Victims of Love
Rain: What we have to think about
As dawn broke on our first wedding event of the year, fate played fair with the weather, turning a severe storm forecast into a gentle drizzle that couldn't extinguish the fire in anyone's soul. Underneath a canopy of clouds, guests waltzed in raindrops, capturing moments that photos will treasure for a lifetime.
As dawn broke on our first wedding event of the year, fate played fair with the weather, turning a severe storm forecast into a gentle drizzle that couldn't extinguish the fire in anyone's soul. Underneath a canopy of clouds, guests waltzed in raindrops, capturing moments that photos will treasure for a lifetime.
Hello everyone, Victims of Love here. We've had a big weekend First wedding of the year so we thought we'd get into that. Have a chat with Rad, Say hello.
Speaker 2:Hi Keely. Hey.
Speaker 1:How'd we go? How was your weekend?
Speaker 2:Amazing and the rain Amazing. Well, we were supposed to have severe thunderstorms and it was going to be torrential and it didn't. It was perfect. And we still there was drizzle, we still needed a marquee, but it was so funny. Like all I wanted was for the whole night, I said I just want the guests to get under the marquee, to be able to walk from the car park, get under the marquee and be dry, and then it can piss down rain the whole time. And then what do you think the guests did? They were all dancing outside in the rain, like getting wet, and I was like so why do we need this marquee again?
Speaker 1:The rain's a feature right, I know.
Speaker 2:And I think they got the most amazing photos with all the guests out in the rain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did see some of their Instagram pictures the rainy pictures, the guests out in the rain.
Speaker 2:I did see some of their instagram pictures the rainy pictures, yeah, and they just had the best time and yeah, I was like yeah beautiful weather's interesting, right, isn't it, isn't it?
Speaker 1:that's a little bit of a better dimension to you man, let's get it from keely's side oh yeah, so keely, how was set up and packed down?
Speaker 3:well, do you know? For the first time in what? Four years I didn't go to a pack down. So I'm still recovering from that, I'm still angry about it, I'm still sending rad's email saying where's my thingy, where's my stuff, because so I didn't go. I know that the boys got awfully wet at about one o'clock, uh, so they weren't happy, but I think it was okay because the marquee went in so early, so it wasn't too bad. Good, but yeah, I don't know. I actually I feel a bit weird about that wedding because it was just so hectic, it was so beautiful we did so many site inspections Leading up to it.
Speaker 2:Me and you, we went there like five times and every time the marquee location was at a different spot, until the last day where we were like okay, because the grounds were so different and ever-changing. So you know, where we were supposed to set up our kitchen marquee was a completely bog zone. There was no way that we were going to be able to do food service from so far away.
Speaker 3:So you know, all so many plans have changed, changed till the last day, yeah, and I think that that's you know we talked about this before, of whose responsibility it is and all the well it always falls to me, and then, of course, I wrote Rad's in, so that's always really hard. But I always feel like this after a wedding. It's like that really serious wedding high and I think, because I haven't packed it down, I feel like I'm still in wedding mode, because that's my way of saying goodbye to things is when I pack it all down and then I can go. Okay, that was really successful, but it was I don't know.
Speaker 3:Weddings in March are really really difficult because I think we were ready and everything was okay and we were attending those site inspections and things. But I think what it really taught me more now is and I already knew this but when vendors are approaching weddings like this, you know you have to, you have to know if you've got enough electrical cord to do a job, you know. So I feel a bit, even though, like I love greg and mon and I know that that wedding was so amazing. But it just makes me have all these questions still about how this happens. Like what happens if we weren't there? Like you know, you came back to my shed. What? Two times, three times. Yeah, you know who does that. If not like who you know, who do you call at 6 am to say, oh, I'm sending someone else because I'm not feeling well, oh, they don't have a trolley. Oh, they're not very good at driving, they might not like driving design.
Speaker 1:It's like all those other vendors you have that just aren't across everything just as much as you are. It's like it's like the djs that still turn up without a table you know, they always seem to need a table like man, can you make a table as part of your kit?
Speaker 3:you bring a table, yeah, so I feel I think I have that. I have the post wedding blues in a a way, because when I look back on it it was so successful. But it also makes me feel a bit sad, and not sad because it was successful, but because there's still things happening in our industry where that is happening. You know, on the day of the wedding at 7 am, oh I don't have cords, or oh, my God, I don't carry electrical tape to ensure that I don't get electrocuted. I mean, it's these are fundamental things that if you have, you know, if you're connecting lots of cables to make 150 meters and it's running across grass or it's raining and water gets into that plug, if you don't tape it, then you get fucking electrocuted.
