'm moving all of my makeup stuff to this room or we're switching, we're moving the women around. And that, it all is logistics, right? And it all just requires thinking through. And then obviously with two grooms, the beauty necessarily isn't.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:for them, but they might have family members that they're accommodating in the morning as well that need to be ready in time for those either wedding party or immediate family photos.
Kevin Dennis (:And some of the same sex ⁓ male weddings I've done, they've had make-up artists. Sometimes they're more diva-ish than the women. they really like their... And so, again, it's so many variables that go into the T minus four hours. I love the T minus four hours. I'm never going to forget that. So anyway.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Aw, awesome.
August Yocher (:Well, and
Janice, I have a question too. just kind of all encompassing question, but I'm kind of wondering because I've never been with a full service planner. So I don't, you know, sometimes know what goes into that, you know, company per company. But do you include the morning timeline as part of something that you do or is this just advice that you give your couples and ⁓ like how involved do you get?
with the other vendors when you're creating a time.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Great question, August, thank you. So I offer all levels of service. offer full planning, offer partial planning, and I offer management services. And all of them get the same run of show, the same type of run of show. And it starts from when they wake up to when the guest leave and the loadout concludes. So everyone is getting this amount of detail questioning from me. Now with full planning clients, we are discussing it, you know, for nine, 10, 12, 14, 16 months.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:versus and same with partial planning clients, but with the management clients, we are coming in around the eight week mark and we gather up all your contracts and we read through them and we start to put together the run of show. And that's where I start to have questions like, okay, the hotel contract says that cocktail hour starts at five, but the DJ contract starts at five 30. Now that's not a morning issue. Do you know what mean? But like once I start to read through all the
Kevin Dennis (:No.
August Yocher (:You
Kevin Dennis (:No, yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:you know, all the details, then I can kind of see like, okay, where are the red flags that we need to correct? And that's why we do this at eight weeks out is because it gives us time to course correct with all the vendors. So all the vendors get included in my timelines, know, lighting in and out, fabrications in and out, know, floral in and out, floral delivery, floral delivery, delivery to your hotel. If you need your, your personals and your styling blooms, if you want to do a flat lay.
that needs to be on your morning timeline. And you need to make sure that you tell the floral designer about that in advance because they might charge you a little bit extra fee to deliver to an additional place or to deliver a little bit earlier in the day. just to like, know, so it's not, no, no, yes, absolutely. But like, it's one of those like surprise if you wait, you know, to the end to figure that kind of thing out, like plan for it in advance, basically.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and that's... it should be expected.
Yeah, there's always surprises at the end.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:So yeah, so all the vendors are,
there sure are, but every vendor is considered in my timelines and all of my clients get the same level of like detail and attention to detail ⁓ in their run of shows, runs of show, runs of show.
Kevin Dennis (:I love it.
Alright, so take T minus four hours out of it like are there things that we can do like the day before the week of the month of leading up to it that's going to help that morning morning be smoother and run better.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Hmm.
⁓ planning for your meals, planning for your beverages, know, what's happening with breakfast? Do we need coffee? Do we need juice? Are we doing mimosas? Do we just need cases of water? Who's bringing disposables? You know, are you gonna be drinking straight from plastic cups or who's, I plastic bottles? Are you pouring things into glassware or into disposable cups? Who's bringing the straws? Straws, very, very, very important to lipstick situations. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:No.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Who is doing your, you can delegate out your playlist. I always think it's a little creepy to be honest when I arrive at the hotel suite and there's no music on. And maybe just because I love music very much and I would have it on all the time if I could. But you get in there you're like, what's happening? Where's the background vibes? It is, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
I agree.
It's weird. It's just it's weird silence. It's just a weird silence. Yeah.
Yeah, it just breaks that awkward
Janice | Bellwether Events (:So you can delegate that out.
