My cell phone abruptly woke me this past Friday night at 12:15 am. A call was coming from my Bride's Father, the eve of his daughter's wedding. I answered and he calmly stated that he was sorry for calling so late but he received a call from his Brother who worked for Department of Public Safety (DPS) and he explained that DPS had closed down Hwy 87 North and South due to a landslide. This meant that the Wedding Ceremony & Reception was off limits and no one could get to it. I had spent the last 10 months designing and planning a spectacular event for 342 of their closest family and friends. Not to mention that many of the guests would be congressmen, judges, lawyers and just plain predominant VIP’s in the Valley. My reputation was on the line and I had to come up with an alternative plan, immediately. Could you imagine being a bride, expecting 342 guests and hearing this news? I am so glad that I was there to take the stress away from the family.
I called around Fountain Hills and got in touch with a very helpful front desk clerk at 1am at the Fort McDowell Radisson. She was so helpful and told me that she was pretty confident they could accommodate our guests and would have the Catering Director get in touch with me first thing in the morning. I tried several other places but it seemed like the Radisson was the location that was the most feasible and could work for the wedding size and needs. I started to prepare a bit more for the next day and got a few more hours of rest. I woke at 7am with a call from the venue; Circle Bar Ranch stating that the owner had called DPS personally and had explained the situation. By the grace of God we got clearance from the State that all wedding vendors and guests could clear the barricade. The landslide was a few miles north of Circle Bar and it would not affect us. I immediately got on the horn and started making calls to my vendors giving them clearance and protocol to move forward. I then called my Lead Assistant and we started making signs to direct traffic to keep moving forward. I personally spoke to each of the police officers, which one of them coincidentally was a bagpiper for me at a wedding the weekend before, and thanked them for their support.
Long story short, the wedding went off without a hitch and it was a perfect perfect day. Many thanks to my staff, vendors, the Fort McDowell Radisson, Circle Bar Ranch and the Arizona DPS.
Pictures of the outstanding day to come soon.
With all that Life has to offer,
Cicely
PS. Moral of the Story...Hire a planner. You will never be able to foresee what could happen on your wedding day.
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