Speaker 3:I still can't wrap my head around that yeah how people feel like that's okay, and then, if there isn't a me, yes, who's?
Speaker 1:gonna do that. Well, I think that is. That is a little bit of a gap, I think in industry where like we have, like we certainly have to have certified electrical equipment tag and say it has to be all that.
Speaker 3:I mean I don't, I'll barely get any public liability insurance if we don't.
Speaker 1:But uh, there's nothing in place for essentially all those other suppliers that just rock up on the day. You're kind of your hobbyists, so to speak, but these people are saying that they're.
Speaker 3:Look, I don't want to put shade on anyone. I'm not going to name anyone and I don't have bad feelings about these people because I do work with them a lot. It's not. It's not that it's. I just have been thinking so much do I? Do we send a little newsletter or do I? How does this work? To say, you know, when you have a venue like Rex Park, there is no three-phase, there's no distro boards. You're going to have to run a lot of cordage and if you are in a venue where you've never worked before, you really should go to a site inspection so that you know, because it's not always. It shouldn't be someone else's problem. If you're being paid and you're earning a living doing weddings in this town and we all work in off-site venues, you've really got to take responsibility for your things.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of people that they do that, don't?
Speaker 3:they rely on other people a bit too much yeah, Especially when it's like you know we've got nothing to do with you.
Speaker 1:We're not exchanging money between us here. You're just on the same job.
Speaker 3:I am, but I don't want to be responsible for you. You need to look after your own gut. And I think that morning I felt like should I just ring someone and say I actually don't feel like coming tonight?
Speaker 1:I'm wondering if you could just pack up all my furniture. You know, yeah, how does it? That used to happen to us all the time where we'd have, like a theming company come on and they'd be like, oh, can you guys look after all that Like? And there'd be 200 flower pots or something You're like I don't know.
Speaker 3:Like we're going back to our kitchen and we don't take your stuff with us. I mean, you came in a in a truck full of it oh, where am I supposed to put it? Yeah, so, yeah, so I have a wedding hangover and we've got a layover now before our next one as well, and I think that that, because you know, rats and me are so different, because you're always so excited and you do such an amazing job when you see what's happening in the night, I don't think I don't think that I get that like where you see it, and it's like, oh my god, everything's okay and yeah, you know, no one got electrocuted. You know, I think I go back to my sheds and I just worry so much that somebody's then arrived after I've gone and there's something not there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it was, yeah, it would be, I can. I could see how hard it would be for you, you know, especially on a day like that where there are so many, you know, there's like so many challenges, exactly with the rain.
Speaker 2:And you know, if, like what did I say to you Just before Keely left offside, I said, now If anything happened with the lights or if the power goes out, what do I do? She goes, do not touch a thing. And I was like, okay, because she goes, there, is like you just call us and we'll be there, but do not touch a thing.
Speaker 3:Because there was so much water there was so much water.
Speaker 2:And you know, you just, it's not like one of where you can just go and look at a switchboard and go, oh yeah, cool, I'll just just, you know it's, it's that's tripped or something like that. It's not, we don't, we didn't have that in a park. So she just said, just give us a call. And even hudson, who had just left, he called me. He said rads, any issues, call me. I'm five minutes away. So you know, it's nice to have know that I've got someone there that is going to be there in five minutes if something was to go wrong. Because I've done that once before where the power was sort of tripping and I'm literally going, okay, just looking at these cords going, I have no idea, like you know, which cord is where, and I'm like trying to follow cords.
Speaker 3:So power of water. Don't mix people. Doesn't matter if you're on a wedding or not. Yeah, you know. You don't take your hair dryer into the bathtub do you? So that's how dangerous weddings in rain are.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's what I think I have the wedding hangover about. Is that for some vendors who might be quite young actually on that job, they were older too and had been around a long time? Yeah, like for my own safety, I don't think, nick, let me run my own power for a year because I was doing stupid stuff too not taping the drawings and All the stupid shit and just, yeah, you know, go and sit in your bathtub with a hairdryer, see what happens. But that's what it is. Well, let's not talk about that now, because I heard the food was so fucking amazing.
