Over the summer we had the pleasure of following Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Design course, as she interned with Preston Bailey and his staff in Manhattan. We know that what Tara absorbed during her 12 weeks will be invaluable as she begins her career as a certified wedding and event planner. Now that she’s had some time to sit back and digest what she learned she’s back with a few thoughts on her LWPI course and internship.

Preston Bailey, Tara Martin-Crawford and LWPI CEO Cho Phillips

“My internship at PBD was both rewarding and challenging in many ways. The first couple weeks were a little stressful because there were major events scheduled both weeks so I really had to hit the ground running. However, after I had a little time to settle in, I really started to love what I was doing. The vast majority of the work I did with PBD was in their Production Department. One of the best things that resulted from my internship was that I discovered my likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. I really loved working in Production and I also enjoyed working with flowers. Production really brought out the “organizer” in me, which has always been a big part of my personality. However, working in floral inspired me to want to learn a lot more about flowers and to find ways to be more creative in both my business and everyday life.

I used to be very creative as a child, but as I got older I became more practical and my creative urges began to dwindle. Working with PBD definitely awakened those old flames and has helped me realize that I do have artistic abilities that I can apply to my career. One of the challenges of the internship was learning how to create documents and make them user-friendly for the entire team. I’m not used to working as part of a team when it comes to planning and designing events. As an amateur, I have always done things in my own, informal way. As a PBD intern, I had to learn how to create important formal documents that could be used over and over by the whole team. It was challenging because I had to learn what information would be needed, by whom, and how to include it. Despite the fact that I was so new to the event industry, and, at times, didn’t know what I was doing, everyone at Preston Bailey Designs always treated me with kindness and respect. That was one of the other “bests” about the internship: getting to know the PBD team. They really were a pleasure to work with and amazing to learn from. They are obviously the best in the industry for a reason, and I hope to have the opportunity to work with them again in the future.

Taking Preston’s course really helped me prepare for the internship, and it was interesting to see how the concepts and processes described in the course were actually applied to the events he and his team create. For example, mood boards are extremely important to the design team. After Preston has his initial meeting with the client he sits down with his design team and creates the mood board, which will then be the foundation for designing the entire event. Giving the client the three design options is also an essential part of the success of his client relations. People love to have choices and taking the time to create exciting options for clients makes them feel as though the desires they have for their events are being taken seriously. I also had the opportunity to see how color saturation, lighting, and statement pieces were used in events and how important each is to the cohesiveness of good designs. I learned to be more of a perfectionist than I already am because it is the small details that really make an event spectacular.

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to work with Preston Bailey Designs. I feel much more inspired, confident, and knowledgeable with regard to the event industry than I did just a few months ago. I feel like I want to keep learning and have been following up on some areas such as flowers and lighting that I want to know more about. I am also in the process of taking the Certified Wedding and Event Planner course though the Wedding Planning Institute. I had the opportunity to assist with some planning while I was at PBD, and I feel as though this is also an area that really interests me. I am so excited to finish the course because then I feel as though I’ll have the well-rounded education I desire and be able to assist my future clients with any facet of event planning or design they want or need.

Thank you so much to Cho Phillips, Preston Bailey, and all the members of Preston Bailey Designs for giving me this opportunity and helping me to further realize my goals and dreams. It was truly an inspiring and wonderful experience!”

Congratulations again, Tara, on a job well done! Are you interested in being the next LWPI intern at Preston Bailey Designs? Every graduate of his course has the opportunity to apply! Take a tour of his Signature course or enroll today!

This is the final journal entry from Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI graduate who has been interning at Preston Bailey Designs the last three months. Tara is a graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, and she is the first LWPI graduate to intern with Preston. All graduates of this course have the opportunity to apply for an internship. Will you be next?

For the final week of my internship I worked briefly with the design department. I am definitely a computer-literate person, but I don’t have experience with graphic design or any of the programs used to create renderings and floor plans. In Preston’s course he gives a list of suggested programs that can be used for event design. I was told by employees in his design department which programs they have found work best for them. Vectorworks is what they primarily use to create floor plans. For renderings they use a combination of Google Sketchup, Photoshop and Adobe InDesign. For people who are just starting out with graphic design, these programs may be a bit too advanced. AutoCAD, I was told, is a good program that is a bit easier to use. Another option for those who are not computer savvy is to hire a third party to create your computer images. There are a lot of companies that charge reasonable fees to turn your ideas into computer-generated images.