August Yocher (:Music makes
the whole vibe, man. Like you need something going on.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yes,
I agree completely. And so that's something you can do in advance. That's something you can delegate out to someone else. Ordering your food. You know, what are we having for breakfast? What are we having for lunch? This is not the day to try and subsist on mimosas and croissant. That is not today. Today we need to have yogurt. We need to have nuts. We need to have a real sandwich or a real salad. Yes, eggs. Eggs are so great. I love some eggs.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm. ⁓
Egg.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:put it in a cage, hard boil it, don't care. You have to get protein into your body because you are not eating until like 7.30 at night. So we have to make sure and that's what I'm asking people about this eight weeks out and they're like, I don't know. And I'm like, we'll start to think about it now. Are we doing like, and this is a great job for dads. Oftentimes go to the grocery store, pick up the party platters, bring them in like.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Dad often doesn't have much to do. He's in the morning. He's just like waiting for his, for whatever, you know, waiting to put on his tuxedo. So, you know, this is a good dad job or a good brother job. ⁓ Good uncle job, good, you know, whatever. ⁓ So those are the things that come to mind immediately is like beverages, food and playlists. And then if you are going to do the PJ, like the, you got gifts for your wedding party as
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:PJs or robes, please, please steam them beforehand. Please steam them before people put them on on your wedding morning ⁓ because...
Kevin Dennis (:⁓
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Like don't take them out of
the package and throw them on.
August Yocher (:Straight out of Amazon, there's creases and everything,
you know?
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, yeah, your photographer is not gonna take the time to fix that. They could, but they're not going to. So please ⁓ steam your little pajamas, steam bridesmaids dresses, steam mom's dress. ⁓ You know, make sure that the correct professional is preparing the wedding dress. If it needs to be, you like I, people will ask me, Janice, will you steam my dress? Nope, sure won't.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:sure won't steam your dress. That is a huge, like that is a giant pile of money right there hanging on a hanger. And I am not getting near, like I'll put on gloves if I have to handle the dress. If I have to like take it out of a bag and try to hang it on the hook and change out to the custom hanger, ⁓ which like really is a trend that went away ⁓ from 10 years ago. That's completely gone. And now the four.
August Yocher (:haha
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah, I feel like it's gone. Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:the photographers were always like, is there a better hanger around here? ⁓ But anyway, but you do, but also there's often no place to to hang, it's yeah, hotel rooms are tough. So those are some things that you can do in the days and weeks leading up to help have a great wedding day morning.
August Yocher (:You need a- you need a hanger, man. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:No.
August Yocher (:Honestly, it's so funny you say that because I was in a wedding ⁓ last summer and it was the first time I had been in a wedding party a bridesmaid and everything you're saying is everything we dealt with and you think that like, you know, a few of us who were in the party were in the wedding industry but you know, we didn't think about those things because she also hadn't been in a wedding before either and I was...
the designated steamer. I was steaming literally everything the night before and the day up and it was kind of a lock. So I'm like, hey guys, I still need to do my makeup and hair and we're getting a little behind, but the morning it does get away from you. It's, it's, it's truly crazy.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and I'm a big believer on and I'm a big believer on the protein. You gotta have something of some substance because you could tell like I had a bride this last fall and she was the sweetest thing all the way through and she was the devil on the day of and I finally looked at her and I go, do you need to eat? Are you hangry? what like you? Because I just and she goes, I am starving. And so finally I went in the kitchen because I knew the chef and I was like.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:It does get away from you.
Kevin Dennis (:I need something for the bride that she can eat that is of some, you know, not crap. Yeah, yeah. And so I brought her some food and she was, and she ate and she was like a different person. You know, it was just crazy because they, they're eating donuts or like you said, croissants or just empty empty. Well, I feel like fruit would be better than donuts, but I don't know.
August Yocher (:Like Hardy.
fruit, like light stuff.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:It's, yeah. It's
August Yocher (:That's true, yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:refined sugar and white flour. That's what they're consuming and it's not sustainable. Especially because, you know, your adrenaline is going like the whole morning. I mean, you know, at least a little bit. And here's a small aside. Who's got the meds and who knows the breathing exercises?
Kevin Dennis (:No!
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:I won't say that I,
Kevin Dennis (:you're part therapist.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:yeah, I mean, like there's, you know, when I start to see anyone, because it's not just the bride, a bride sometimes, anyone who's like pacing, like can't sit down, can't sit still, I'm like, do you wanna do some box breaths together? And they're like, usually, sometimes they're like, what the heck is that? And I'm like, oh, you sweet child who doesn't have any anxiety. Oh, okay, good. So breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Yeah, I don't know what a box breath is.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:out for four counts. And then hold her, everybody. Yeah, no, I have a sleepy time podcast side note that I listen to and she's talking to me through breathing. ⁓ But yeah, mean, sometimes myself included, this is the most anxious you've ever been in your whole life and you don't know what's happening to your body.