Speaker 2:Oh, my god, every single person. I was like because it's been so long since we did a wedding so you sort of forget. And then when you do it again, and just when every single person is just like oh wow, oh wow, or you know, or one of the guests was like can you tell me where you, where, um, you serve that? Um, chicken palmy bite? Which restaurant so we can come and have it again? I was like I don't know.
Speaker 3:That's not how it works. You know so many times how, how amazing the food was and then I thought, fuck, I was at. I was at a shed eating a cookie dough M&M for dinner. I should have just waited around and got some dinner. Have you got a little bit? Are you getting a little bit jealous, tom, because you weren't there?
Speaker 2:Or are you getting a little bit of a?
Speaker 3:wedding hangover.
Speaker 1:No, I would have liked to have been there. I had to excuse myself for that one because I had to go see Pink in Townsville. Dra to go see pink in town dragged along.
Speaker 3:But I mean now, I'm a pink fan now, so you know, and I'm even a tones and I fan, which is a big turnaround for me. I think tones and I are pretty good, yeah, but also can we just give a shout out to lexi underwood, who did the production on that pink job, like now? Now, if you want to know about logistics and I and I'm here with my wedding- hangover she does that, she did the logistics on the build. So imagine that building, that, turning that stage into that, it was the biggest.
Speaker 3:And I saw with my eye, I was there looking at stuff Fucking incredible and like scraps and I was like, oh my God.
Speaker 2:With your eye. You were looking with your eye.
Speaker 1:With my event's eye. Yeah, oh, my with my husband, my events eye, yeah, oh, yeah and um, like you know how pink she swings around the whole stadium like she went from one end of the center to the other in like three seconds and I was looking at the rigging yeah and it was just ratchet, strapped up to a post on the top. I was like, oh my god, I could have put that up. I was like, really, they got pink swinging around, but she lived, she's all through it.
Speaker 3:I know it's a big shout out to lexi underwood because you know I was like I just I get had. So I have my wedding hangover and my fear of people being electrocuted. Well, she was doing, she was doing that so and we love her. So, fuck, you're amazing from all three, honestly yes I have 80 person cocktail style wedding compared to the logistics yeah, I was like looking at those type of things.
Speaker 1:Then I'm like, ah, where do you, where do you even start and where?
Speaker 3:do you and where do you finish? Yeah like, where does it finish? Um, but let's talk about something, because during you know, we just don't do one wedding and then we don't do anything, right? Um, we had tastings, we had a. So I think that is why I also have a wedding hangover, because we had such a lot going on. Yeah, like last week, like the crazy, it's all started with so many meetings, meetings, but we had a tasting. Yes, the best tasting.
Speaker 2:I got to come to a tasting For the first time I said to Tommy, I said because he wasn't here, he was at Pink Again, very nice. And I said to Tommy said oh my god, keely was here for the first time for one of our tastings and she couldn't believe that the food was so because she was sitting there the whole time going. Oh my god, that looks amazing.
Speaker 1:oh my god, that looks amazing it's always good to have, like a, a hype person there hyping it up, no well you know what?
Speaker 3:I know that the food is good, so there's never been that question yet. All but it was just net like it just looked amazing. And while you were working, yeah, I went to see the boys and that's all they could talk about too was just how amazing well, I mean, that is part of, I mean I would say it's almost 90% of it.
Speaker 1:The food has to look good now food tastes good. I mean, I think it's harder to make food taste crap than it does to taste good. I think when someone makes a meal that tastes horrible, that's more skill, I would say.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, oh, should I cook you dinner? It's more skillful to make a meal.
Speaker 1:Taste shit you want me to cook you dinner and I'll show you how to cook it?
Speaker 2:No. She called me not long ago saying okay, don't laugh at me, I'm like yep. She said how do you boil pasta? I was like oh shit, I was like because can I come to your shed and you show me, or just do it for me? I'm like Keely, really no idea.
Speaker 1:So guess what?
Speaker 2:we did. We went to the local restaurant and got a pasta dish so she could entertain her friend and pretend like she cooked it.
Speaker 3:And I did pretend like I cooked it too, and I think that I'm now in best friend status because that fucking pasta was good, there we go. So, yeah, so you don't have a wedding hangover, You're still delightfully.