I was able to sit down and have a chat with Preston on my last day to get some lingering questions of mine answered. During my internship I didn’t really have the opportunity to work directly with him because most of his time is spent working directly with clients or with the design team. In any event, one of the questions I asked him was to outline what the process is from the initial client inquiry up until the event is produced. This is what Preston said: When the client first calls or emails PBD the sales department gathers as much information as possible about the event and what the client does and doesn’t want for it. The client then comes into the office and meets with Preston and a member of the sales department to discuss the event. Preston said he always has images and ideas prepared to present to the client based on the information gathered during the initial inquiry. He will also present the ideas that he has specifically for his or her event, but is careful not to give away too many ideas in case the client doesn’t commit to working with PBD. (He doesn’t want his ideas stolen and used elsewhere). After the initial meeting and the client decides to hire PBD the company secures a non-refundable retainer fee which is usually around $25,000, depending on the size and overall cost of the job.

Then the design team goes to work and comes up with three different design options. They create renderings and storyboards, which are then presented to the client at the first of two presentations. Once the client decides what look he or she likes during the first presentation, a second presentation is scheduled. For this one the design-element options are actually created for the client. Again, three options are generally presented. During the second presentation the client can choose specific items that he or she likes and/or make suggestions for how things should be modified. Once all elements have been selected and agreed upon the floral and production departments begin to price out the overall cost for the event. Those costs are then transferred to a proposal (with mark-ups, of course) and given to the client for approval. After it is signed the client is required to make a deposit equal to 50 percent of the entire cost of the job. It is not until this is done that orders can be placed for the supplies and elements needed to create the event. The final balance is due two weeks before the event date.

During my time with PBD I learned that the second client presentation can be pretty expensive to create. I asked Preston if that cost ever exceeds the amount of the initial retainer fee. He said that PBD tries very hard not to allow that to happen but there are instances when it does. In the cases when it does happen, he and the rest of the team need to sit down and take a closer look at what they think the overall cost for the event is actually going to be because it could be more than they anticipated. It takes a lot of experience to be able to price out an event without actually taking the time to price everything out. If you have the time and the resources to price things before you present them to a client go ahead and do that just to be sure that you are working within and maximizing the budget. It’s always surprising to find out what things actually cost because it’s usually more than what you might think and you don’t want to provide your clients with options that they either can’t afford or aren’t making the most of the money they have to spend.

My internship at PBD went by so fast! At the same time, though, I felt like I had been there forever. Everyone that I had the opportunity to work with was awesome. They all made me feel welcome and comfortable while giving me the chance to learn about and experience doing something I love. I appreciate everyone’s help and guidance so much. There is a reason why Preston Bailey Designs is one of the top event-design companies in the world: It has the best staff in the industry! I am really going to miss working with and seeing them all, but I will always be grateful for and remember everything that I learned during this experience.

Congratulations, Tara, on a job well done! LWPI is excited to follow what is sure to be an amazing career. Join us in wishing Tara good luck as she puts what she’s learned from LWPI and Preston Bailey to work in the real world!

Tara Martin-Crawford’s internship with Preston Bailey Designs is drawing to a close. Now that she has experience in several departments Tara is starting to better understand her strengths. This week was filled with organization and paperwork, which she enjoys. Tara is a graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course through LWPI.

This week I resumed working in the Production Department. I must admit that although working in floral was both inspiring and informative, I definitely feel as though my heart is in production. By nature I have always been an organizer, and working in production really gives me a chance to use that ability.

This week was a very busy one for me. The Production Manager was scheduled to travel at the end of the week for three overseas site visits. He wanted to take a binder with all his important documents for the three events so I had to create that for him. When going on site visits, especially those that are overseas, the time spent there is usually pretty limited. In this case, each destination was delegated two days, at the most. Therefore, the Production Manager has to keep a pretty tight agenda in order to accomplish all his goals and meet with all the necessary vendors. As a result, he asked me to create a meeting agenda for him and contact all the vendors to confirm their designated meeting times. I was also asked to type up a list of questions and important issues that he will need to address. For one of the sites I also created a sample packet that contained renderings, dance-floor samples, linen swatches, and aisle-runner samples, which the Production Manager will show to the vendors so that they can source items that are the same or similar to those used by PDB’s local suppliers.

Preston Bailey Designs has three big overseas events taking place within the next three months. Some of the crews will consist of people from companies that are local to the events’ locations. However, PBD likes to have some of its own members working the events as well. The Production Manager keeps a list of freelance workers who PBD regularly uses and a list of who is going to be used for each event. One of my assignments this week was to create individual lists for each event with the crew members’ names, contact information, passport numbers, dates they will be traveling to and from the events, and which airports they will be flying in and out of. The events are spaced close together so many people will be traveling directly from one event to the next. However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Therefore, you have to know what everyone’s travel requirements are.

