LOCKDOWN WEDDINGS

We were excited while preparing for the final touches of our April 4 wedding. Everything was almost set from the church, to the reception, and even the tiniest details like the labels for our giveaways. Everything was running smoothly until March 12, when President Duterte announced a Metro Manila-wide Quarantine which prohibits everyone to enter and exit the city from March 15 to April 15 due to the rising number of covid 19 virus cases in the country. It also includes a City-wide cancellation of all major social events with a crowd of more than fifty. Suddenly, The entire Events Industry was in a coma.

I got a call from the groom the next day, He sounded frustrated and confused about what to do with the situation. I was never married but I seem to feel where he's coming from. In my point of view, it was like planning my dream vacation to  my dream city of Paris and as your excitement begins to rise up week after week closer towards the big day, you noticed that your passport was missing and you have to do everything all over again and reschedule to a later date, darn it! I just told him: "Hey, everything will be okay, we're still lucky the wedding isn't tomorrow!"

I would like to share some guidelines below in case you are in the same situation as we are:

COMMUNICATION IS KEY!

Always do your best to talk to your clients and explain the pros and cons of the situation. I told my client (the groom) that pushing through with the wedding will put a lot of people at risk, they aren't just ordinary people - they are family and friends. Covid 19 is an airborne virus which can be transferred from person to person with an approximate distance of ten feet. Imagine having your loved ones distancing away from each other on your very special day - not a good sight.

Tell your clients that the rescheduling process is just a walk in the park, even if it isn't! Remember, we were hired to make this special day as smooth as possible for them. If our clients can do this all by themselves, we'd all be working in an office somewhere, right?

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Know the situation. I wasn't able to watch the Presidential speech on the 12th but I've read a few articles about it just so I would know the extent of what's happening and how to go about it.

I found out that suppliers SHOULD give you an option to reschedule on a specific date and if they will fail to deliver on your chosen date (due to another booking or a conflict with their schedule) they SHOULD be willing to give you a refund, and if they are unwilling to give you your refund, you can call the Department of Trade and Industry for support. So far, all of our suppliers are very cooperative regarding this.

here's a link for their contact information: https://www.dti.gov.ph/contact/

FINDING A PERFECT DATE

This is the most challenging part as we need to reschedule on a date that would coincide the schedules of the Church, Reception Venue, and The Hotel that the couple would stay in.

Tips:

1. Church - you need to ask politely for their calendar so you could pick your desired date and see if their calendar is indeed FULL. Don't settle for the lady in of the reception to check for it you. Sometimes they would just tell you without even checking that the Church is fully booked for the year! It happened to us, we wouldn't find a good date if it wasn't for that simple request.

2. Reception - we never had any problems with our reception venue (check out The Mango Farm in Antipolo, very nice place!), they were very cooperative. If you will have the same problem on choosing an available date, do step 1 or ask for the Manager to help you out on choosing the best date for you.

here's a link of their website: http://themangofarm.com/

3. Hotel - rescheduling your hotel booking isn't that much problem as they have a lot of options for you. In a worst case scenario, you might end up upgrading or downgrading your chosen rooms depending on the availability on your chosen date.

4. Suppliers - call them as early as you can and inform them that you are moving the event into a later date. All of them, if not most, will cooperate. It is just a matter of explaining the current situation before you break the news.

We were lucky enough to have a couple of weeks before the big day when we got the announcement from the President and a few more months to plan since we rescheduled four months from April 4. I hope that this article would help our fellow coordinators on what to do during times like this.

Let us know if you have some helpful tips or any recent experiences that is worth sharing.


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JUMP!

My story began about nine years ago when I was working for a Business Process Outsourcing company in Cubao. Back then, I had no choice but to work on night shifts talking to people almost non-stop during the period of my shift and dealing with all sorts of customer issues from as simple as logging in to their accounts, to the more complex ones like trouble shooting profiles. I call it the "killing-me-softly" type of a job. Waking and dragging myself up to work on wee hours of the night, talking to irate customers, and trying to solve their problems on a limited amount of time. It made me a walking zombie, I felt uninspired, and had very low self esteem. I never thought I would endure three long years on a job that just wasn’t for me.