Speaker 2:I'm still on a wedding high Like I just keep getting like so many memories from the night. It was just it was so cool.
Speaker 3:But can we just say though that couple you know, even though I have a wedding hangover, I don't have a wedding hangover, I'm not. Fuck they're gorgeous, so beautifully managed. Just so, like you know, if you're going to start your year off, you want a couple of them, 100%.
Speaker 2:And they came to me the next day to collect the things that they had. We packed it all up and brought it back to our sheds and I just said to them. I said thank you so much. I said I've never had anyone that has actually thanked vendors the way you have and she said, um, they both said what? And I said, yeah, as a great Monica, no one does what you did with vendors. They took like four or five minutes to thank each single vendor in front of all the guests and said you know, this would never have happened without these people. And just you know they did a beautiful wrap on your five minute, five minute chat about you. And just you know they did a beautiful wrap on you Five minute, five minute chat about you.
Speaker 2:That's a lot to talk about, and they even said, you know she's not here at the moment, but I just this would never, ever have happened without her, and I was like, oh yeah, I'm just like chopped liver here standing in the rain.
Speaker 3:Do you know what? We were laughing about that? Because while they were doing that, I may not have been there in body, but I tell you what my spirit, yeah, was. I was like sitting at my desk because I don't even dare lie down or leave the office around. Just sit there like a crazy person, just so worried about everything.
Speaker 2:Um well, you had to serve everyone in the rain and clean up it was so much fun I got to like I get, I got to cut someone off.
Speaker 1:That was fun and he was like, he was so cute he was like the only person I know who can cut off, like you know, a six foot, four footy player bloke, and that bloke ends up being her best friend yeah, and we're like I literally went up to him and I was like I put my hand around his shoulder.
Speaker 2:I was like you and me, I'm gonna go drink a glass of water. And he's like really, and I'm like yes. So we went up to the bar and we had. I poured him a glass of water, I poured myself a glass of water and he had it. And I looked at the bar, um, sophie, at both of them I said, sophie, this gentleman here, he now understands that he's been cut off for maybe another 45 minutes and he goes. Did you just cut me off?
Speaker 3:and I was like yes, my friend, can just say too yes, you have a way of cutting people off, but can I just say too, you gave our boys. So we just usually just have Hudson, but Nick's boys are old enough now to lug things and they're actually old enough to drive a truck. Can I just say, when you turned up, the energy just was, it started popping. Everybody started actually moving a little bit faster because we went a little bit later. Yeah, because, yeah, this is the first time I haven't actually gone first thing in the morning to a setup or at night, so that's why I was. My hangover is so bad. I feel very weird not doing that. But rads walked in and the boys who things started to be like okay, what should we do?
Speaker 2:oh my god no, my gosh no I just love. You know, I know like you've got to keep it fun and you know everyone's job's hard. So you get out there. I just do a couple of swear words, you know, punch a couple of people in the balls and then off we go. You know it's like come on, let's go. So I just like to make it fun you certainly have a way about something happens when you're around right.
Speaker 3:Something real weird happens, I think.
Speaker 2:I've got this good aura personality. I just like to have fun. I don't like anything to upset me. Nothing can really upset me. I'm just like meh. I'm just like whatever Everything is.
Speaker 3:I just want to be happy Some things upset me when you're around, when my forklift goes through our warehouse doors because you've made such an impression on my staff or stuff like that upsets me. I'd probably be upset if my like 15 year old was like oh, when he was trying to drill and I just saw him looking, I was like please. And nick was saying no, they started yelling. No, I just bought it on the floor.
Speaker 2:Why they were they were so impressed because I just bought a brand new car and it's so chunky and beefy, and they were like, bitch, damn, look at your car. Yeah, that's what it was. So, anyways, but yeah, it was like it was just. You know what I was doing to go, it's just. You can definitely cut people off or tell people that they've had too much, because what? After I cut this person off and I said, look, you can't have any more drinks, what happened?
Speaker 2:Five minutes later he went back to his table and he fell off the stool and then vomited. So I went up to him and I said, see, this is why you cut off and he goes. Completely understand, he goes. I'm just going to have a dance in the rain and I'm going to go and I stand, he goes. I'm just gonna have a dance in the rain and I'm gonna go and I'm like perfect, you know, you've got to, you've got to keep a fun, it's for the sake of the wedding exactly it's not about like getting personal people, or yeah, it's not about being upset with people just because they got drunk, it's just trying to keep that wedding.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it only takes one person who gets loose and the wedding, sort of like, ends up being a there's, there's a nice, but there's a funny way of doing it and there's, unless you know, of course.