As my internship with PBD comes to a close, I am really starting to reflect on how much I appreciate having had this opportunity. Not only have I gained a lot of knowledge with regard to event design and production, but I’ve also had the chance to meet and work with some really wonderful people. PBD has an amazing staff! From Day One everyone has been nothing but helpful and welcoming and I really appreciate that. Having not worked professionally in the event industry before, and having my first experience be with Preston Bailey Designs, makes me feel truly blessed and has confirmed my love and passion for the field. I know I still have some things to learn, but now, more than ever, I am absolutely sure that a career in the event field is meant for me.

Tara Martin-Crawford, LWPI’s intern at Preston Bailey Designs, continues her work with florals this week. Tara is a graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, and she is the first LWPI intern to work with Preston. She has only a couple of more weeks left in her internship. This week she talks about helping re-create some of Preston’s signature floral pieces.

This week was a very busy one for PBD. Cho Phillips and some of her team flew in from California to film the lessons for Lovegevity’s Wedding Planning Institute and Preston’s next courses, which will focus on floral design. It was great to finally get to meet Cho in person since she and I have only had communication over the phone and through email. The new courses that she and Preston are creating sound awesome, and they will offer great learning opportunities for both experienced and novice floral designers. Creating the centerpieces and amazing floral pieces that PBD is so famous for would seem like an immense challenge for almost anyone. Not only are they extremely detailed, but creating them requires a lot of imagination as well as knowledge of working with flowers.

In order to showcase its famous florals the PBD Floral Department had to recreate some “classic” pieces as well as design and create new ones. One of the projects that I was given was to create a poodle out of ivy leaves and hot pink carnations. The base for the ivy was made out of chicken wire wrapped around bunches of white tissue paper. I used hot glue to secure the ivy. The foundations for the carnations were floral foam balls that were sprayed with water and plant food in order to keep the flowers alive longer. I was told to choose buds that were either fully or partially open. For ones that weren’t fully open, I used my fingers to spread the leaves and open the bloom as much as possible. The stem was trimmed to approximately three-quarters of an inch and pressed into the foam until secure. Hot glue was also used for buds that didn’t want to stay in place.

Again, when creating pieces with fresh flowers it is important to pack them in tightly so that they hold in place and stay alive longer. Also, you should always start placing your first flowers in the area(s) where you need a smooth border. That way you can make sure the edge is straight and neat and move on to the rest of the piece from there. The piece that I created wasn’t one that I would consider large in scale, especially for PBD. However, it was a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be. You have to have a lot of patience and really take your time when you create a floral sculpture because even for smaller pieces you will probably need to hand-place a good amount of flowers.

All in all I think that my dog turned out pretty well. After having the opportunity to create a piece pretty much from start to finish (I had some help along the way) I think that I will definitely do a better job next time. As the saying goes, “practice makes perfect”.

Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, continues her summer internship at Preston Bailey Designs. As her time at Preston Bailey’s world-reknowned design firm winds down she moves into the creative part of her internship: florals. This week she learns some great tips on creating the beautiful floral pieces that Preston Bailey is known for.

After ten weeks in the Production Department I have moved into working with the Floral Department. This week we worked both in the studio and onsite for a Christmas-theme photo shoot sponsored by QVC. Of course, this was no ordinary “home for the holidays” setup. Everything was over-the-top and awe-inspiringly beautiful. My biggest challenge this week was getting over my fear of messing everything up. I have never been someone who is really good at making things, so I was definitely proceeding with caution  so as not to ruin the beautiful look of the pieces I was creating with the floral team.

We worked with a variety of materials including fresh roses, fresh orchids, beads, silk flowers, branches and ribbon. Neatness and efficiency are two absolute requirements when doing this type of work. Neatness I’m pretty good with. My speed and efficiency will I hope come in time. I was assured by the other girls who have been with PBD for a while that once you’ve had the chance to create some pieces and see how they are put together you will begin to recognize the best techniques for each piece. Hot glue, wire and straight pins are three vital elements that PBD uses to create a lot of its masterpieces. Both of them are easy to use, easy to conceal, and inexpensive (careful with the hot glue though, it definitely does burn). One tip that I picked up this week with regard to fresh flowers: If you are creating a piece using a lot of fresh flowers it is best to pack the flowers together as tightly as possible. This will prevent their petals from falling off and keep them looking alive longer.

