What really happens behind the scenes!
It's true… you should vet your suppliers, read their reviews, and, yes, you definitely get what you pay for. We’ve all heard the horror stories, and let's be honest, we've all ended up picking up the pieces for clients when things have gone wrong with other suppliers. Trust me, I’ve been there countless times. But hey, it happens to the best of us, and things sometimes just don't go to plan! (cue the "face melt" emoji). But it's how we deal with it that defines us!
When you choose your suppliers, you want the ones who can handle the disasters behind the scenes. That way, on your big day, everything will run seamlessly, and you’ll never know what went wrong.
Before you read on, if your not familiar with us, please click the link and find out more about the work we do! Light it up
So, in the spirit of transparency, I’m going to bare it all and share some of our behind-the-scenes disasters that our clients never knew about. We worked hard to fix them so they could still have the perfect day!
Gosh where do we start… yep there have been a few (cue hide face emoji) here we go!!!
The Double Booking:
Well on more than one occasion, yes more than one… I have booked letters we either didn't have or double booked letters. I am going to put this down to sheer excitement that I have a booking (yes I still get that buzz with every booking even after 7 years) or maybe it’s just my dyslexia. But whatever the reason yep i've done this a few times.
Luckily for us we make our own letters so this has always been fine as we build what we need. But my poor husband Chrissy who makes them alongside of his own full time job, this does put the pressure on but it always pays off and leaves us feeling good and energised at the end of what we have accomplished! Also the extra letters also come in handy. We are very well stocked now in multiples of most letters of the alphabet!
My most memorable time was when I booked ‘GEORGE’. I was so happy I skipped into the kitchen to tell Chris and he looked at me and said ‘How many G’s in George Charlotte?’ oops (cue hand on mouth emoji) Anyway having 2 Gs really has come in handy, so we're all good lol.
She Smashed It:
So if you've read our other blogs you'll know that we are a small family business, so yes the kids do come out with me on deliveries. It's lovely and they love getting to see different venues and meeting suppliers and of course working with Mumma. They grew up with the business and are very used to how it works… so, on this one particular delivery we arrived and I got the letters out the car. Penelope got her cleaning mitt at the ready to help me clean them. On this particular delivery the client still hadn't decided where they were going so the Planner went to check again and chat about where they should go. I popped them down in the middle of the room and said to Penelope, “be careful the floor is uneven and they aren't against a wall hold off cleaning one sec”. As I left to go get another out of the car I heard it…
SMASH! Bless her she just couldn't wait, she had begun to clean it and pushed it over. I picked it up and the switch on the back was smashed!!!
We actually had another commitment that day and were very short on time, of course!!! Ahhhhh! So I quickly unloaded the rest, nipped back to the unit and thankfully I had a duplicate letter so I was able to swap the letter out and all was right again.
And I still had 10 minutes to get ready for our other commitment! That was definitely a go go go kind of day!
Why did it have to be right in front of the venue?:
So for this booking I think the client may have known about this one, and if you did and are reading this, oh my days I am so sorry, I am still mortified!!!
So I pulled up at a venue I've worked at numerous times before. Normally I park round the back and I'm in and out then gone again. But not this day!!!
On this day I couldn't use the back door so round to the front I went, now carrying a lot of heavy things I want to park as close to the door as I can. I unload, set up, check, photograph, you know the usual and then I head back to the car, put my kit in and shut the boot.
My heart stopped… as soon as I heard the boot click I realised what I'd done! I locked my keys in the boot (cue a lot of crying face emojis)
GUTTED! I was parked right in front of the arch leading to the path up to the venue, all I could think about was when she pulled up and the photos, well everything was whirling round my head.
After panicking, tears and quadruple checking that the car wouldn't open and then checking a few more times cus you know, you never know miracles do happen. I then had to think! OK i’m early, yes an hour away but Chris and the kids could bring the spare key and come and save the day tadaaa!!
Nope! Chris could not find the spare key anywhere! Lonnnng story short, I had to pay a silly amount of money and wait a very long time for a locksmith to come. By this time the bride had turned up, got married and was now in the garden enjoying the reception.
As I waited whilst he picked the lock, OMG another realisation, the keys were in the boot, “erm when you break in is my alarm going to go off?” yep! He turns to me “are you ready” click my alarm goes off the driver door flung open I have never climbed through a car quicker in my life! Fewwwwww job done. And then I high tailed it out of there!!!
Again if you're reading this, I'm so sorry!!!
A few more pics to break up the disasters!!!
Ooowww and did you know we did the light up numbers too? Check them out here!
Where On Earth Is It?:
Well this was a first and actually happened last year, and darn well will never happen again!!!
So I arrive at a venue and I'm doing 2 installations of letters and neon. I first set up the neon backdrop as this takes the longest. Went well and was pleased with the outcome. Feeling very happy with myself, I went to the car to now set up the light up letters and OMG… one of them was missing!!! (cue shocked face emoji)
So the night before me and Chris headed to the unit to load and prep, Chris loaded the car and I prepped for another booking and then off we went. Turns out as we were nattering away and Chris did not load the final letter in the car and it had been merged with the other bookings.
OK but what do I do now! Chris has all the kids and I had 2 other deliveries to get done. It was a rally round to get someone to look after the kids so he could bring the other letter. Oh and wait of course there was a cherry on top, I had Chrissy's car keys in my pocket. Yep you can't make this stuff up. So as well as a babysitter we also needed transport.
But as always we got it sorted and everything was in place and ready to go in time for the wedding!!!
I Had Time To Get It Fixed:
Off I went so happy to be part of someone's life journey, their story… lighting up their proposal. I love it when we get an enquiry for our MARRY ME letters. It's so special.
So as normal I set the letters up, switched them on and then began my checks and snap. One of my bulb caps snapped due to it being faulty. OMG OMG OMG, I tried my best with Chris on the phone to repair myself but I couldn't.
Again luckily we had time on our side and as Chris couldn't come to me because of work, me and the M went to him!!! So I made the 1:30hr round trip and everything was sorted!!!
And yep I know you all want to know… it was a huge yes!!!
Well there you have it, it really does happen to the best of us, but it's how you deal with these obstacles that sets suppliers apart. I am so unbelievably thankful that there are only a handful of times that things haven't gone to plan in our 7 years in business, but I revel in the challenge!
All our love from this small family business, Alana’s Love and Penelope’s Parties,
Charlotte, Chris, Alana, Penelope, Rory and Madison XXxxxx
‘Alana’s Love’ & ‘Penelopes Parties’ - lighting up weddings with our large light up letters in Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds & Beyond!
“Everything was really easy and quick to book. On the actual day the letters were set up and ready to go nice and early, so I didn’t need to worry about anything. The letters elevated the day time look beautifully, and added a really lovely warmth to the evening reception
Would 100% recommend!” - Harley
Shout outs to suppliers and venues featured in the images:
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