Speaker 2:I know I know when there's a really aggressive drunk there. If there's an aggressive drunk drunk, then I'll obviously deal with it differently and I will get help from a family member, um, but if they most of the time they're having fun and they're like it's a wedding, I'm like I understand it's a wedding. That's why I'm having fun with you and letting you know. You know, please just have a couple of glasses of water and we can go back to drinking. You know, normally.
Speaker 1:And we've all been there Exactly.
Speaker 3:We've all been that guy, of course, yes.
Speaker 2:We get it Well, for me, I'm that girl.
Speaker 2:Every time I'm that girl at the party every time, but even yeah, greg and Monica were like thank you so much for doing that. You know, looking after my drunk friend, and you know, looking after my drunk friend, and I was like, yeah, and they, they were like, we know, he came to the wedding drunk, so when he got there he was already drunk. So it was just like. You know, you can see it, and you just got to deal with it in the right way and just make sure, because, uh, so the format for our wedding was stand-up canapé cocktail so how do you kind of deal?
Speaker 1:with the service of that food for this kind of thing which is like it, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely. So that night, dominic and I, we had a quick chat and he had a really good plan as to how we were going to do it. So there was speeches. There was about 45 minutes of speeches. So we had to work around that to make sure that we had fed the guests enough at the start. And then you know where they were going to be sitting down and just not having any food while the speeches were happening. And then you know where they were going to be sitting down and just not having any food while the speeches were happening and then start again for the later in the evening.
Speaker 2:But you know, no matter what anyone says, I'm going to put my foot down and go. You know, people always say to me oh no, we don't need that much food, that's too much food. It's not. This wedding just made me realize six canapes, two substantials, is the perfect amount of food for a stand-up kind of cocktail party, if you, if you more, of course, but that is the right amount. So if someone says to me, oh, that's no, people aren't gonna, my, my friends don't eat food, it's like, no, sorry, um, this wedding, just I, I was watching it and I'm like that was just the right amount. And one more canapé maybe, but they had, you know, they had dessert, they had cake, so, um, it was just right. Where, by the last canapé was like yep, you know what?
Speaker 1:I think I think we've touched on it before. We have to be like conscious of your guests, especially like the ladies and stuff who are going to be getting ready from lunchtime?
Speaker 3:yes, onwards, so there's no, they're not having a decent sized lunch.
Speaker 1:If anything at all, then they're going for the ceremony by the time they arrive to your reception and those first few canapes come out. They're ravenous, yeah, uh, they start getting into the drinks before you know it, like there's always that witching hour yeah where you're like. Oh my god, we need to feed these people before they start getting, you know, three, three wines into it and falling off their stools.
Speaker 3:Yeah well, that is because people don't realize that. You know, and you say it all the time and I say it too people are so excited about a wedding, they get so excited and because things start so early in the day even for the boys that are they probably they're so excited but they just drink beer instead of like getting their makeup on.
Speaker 1:They really don't eat before they don't eat at all, boys or girls. So we've done that before, where we've sent sandwich packs for the brides on to get ready bridesmaids in the room and you go to the room.
Speaker 2:they're not touched and all you're like, oh you guys are not eating, they've had their hotel brekkie, maybe, and that's it for the whole day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that's.
Speaker 1:So we try and get a substantial early on in the night early on in the night.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and we did when you were just saying about. You know, when somebody says, oh, their friends don't eat, we all know people that that is a lie. Your friends do eat. There's no, so you cannot live on fresh air, so your friends do eat.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, I mean, I guess, like you know, we say with six, six canapes, two substantials. I would say that that's probably the equivalent of an entree in a main yes, you know, your six canapes are kind of like an entree.
Speaker 3:Two sustantials, that's a main, and I mean that needs to be the minimum. It doesn't matter whether you're having a sit-down or a stand-up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really what everyone should be eating, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, especially for, like the, you know a five's, the perfect amount. And you know, like people don't realize, you know, the other thing is like oh, when we do use canapes, everyone thinks, oh, you do that just one canapé of each thing. You know, when you, when you're serving, um, let's just say, a sausage roll, um, you know, one thinks you only serve the 70 sausage rolls, that, that, that you, the amount of guests that you have, but we always do 10 more.