Because we were doing a Christmas theme, I also received a much-needed lesson in gift wrapping. Maybe this is common knowledge, but a new technique I learned for creating bows with ribbon is: Instead of making the ends of the ribbon the same length when beginning your bow, keep one tail short (the final length it will need to be to tie the bow) at the top of the box. Crisscross the ends on top of the box and then wrap the long end smoothly around the underside so that you don’t create a knot underneath and the box will sit flat.  Again, I’m sure for some of you this may be common knowledge, but I was taught to keep the ends the same length and make a knot on the underside of the package. I guess all these years I’ve been doing it wrong.  Well now I will have no excuse not to create beautifully decorated packages the Christmas!

For someone who is not naturally crafty it is difficult to visualize how to create a stunning statement piece out of raw materials. However, being around such creative and talented people as those who work at PBD is definitely inspiring. Tapping into my creative outlets that have long been dormant (pretty much since childhood) feels really good. The pieces that PBD creates are well thought out, extremely beautiful, and often mind-blowing. Being able to be part of the process in creating these pieces is truly inspirational and has made me realize that with enough vision and the right knowledge, it is absolutely possible to create magic out of thin air.

In this week’s journal entry, Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI intern at Preston Bailey Designs, learns how to deal with an unexpected increase in costs. She’s also helping Preston and his team prepare for an October wedding planned for this fall. Tara is a graduate of LWPI and Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, and the first LWPI intern with PBD.

“Even though the Southampton event has come and gone there are still lingering issues that have to be dealt with. As a result of the client’s unhappiness with the original placement of the tent and having to completely relocate it, there have been additional costs that were incurred from the vendors  Because everything had to be done in such a small timeframe, all vendors who were onsite were asked to help move the tent so that the event could get off the ground by the time guests arrived. The largest additional charges came from the tent company, however, lighting was also affected because of the changes and has requested further compensation for the install. The question has been: Who pays? 

The additional costs are significant and not a loss that PBD wants to take. Also, the client was the one who demanded the change be made. While PBD doesn’t want to make its vendors wait for payment, it isn’t fair that they assume full responsibility for the costs, either. To my knowledge, Preston and the team are still figuring out how the situation is going to be handled.

PBD’s next “big” job is an October wedding in Hong Kong. For the past week that has been the focus of most of my work. The Design Department put together a drafting packet that outlines all the areas and design elements of the event. Because the event is taking place overseas, PBD has hired a local production company to work in collaboration with in order to produce the event. The drafting packet is being sent to them, along with various samples that PBD would use to create the designs in the renderings. I was asked to collect fabric samples, label them according to their reference in the drafting packet, and provide alternative options as well. When the Production manager sends out these sample boxes he creates a list which provides the name of the item, how many there are in the box, what they would be used for in the event, and any notes that are relevant. After the production company receives the samples they will review them and present the necessary ones to the client for approval. The Floral department also sends a recipe packet that contains images and instructions for the construction of certain centerpiece and design elements that have been represented either through renderings or at the client presentation. That way, the client will be receiving the same elements she was expecting.

The packets, particularly the drafting packet, are usually revised several times throughout the design process. Some of the changes are small and some aren’t. Sample boxes are typically sent after design elements have been firmly selected. However, PBD’s design, floral, and production departments will send drafting packets back and forth with the production company via email throughout the course of the entire process. Each time PBD sends a new packet the production company reviews it, makes comments, asks questions, and sends it back again.

It is a long process and everyone has to be really meticulous about staying on top of what’s going on, but in the long run it’s easier and more efficient to hire a local production company that you trust than it is to bring your own overseas.”

Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Design course who is interning this summer at Preston Bailey Designs, is starting to see the fruits of the PBD team’s labor. She worked at a big event over the weekend, and in today’s journal entry she shares with LWPI’s certified wedding and event planners how to deal with last-minute changes and requests from clients. They happen! But they can be accommodated with a little work, she says.

“This past Wednesday and Thursday I worked in the office helping the Production Manager finalize all the details for the Southampton event. Final copies of the production schedule, production copy, and trucking schedule were distributed to all department managers from Preston Bailey Designs as well as all outside vendors (lighting, tent, catering, valet, and security). On Wednesday all department managers from PBD met for a meeting to discuss the final details of the event and all schedules.