August Yocher (:Should we do this with the whole audience? Everybody!
Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:You're like, I feel some kind of way, but I don't know what it is because it's never happened before and I don't know how to deal with it. And so like knowing your protocols, like how for me, it's music, it's breathing, and then it's the medication if it gets to that point. But like you need to know, you your protocols of how to relieve stress, how to relieve anxiety and how to just, you know, calm your heart basically.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so I mean just again someone that went through the 17 it was I've been in the wedding industry for years, but it's so weird being on the other side I called it the other side but being you know standing up there because it's different like I still this day like looking out I don't remember anybody being in the the audience of our wedding
Like I just I don't know why and then it was like walking as we the recession will happen. was like, my God. my God. You know, like my head. I was like, you know, like but I did not see any of them walking in and I didn't see any of them while we were up there. And yeah, anyway, it's just it's an outer body experience. It really is. So all right. I feel like you were extremely thorough. But what are what are the things that people like overlook or forget? On the day of.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, absolutely.
I think they just don't,
I think that the.
Bean?
Everything takes longer than you think it's going to. This goes back to like, I have this conversation with transportation specifically, but this really does apply to literally everything on a wedding day. ⁓ A minibus or a coach bus, they're going the speed limit. They are stopping at yellow lights. They need time to unload and to load. everything, it's a five minute drive.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:It's not for a bus, my friend. It's not for a bus. It is a 15 minute each way trip. And that is why we need two buses because we can't make anyway. Side note, know, let's have a podcast about transportation. everything takes longer than you think it's going to. And that is why it is T minus four hours because that is your buffer. And you, I promise you, you would rather
Kevin Dennis (:No.
Yeah.
Okay.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:be done and ready and looking around the room and or, you know, chatting with your friends, then being like, my God, we're behind, we're behind, we're behind. How are we going to catch up? Like that is not the feeling you want to have in your heart when you walk down that aisle. You want to be relaxed. You want to be chill and you want to know that everything has been has gone smoothly.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:and we'll continue to go smoothly because we're starting the ceremony on time and that really is the trickle down to everything staying on time for the rest of your reception.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, I agree. And that's a good idea on the transportation because that is, you know, sometimes they're like, you know, everybody's not ready to load the bus at the same time and everything is going and then you being in a bigger city like that slows everything down, just traffic on the day of and you never know what's going on. And like we're in San Francisco and it's always like, what the hell's going on in San Francisco on this day? Because, you know, from our office.
August Yocher (:You're gonna run into
a parade or something.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, you never know.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yep.
Kevin Dennis (:It's like there's parades. There's bike rallies. There's this. There's that. There's yeah, there's a baseball game or a basketball game and you just don't know and that causes so much more traffic in different pockets of the city. You know, it's insane. So I like the transportation. I love it. All right. I think we hit it all. Do you think we I think feel like we hit everything. I don't feel like we're missing anything.
August Yocher (:A marathon.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yep, absolutely.
August Yocher (:But she said she had a crazy story for us, so...
Kevin Dennis (:I know, I wanted to get to the crazy story before we go too long.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Well, sir, so thank again, thank you both for having me. It's been such a treat to chat with you both and I love your pod. It's so good and you have really great guests on. And I do think we covered everything. You know, I am very Googleable. You can find me on all the socials. You can find me on the internet on Al Gore's internet. you know, so if you have August doesn't understand that that's fine. It was for you and I, Kevin.
Kevin Dennis (:No, thank you.
Al Gore's internet.
No.
August Yocher (:I know
who Al Gore is, it's okay. ⁓
Janice | Bellwether Events (:but he, but anyway, that's Carrie fix all of this. ⁓ so yeah, so, so shoot me. If you have more questions, if some, if any listener has any questions, email me, I'm addicted to my email. Happy to, happy to chat through anything with you. ⁓ okay. So crazy story times. ⁓ go ahead, Kevin.
August Yocher (:Carry a dog, it's great stuff.