Speaker 2:You know more and more than because when you, when you start walking it around, you know you start seeing people that are grabbing three or four because they freak out that it's a stand-up cocktail party, that there's not going to be enough food. So you know when you, if you do, go for other people where they will only have a limited amount, you have to understand that people are not just going to grab that one prawn, they're going to grab six prawns because it's a cocktail party they're freaking out.
Speaker 1:It would be helpful as well. I think a lot of times, a lot of guests, they get there and they don't realize it's going to be.
Speaker 2:It's a cocktail yeah, and they're looking for the tables, if you could let everyone know on your invites that it's a canapé style because they uh they start freaking out straight away.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so then that leads me to I I guess, the styling department, because I always wonder about this, because I love beautiful menus and I don't mean like because you can't have them on cocktail furniture and I hate it when people do little printed things on cocktail tables, but I really feel like when you have your bar menu and stuff that you should have a food menu for a X and O like in a beautifully printed one, so that when people go to the bar for that first drink they can actually see that there's food and lots of different choices, so that they're not grounding 10.
Speaker 1:It's also good for people you know fussy eaters and people with dietary so they can have a quick check, go through there and make sure there's some stuff coming, and if there isn't, then they can let us know and we can fix it. There's nothing worse than you're like 10 minutes away from finishing up for the night and you finally get someone saying, oh, I haven't eaten all night because I'm insert dietary here and you're like, oh my god, what am I going to do about it? Now you know like.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, yeah, that's a thing for me. I really think that we should make that a must as well yeah, that yeah, like you say because and like we had, can I say? I can say that we had diet trees this time, didn't we?
Speaker 2:we did have diet trees. Yeah, we we were aware of two celiacs which we had made sure the whole menu was completely gluten-free.
Speaker 2:We made sure that the one dish that was gluten was cooked last in the fryer, because there was celiac um and then they made us aware at the start and we, we had a chat, but there was a shellfish allergy that did not say anything all night. You know and we. So I'm just like, if you've got a dietary, just let one of the staff members know, because the whole night I was like who are?
Speaker 1:you like. Where are you? You know, as soon as you get there as well. Yeah, as soon as you get there, get all of the weight and just like we'll. We usually have the dietaries on a list already, but we need to find the people that they apply to. Yes, we can't go running around after everyone's saying excuse me. So let us know, and then you'll be looked after all night.
Speaker 2:You'll have your own service the shellfish allergy, like all I wanted to say about them was. You know, we made sure that there's no shellfish in anything, and the one prawn dish that we have, we're cooking that last, so that way you can eat everything on the menu and the last thing that we do is the coconut prawns.
Speaker 3:The last thing that we do is the coconut prawns which is going to, you know, like there's no cross-contamination and stuff, that's a scary one, right? Shellfish allergy and nuts.
Speaker 2:Nut allergies, yeah, and shellfish are the most.
Speaker 3:So one more thing about this wedding then. So with the food and that, yeah, what time Did you run through 11, or was it Well?
Speaker 2:usually when we just do food service and someone else is doing the bar and someone else is doing the bar, I don't stay till the end. Once food service is done, I leave. But just because it was our first wedding and I love Greg and Monica, I said to them look, I'm going to stay for the entirety of your event and just make sure that I'm there. Well, also, because we're both such control Exactly that too I'm sort of glad in a way. I was. A few things happened that I'm not going to say that you know, um, a few things happened that I'm not going to say, um, that you know that would have gone really badly if I wasn't there.
Speaker 3:so that's what I'm going to say about that, and this is because that's what I wanted to talk about too, and of course, we're not going to mention yeah, um, because you know, listen, all vendors have, yeah, have moments, yeah, in the sun, and some have moments in the rain. I can tell you.
Speaker 3:But you know it's why we always say and I know we've got lots of clients. And you know it's why we always say and I know we've got lots of clients in our inboxes now and I've had telephone calls with people where they're like there is no management on their job.