When working on site, especially when the event is out of town, it is important to have multiple copies of all important documents in case someone loses one. Therefore, the production binder must be looked through, updated, and organized. At this point, all irrelevant documents can be removed, i.e. vendor bids that are not being used and design concepts that haven’t been selected. Also, when working on site, team members should never carry any documents that have costs on them in case they are picked up by either the client or another vendor. Event costs should only be viewed by members of the team and are considered confidential. Therefore, any documents whithatch contain cost information should never be brought on site of an event.

Friday morning I arrived at the hotel in Southampton. It was decided ahead of time, that for this event, I would be working with the Event Planner from PBD and assisting her with the planning aspects. Our major task on Friday was to prepare the party favors for distribution. The favors consisted of a hooded sweatshirt and a scarf, folded, and tied together with a piece of twine.

Saturday was the day of the event. We woke up early and finished putting together and packing the favors so they could be brought to the site. Unfortunately, there had been some issues with the overnight production that also needed to be addressed and resolved. Since the event was taking place under a tent on the beach, the tent company only had a small window of time that the tent could be in place. In fact, the permit only allowed for the structure to be standing for 24 hours. Therefore, the tent company worked from midnight to 6 a.m. to get the tent put up so that the other vendors could begin their setup first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, the client was unhappy with the placement of the tent and requested that it be moved. Therefore, the tent crew had to come back to the site, and with the help of the PBD crew and lighting crew, they all moved the tent to the desired location. Needless to say, this pushed the production schedule way back and made the rest of the day extremely rushed.

The planning crew arrived on-site in the early afternoon and began working on setting up our areas of the event. We also assisted the production crew with setting up the main tent. Although the day was very hectic, by 7 p.m. everything was ready as the guests started to arrive. For the duration of the event I was stationed at the favor table distributing sweatshirt/scarf bundles to guests. The other girls were in charge of handing out dance-floor giveaway favors such as hats, whistles, beach balls and sunglasses throughout the night. Despite the setbacks with the installation, the event was very successful. The weather was beautiful, the entertainment was phenomenal, and all the guests seemed to have a really good time.

With the other two events that I’ve spoken about throughout the course of my internship I’ve said that production rarely goes exactly as planned, and this event was no exception. Having to move the tent at the last minute was certainly not ideal for anyone. However, the Production Manager knew that it was something that could be done, and because he did not want the client to be unhappy, he made it happen. It was certainly no easy feat. All the vendors’ teams had to be brought together to accomplish this one task and the rest of the install was seriously rushed, leaving many people in a frenzy toward the end of the day. However, when all was said and done, the event turned out beautifully and the client was happy. Many times you just have to go above and beyond what is planned, or even what you feel is attainable, in order to reach the desired end result of the client.”

Tara Martin-Crawford, a graduate of LWPI’s Preston Bailey Signature Wedding and Event Design course, is quickly learning that event planning is all about timelines and staying on task. Today she talks about how important organization is to a production department and to certified wedding and event coordinators.

“With the install dates for their next event quickly approaching, the Production Department has been working on finalizing all their supply orders this week. Unfortunately, this is something that should not be done until the client signs the proposal, thereby approving all the selected design elements. In the case of this event changes were requested several times, which delayed the approval process. Nonetheless the proposal was signed and production is now moving forward. Due to the lack of time left before the event date the speed at which the Production Department needs to operate has been greatly accelerated. For this event there are many items that are being custom made, such as table linens, slip covers for furniture, and party favors with custom embroidery.

The majority of my time this week was spent sourcing vendors who could provide some of the services we need in our very limited timeframe. Luckily I was able to locate good sources even though our selection is much more limited than it would have been if more time was available. Needless to say whenever things are done on a rush or high-priority basis costs are also going to be higher. This is never the preference for either planners or clients, but sometimes it is unavoidable. If possible, though, always try to order custom items as early as you can in order to avoid higher prices, inventory issues, and to leave time for the correction of potential mistakes.

Another project that I was involved involved organizing the information from email correspondences for two upcoming overseas events. When you have an event in which the client requests frequent changes, there are multiple vendors constantly updating one another via email, or there is a third party responsible for physically producing the event (such as for overseas jobs) it is important to stay on top of all changes. Organization is so important and when you receive as many emails as the Production Manager of Preston Bailey Designs does it helps to have a way to track important information that doesn’t involve constantly referring back to the messages themselves. Therefore for each event I made a bulleted list of all important email conversations, placed in order by date (newest to oldest), with the name of the sender and the updates listed out for easy reference. This way the Production Manager can keep track of what issues he needs to address as well as any changes in the client’s preferences for the event.