Kevin Dennis (:That's funny.
And Well real quick real quick
We'll have I will have all her information on the show notes and you'll be able to contact her as well So so just make it easy on you guys. Okay, I'm ready for the story
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Okay. ⁓
August Yocher (:I got my
popcorn.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:gosh, now I feel like it's getting built up too much. the, you know, I'm sure you both get this question as well. Like, ⁓ from, you know, you're at a cocktail party with like normal, non-industry people. tell me about the bratzillas. Tell me about the worst things. And the worst thing for me, and maybe for both of you too, is always the weather. And so we had, ⁓ I had an at-home wedding in Fairfax, Virginia in, ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:HAHAHAHA
Mmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:I think it was June of 2012, but the year I might be off by one year or two years. ⁓ And someone on Facebook, no, ⁓ like a weather Facebook page for DC was like, we're gonna have a derecho. And I was like, what is a derecho? And then a friend of mine who's from Indiana,
is like, no, we're gonna have a derecho. And I'm like, okay, someone really needs to tell me what a derecho is. A derecho is, well, because you don't live in the plains. So a derecho is a thunderstorm with like hurricanes slash tornado force winds. So it's not like as severe as a hurricane, it's, we, so we had, so this was Friday and Saturday was,
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, I have no idea.
my gosh.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:the ceremony offsite at a church reception in the backyard. We actually had two different tents. We had a frame tent that was for dancing and for the buffet. And then we had a pole tent that was for the dinner tables. And then cocktail hour was by the pool. ⁓ It was midnight before it was safe for me to leave my house and go check on the property. But the family had already called me and said, the big tent is down.
So, yeah. So my husband drives me out there and roads are closed, trees are down, like people are swarming the gas station, the late night gas stations, like buying water, filling up their tanks with gas, filling up the portable gas containers. We get out to the house and sure enough, I mean, it's not like I thought he was lying to me. The dad was absolutely telling the truth. The big tent was completely down.
Kevin Dennis (:Huh.
August Yocher (:no.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:That tent is rated for 75 mile-hour winds. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:I was gonna ask most of them
are like 75 to 100, you know, like yeah
August Yocher (:⁓
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah,
August Yocher (:goodness, yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:yeah, yeah. So the frame tent was still up, which is typical of a frame tent. are, you know, sturdier than pole tents. But all the decor that we had beaster lighting and we had swag drapes. Not a full, not a full, not a full liner, but like, you know, kind of the every other panel situation happening. All that was down. ⁓ The chandeliers in the everything was down in the big tent, obviously.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Yeah.
August Yocher (:Hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:So I'm on the phone with the tent provider. I had contacted the tent provider that afternoon and said, we're getting a derecho. And of course she said, what's derecho? cause she had seen, yeah, exactly. was completely, you know what? You taught me about sponsors at Filipino weddings. I'm teaching you about weather phenomena. So, so we, ⁓ so I had been in contact with the tent company and
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, like everyone else does. Ask that question.
August Yocher (:learned something new today, so...
Kevin Dennis (:There you go. Okay.
August Yocher (:There we go.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:We had hired this particular company because they had the best inventory. They had the most beautiful tents. They were great to work with. They've since been absorbed by a larger company, ⁓ but they were based in Charlottesville, which is a two and a half hour drive in a normal car on a normal day from Fairfax. So I get there at midnight. Cell service is not great. You know, like when power is out and also it's a cell network of a decade ago.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Eugh.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:So I get ahold of the tent company and I'm like, this is what we need, know, for an extra generator on the truck. ⁓ You know, we need to replace all of this. We need to replace all of that. There had been a tree, a tree in the yard that we had, that was like literally in between the two tents. They had recently planted it. They didn't want to move it for the wedding. And it was probably, I would say close to six inches in diameter. And it was completely sheared off.
at the base and it was like, somewhere else in the yard. ⁓ But I mean, wedding people, wedding vendors, wedding pros are truly problem solvers and we are resilient and they were there, the tent company was there by 6 a.m. and we had a new tent up and all the decor was replaced and we had a successful load in and we started on time. And if you didn't know about
Kevin Dennis (:wow.
you
Janice | Bellwether Events (:the bad weather the night before, you would have been none the wiser. It was still magical in the end, but that was definitely the worst story I have.