Speaker 3:You know and they've r who's looking after you during the night. Just because somebody stays there all night because they're running your bar or whatever, does not mean that they have someone there who can deal, who will have first aid kits if something goes wrong on a dance floor or walking around to clean up. You know, because for someone like me, when we go in at the end of the night, if there hasn't been somebody managing your event, if you've got a secondary vendor who's the last out and it isn't rads, they don't clean up the place is always a shit fight, um, which, which is really difficult. So I know that I'm dealing with that in the inbox as well, because again, from this first wedding back, it's become even it's apparent again that there's no vendors will just do what vendors do. I think I really do believe now that we're the only ones who actually who will you know, like that actually stay and do far more than, yeah, than you're supposed to.
Speaker 1:I mean especially for us, like we manage the event, like if we were in a restaurant. Managing the event, yeah, it's the same sort of like it's. Wherever we are, the venue is like our restaurant venue and we manage and run it as if we were in there yeah, and that's basically the way it's going to be so when you have other people coming in, there.
Speaker 1:They don't think like that. Yeah, they think like I'm in the park, yeah, and I'm just going to dump this entire bucket of scraps here on the on the floor and not worry about like they don't manage the event.
Speaker 3:Well, I think there's so much of that and I'm sure it worked for most people who have a regular job, like if and I always use the bank example. I don't fucking know why, I've never worked in a bank, but if you're a bank teller, I guess it's the same as for some people in our industry. For a lot of people in our industry, if you're, if you're the, the dj, for example, and you're last to finish, you just feel like, well, I'm the DJ and you're there all alone. Or if you're the bar, you're like, well, I'm not going to do anything outside of that, but for someone like me we can't go, well, I'm only just going to do exactly, because it doesn't work like that. It falls onto somebody somewhere down the line and I think, yeah.
Speaker 3:So from what I've seen from a lot of people now making inquiries and last minute inquiries, a lot of people trying to push weddings into 2024, they're, they're laid on. There's this thing of, like you know, trying to explain to people you have to choose a catering company and listen, not everyone's going to choose us and that's. We say this all the time. It's perfectly fine, you can do you, and that's very important that you do because it's your wedding, but you need to ask the questions. If your caterer goes at 8.30 and then there's no one, is your DJ going to be the person? Who's the only person managing your wedding? Can I give you two examples of the?
Speaker 2:wedding. We just did two examples of the wedding. We just did Two examples of how you need someone there. For example, three times glass broke on the dance floor. So before I even went outside, I knew, okay, I'm just going to pop in my car a broom, or I had a mop in my car just in case, because it was wet. I just thought I'd mop the dance floor here and there wherever if it got wet. So I had that in the back of my car and then again glass broke three or four times and you know, I asked for the bath. Do you? Would you have a dustpan and broom? No, dustpan and broom, okay, cool. So myself and my staff member used my mop to do the broken glass and put it into a box.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, these were the things where it's just like you need that one person that's constantly walking around to. You know, make sure that everything's okay, because once the glass broke, everyone stopped dancing because no one could dance on the dance floor. Or Rads is going around. Can you please put your shoes on, because we're? You know, there's some glass, there could be some glass on the floor. And again, first aid kit in my car the whole time and then when everything, no one, no one would realize this, but you know the little things that you do.
Speaker 2:So because we were in a park, it's all dark, people had to walk into the car park area to get buses. I bought my car down from the car park, had my headlights on, my high beams on, pointing towards the park so everyone could see the the pathway to. You know, to get to the thing, I asked another vendor can you please bring your car down as well so you can get your high beams on, so all the guests could see a clear pathway, especially after all the drinks that they had. You know, like just those little things that People just go, oh, you know, yeah, they don't realize that. It's duty of care. You've got to make sure that every single one of your guests has left on site, they've gone and they're going to get home safely as well. That's my biggest thing as well. I always drive through town when I finish just to see if there's, you know, someone sitting at the bus stop and I can just chuck them in my car and drop them on the way.
Speaker 3:You know that's what I do. So then maybe I just want to say because really important, that when you're doing your quotes and you're choosing your vendors, when you have a look at if something says that they have a catering manager, you need to say and ask very clearly does the catering manager stay until the end of the event?
Speaker 3:Because a lot of people will see catering manager and then think that that means that you've got a wedding planner or management for the whole evening. Now, that's completely untrue. A catering manager for most businesses will go at us when the kitchen closes. They don't even stay for the bar because they outsource the bars.
Speaker 1:So I just want to, I just really wanted to say that today, and and it is- no, well, on that I would actually say to actually check to see if the catering manager is actually there, actually comes on site.