The ability to multitask is an ability that will make or break a person in this industry (or so I’m realizing). Therefore whatever you have to do to keep yourself on track - do it! You never want to lose track of where you are on a job or overlook critical information.”

Be sure to come back for the next installment of Tara’s journey as an intern at Preston Bailey Designs! To learn more about Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course through LWPI, take a tour or enroll in a class today.

Tara Martin-Crawford, an LWPI graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course, is interning this summer with Preston Bailey, himself, in his Manhattan office. She has been keeping a weekly journal for LWPI, letting future and current certified wedding and event coordinators know what it’s like to work for one of the top event-design companies in the industry. This week she writes:

“The date of Preston Bailey Design’s next event is drawing near so things in the Production Department are starting to switch gears a bit. While the past few weeks have been about sourcing items that can be presented to the client and incorporated into the design, this week was much more focused on bringing everything together so that production can start happening.

After the client has been presented with the proposal and approves it the production department begins to physically secure all the necessary items for the event. The first step in this process is to create a Production Copy from the client’s proposal. The Production Copy is used as both an outline of all the design elements and a way of tracking costs. After being created by the Production Manager, all of the goods that PBD needs to purchase or secure are listed on a separate document called a Supply Order List. For each item you have to specify the size, color, quantity, purpose, vendor, order date and cost. This is where you will determine how many extra perishable items you need as well in case some get damaged or are defective.

The Supply Order List should be organized so that if there are multiple items needed to create one design element, i.e. a centerpiece containing candles, and one of those elements is removed, you should know that you can also remove the corresponding number of candles that pertained to that centerpiece. Therefore, when you list each line item, you should specify where in the design it is going to be used and how many of those elements there are in total. That way, you can divide the total number of items you need by the number of elements they are being used for so that you know how many of each item is being used for one element. Designs tend to change, and this is just an easy way to ensure that you can make adjustments if necessary without having to jump through a bunch of hoops to get the information you need.

The Production Schedule is also in the process of being created this week. In order to do this the Production Manager contacts all of the vendors who will be working onsite and asks them to outline what they need to do and how long it will take them. He then creates the schedule based on the logistics of the venue, start time of the event, and how the vendors will have to work together to build off one another’s work. Everyone’s contact information is at the top of the document and it is distributed to all parties for review. Any final adjustments are made the week of the event.”

Be sure to come back for the next installment of Tara’s journey as an intern at Preston Bailey Designs! To learn more about Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course through LWPI, take a tour or enroll in a class today.

What’s it like to work for a big event-design company? Tara Martin-Crawford, a graduate of Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course at LWPI, is finding out as she interns for Preston Bailey himself over the summer. In her journal entry today she discusses the details that go into site visits and production meetings.

“Trying to work within a budget while giving clients all that they want (and nothing they don’t) is challenging, to say the least. This past week was spent working toward finalizing design-element options for an event that will take place at the end of the month. I believe that most clients have a vision for what they want their event décor to look like, and Preston Bailey Designs is exceedingly talented at extracting that vision and creating it. However, when décor details become extremely specific it becomes increasingly hard to keep the costs from skyrocketing because your source options become limited and you will often have to resort to more expensive options in order to stay in-line with the client’s vision. Resourcefulness and perseverance become key at that point, and it’s just a matter of finding as many options as possible, presenting them to the client, and trying to work out a balance between the client’s dream and his or her budget.

This week I attended my first site visit/production meeting. The key players from the tent, lighting, catering and security companies met with the PBD’s production department on-site to discuss logistics and begin to formulate their installation schedules. This was a very important meeting because it gave everyone a chance to examine and document the site, address their concerns, and talk about how each company’s part of the install would affect other’s parts. I took meeting notes and wrote down questions for the production manager to follow up on.

One of the key issues that needs to be addressed for this event is timing. The event is taking place at a private residence under a tent. However, the tent permit only allows for it to be in place for 24 hours. This creates a very small window for all vendors to complete their install. Also, because of the logistics of the residence it is very difficult for more than one company at a time to be loading equipment and supplies into the tent area. This will make the production schedule challenging to create and extremely important to stay on track with during installation.

As I’ve said in previous weeks, each event is unique and poses different challenges. Being in the event industry requires you to anticipate as much as possible (something that definitely comes with experience) and roll with the punches for the rest.”

Be sure to come back for the next installment of Tara’s journey as an intern at Preston Bailey Designs! To learn more about Preston Bailey’s Signature Wedding and Event Design course through LWPI, take a tour or enroll in a class today.