Kevin Dennis (:Wow.
August Yocher (:Wow.
Kevin Dennis (:That is the worst story I think I've heard in long time. But it's just like the fact we were with a man Andrew from it. Isn't it ironic? ⁓ ironic weather. So he I don't know if you've heard of him, but he goes out and he helps people. So he wasn't around back then, but he would have helped you know that this direct show thing is coming and to be wary and into prep and you know. Yeah, and so it.
August Yocher (:Ironic, yeah.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:goes back to his service is worth every penny because he's really looking out for where where the weather is in that moment in time because even like we live in you know we're 45 minutes east of San Francisco and so you know grapes grow well here you know and that's you know it's all wine wherever we are and we have a small little wine country out here but like in even in our town
You go out to when say vineyards, is one of the big vineyards out here. The weather can be 15 to 20 degrees different where it is. So it just anyway, whether whether is the worst part.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, yeah, you have it.
There's a lot of microclimates when you get into places with elevation, for sure. ⁓ And if your listeners have not heard of ironic reports, they need to start following him and they need to look into his services because, and you can cut this if you want, but if the National Oceanic Administration, the NOAA, NOAA, I forget what all the letters stand for.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:No, we're keeping it.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, if it's defunded, there's no weather apps left. Like, it's all gonna be based off of private satellite service. And if you were gonna have an outdoor wedding, you are going to have to employ a private meteorologist. Because the free apps are not gonna be. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. It's terrifying.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Yeah, no, he actually brought up Noah yesterday.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, does my what?
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and my wife and I argue over the weather all the time because my Apple say one thing and his says the other. So I was asking him what what to how can I be? What's a better app so I can be right and win and you know, because I'm competitive and she or no and he said go to Noah Noah's that's where you're going to go to the website because that's where you'll get the good stuff. You won't get it on the weather app. Yeah, so.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah. Well, they're
all just taking, they're taking all the free information that our tax dollars pay for at NOAA and then they're putting it on, yes, it's a free app, but they're making you look at those terrible ads. anyway, yes, you're gonna need a private meteorologist in the future. Add that line item to your budget.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yep.
August Yocher (:Yeah, that's crazy. It is. It's so crazy.
Kevin Dennis (:to crazy crazy.
Well, Janice, Andrew appreciates your plug of him and but no, we can't thank you enough for being here because this was when you pitch the topic. like, my god, yeah, I've never thought of, you know, getting ready and all the stuff that leads into it because it's it's it could really derail the day and really mess up the day and I can I can in the
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Hahaha
August Yocher (:Your plug, yeah?
Kevin Dennis (:My hand remember, you know, at least five times that a wedding was late by 30 minutes to 45 minutes to an hour because of XYZ leading up to it. You know I'm saying? So it just, you know, and it just, when you, when that happens, I don't think couples realize that takes away dance time. Everything that gets eaten up in the timeline takes away dance time. So, cause they, they still
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Yeah, nope, yeah, you're
gonna, sorry, you're gonna lose dance time or you're gonna spend a boatload of money in overtime because the rate that your vendor charged you ahead of time is not the same rate that they are charging you to go over later. If you even can, a lot of venues are like, no, this is the hard stop we have. Yeah, yep, yep.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
August Yocher (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Noise ordinance. Yeah,
I was just gonna say I was gonna say the same thing because a lot of these venues like we have a lot in our market here that you know, It's 10 o'clock Sunday through Thursday and 11 o'clock Friday Saturday, you know, like some of them are really hard hard stops on on that So yeah, it just eats up all that stuff. So I can't thank you enough for coming on here educating our listeners We really appreciate it because I again would have never thought of this and this is something that needs to be talked about everywhere with every couple that's out there. So yeah
August Yocher (:Yeah, yeah.
I mean, my first thought when I saw it was like, it's kind of like you have to set up success in the morning. It's like breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And having a morning timeline is going to help your big day. And that was kind of my thought process when you presented the topic.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Love it. All right. We appreciate that and we appreciate having you. So folks, we'll see you on another episode of Now That I'm Engaged. How do I get married? Until next time, guys. Bye.
Janice | Bellwether Events (:Well, the pleasure was all mine to be here.