Speaker 3:That's right, because that was my next point. Thank you. Does the person who is doing the emails with you and helping you choose your menus and telling you what you're having, is that person coming to your wedding? Because the chances are they're not. So that's one big thing that I've taken away from, not not just because that this, that's not relevant to monty and greg and if they're listening, I don't want them to think that that's relevant to them. It's just we've had our first wedding now and they were just. There's just a few things. And especially because the emails are out of control in my inbox now and I I think people do rely on someone like me to, whether they choose me or not, to to tell them so, and I know people are listening. So, please, you do need someone like rads in the night. There's no doubt about it. And if, if you're choosing caterers and it says catering manager, you need to ask the the question.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what is that person actually doing?
Speaker 3:How long do they stay on site? Because, trust me, you don't want your DJ or your solo guitarist or whatever managing your event because they're going to be the only ones with you. Like, I just feel like this is something that's lagged on for a few years in the industry and it's still going on because it's just so scary it is. You know, like you say, you had hudson and me saying to you anything happens in the night, you must call us. Please don't touch anything, you know? Yeah, then, like you say, broken glass where people can get really.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's the thing is like if something goes wrong, call us like what? What happens there when that company is not even in town? Well, what happens when people go? They're in Cairns or something, they're 100 kilometers away. What happens then?
Speaker 3:What happens when companies are dry hire or have management built in, but they actually don't and don't answer their phone?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Or even for me, for an example, I'm up at 4 am, so that's okay and I take full responsibility for our weddings. But say, if somebody like me, if you had a company, say for Mon and Greg, and the call started coming at 5 am, 6 am, 7 am, because the weather forecast for Saturday was bad, you know, and very scary bad. It didn't come the weather, thank goodness it was just rain, but it was very scary and there were vendors who where roads were closed to, so there was a lot of things going on. Yes, you're right and say, if you have a furniture or lighting company or someone like you who doesn't answer the phone on a Saturday, you know, because they're not doing the job. They've packed your run sheets, your truck's packed, their crew are on. What if they don't even answer the phone?
Speaker 3:So we always end our podcast really around this with me just saying, please, when you get quotes from people, please, this is not me being like. I just want every person's job. I can't do every person's job anyway. I just want people to brides especially. Just read what you're, read your things so carefully and ask the question do you answer your phone in the like on saturdays and sundays? Do you help me? Like if vendors are, if I can't answer them, and then vendors are looking for someone, are you on site at night? Um, and yeah, who's? Who's gonna help? Who is helping you? Yeah, because it is. Yeah, I think we learned from one of g's it's. We're going to do this all year. It happens every time. But yeah, it's such a special thing, it's a big. It's what makes our companies very different to everyone else's.
Speaker 3:What you do anyway, especially.
Speaker 2:No, don't be silly.
Speaker 3:There's no way, I'm staying at night.
Speaker 2:The ground.
Speaker 3:I was down having a margarita. I'm staying at night the ground.
Speaker 2:I was down having a margarita. She was standing in the bushes creeping on me at about 6.30, and she's like I literally looked through the bushes. And I was like I know that girl, there's Keely and I'm like drive straight over to her. And I was like what? She's like everything. Okay, I'm like did you catch the bus all the way in here just to her? And I was like what?
Speaker 3:she's like everything okay.
Speaker 2:I'm like did you catch the bus all the way in here just to see if I was okay?
Speaker 1:yeah, just about alright well, first wedding of the year done done, greg.
Speaker 3:Can you take that off? And a very big success really yes amazing best.
Speaker 2:yeah, what a way to start one of Greg Amazing Best. Yeah, what a way to start One. And Greg, you were such a beautiful couple. Thank you for, yeah, thanking us.
Speaker 1:What have we got on this week?
Speaker 2:brats.
Speaker 1:Easter, easter. You've loaded us up on a few private dinners.
Speaker 2:We've got two private dinners, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, and Bart's 50th, and that's Saturday. Saturday, yep.
Speaker 2:So we're going to help.
Speaker 3:Bart do a couple of things for his wedding, actually, yeah his party.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's it just on the emails, working away being my secretary driving me everywhere love it doing all the calendar.
Speaker 3:We're busy.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, we're the Victims of Love. That'll wrap us up for this week.
Speaker 2:Perfect Bye.
Speaker 1:Bye, see you later, guys. Bye.
Speaker 2:Thank you.