I started thinking of ways to get out of this nocturnal routine. I told myself; “This isn't me but why am I here?" It was the very question which haunted me for days and weeks and months until one day, while smoking during my break time, I decided to flip my phone and listened to random playlists on my Spotify app. I guess my fingers just led me to this old selection of songs and I just hit the shuffle button. It was the song "Jump" by Madonna which played first, a song buried in my playlist for years. As I was quietly listened while sitting on one of the empty benches at the corner of the pantry, Madonna’s words came floating like Dandelion seeds inside my head; “Are you ready to jump, get ready to jump, don’t ever look back, oh baby!” – It was in that moment I realized that I need to do something to pull me out of this hole I am in. An awakening which propelled me to think about making that step and moving forward.

After my shift, I rushed to the nearest bookstore and bought myself a notebook. I said: "Today is a day of change!" I went home with my new notebook and began to write down all of my skill sets; from public speaking to photography, from logistics planning to warehouse design, which I got from my engineering background, to the mundane ones like making people laugh and how I tend to captivate people from my little stories. It was a simple activity which I enjoyed that morning. It seems as if my life was beginning to unfold on this new adventure that was long overdue. There was a sudden rush of energy that flowed into me and I felt alive. It was a simple plan - call some friends, look for a part-time job and ask if they could double my daily pay check for that day, and if they can, I’d file for a leave, and I’m all theirs!

It was very frustrating at first. It took me a few days to call every possible contact I could think of. I usually sleep in the mornings, wake up, eat, and go to work. The only time I could make phone calls were during my fifteen and thirty minute breaks in the office, and not everyone has a part-time job to offer. I was about to exhaust all of my phone contacts and was down to W, X, Y, and Z, where I have zero on letters X, Y, and Z, and a few names on W! I was in the brink of giving up, my hands were sweating every after an unsuccessful call but a part of me was telling me to go and call my remaining contacts. So I did!

I didn't know if I was just lucky that time or it was destiny. I was down to my last three to five names when one of my friends, which became my future boss, answered the call and offered me an opportunity to work for him part-time as a registration officer in an event they were planning. It was a light at the end of the tunnel. I have never felt so excited for the longest time and I said “yes!” without any hesitations. That same night, I blocked my schedule and filed a two day leave from my current employer with a big smile on my face. I can still remember that night I almost doubled my calls because I was so overjoyed about what had happened.

I wasn’t able to sleep the night before the big day. It usually happens to me whenever I have something big coming up like a vacation, a new adventure or in this case, a new part-time job that I haven’t done in years!

The event was a success. I enjoyed it a lot and felt a sudden urge to talk to my friend about a job opening in his company. All my hopes were high but his response wasn't that enthusiastic. I was told that I would earn about less than half of what I am currently earning and the first word that popped out of my mind during that conversation was “bills” - like a bright red flashing neon sign while my inner voice was shouting; "How on earth will you get enough money to pay your bills, You can't even afford some of them with your current job!" And I politely said I would think about it.

It wasn’t an easy decision for me at that time. I have to consider a lot of things like rent, transportation cost, food, etc. I was so immersed in worrying about all those things that I forgot to see the big picture. It took me a few more days before I was reminded about that song which played a few weeks ago while I was on break. It was the song that reminded me to get out of this very situation that I am in. That day, I made up my mind and decided to go for it!

There was mixture of anxiety and enthusiasm during my first few days as an events organizer as I was earning half of what I was spending and at the same time enjoying my job. Challenges were all around like fallen leaves on an autumn day. To compensate, I made major adjustments like renting a smaller room to stay in which was a very uncomfortable place to live in, I regulated my diet so I can have enough food for a month, and even withdrawn myself from going out with friends. It was one of the difficult moments in my life but deep inside I felt this inner happiness and a feeling of self fulfilment by just doing the things that I love to do. I was also surrounded by good people in the office. We were like a small family supporting each other whenever someone’s in need. I always remember my boss telling me that everything will be better soon; and that all I need is to trust myself and work with passion.

As weeks went by, I began to notice some changes. I was able to pay my bills on time, I was able to eat more, and I was able to find a bigger place for me to stay in. It was like magic and it only proves that once you put your heart into the things that you do, the universe will sense that positive energy and it will give you back what you exude.

This was the beginning of my life as an event specialist. I will be forever thankful to the people whom I worked with especially my boss who gave me this wonderful opportunity, and for the three wonderful years of fun and constant learning. And for you guys out there who are still scared of change, don't be, follow your heart, believe in yourself, have courage, and take it from the Queen of Pop and make that leap. It is a choice that you have to make. Are you ready to jump?