Crisis!

I've had my first wedding crisis.  I suddenly realized that I'd been doling out money left and right...deposits here, purchases there...and my filing system consisted of nothing but my reliance on Gmail to store everything for me, as well as a pile of receipts sitting on top of my microwave.  And then it hit me - I'm an event planner, I live for binders.  Why am I planning the biggest event of my life with no binder?  So Operation: Wedding Binder began.

I started by creating a page for the ceremony, the reception, the vendors...I was on a roll.  This was going to be the most thorough record of an event I had ever created.  I scoured Gmail and my credit card statements for charges (since I didn't have access to my microwave pile) so that I would have a record of everything I had done so far.  This is where I realized...I had no record whatsoever of the trolley.

I think that I haven't blogged about this yet, but the master plan was for the Des Moines Trolley to transport the wedding party from the ceremony to the reception, stopping in various downtown locations along the way for pictures.  This was one of my most important aspects of the wedding to me, I booked it the day after we set the date...or so I thought.  As I'm compiling my binder, I realized that I had no email confirmation and no credit card charge for the trolley.  I immediately picked up the phone and called the owner, Pete, who was very friendly but had no record whatsoever of my reservation, only an email inquiry.  Apparently the online form I submitted hadn't gone through.  I held my breath as he looked through his calendar...and discovered that by some miracle, no one had booked the trolley in the past month and a half.  Phew!  I asked him to stay on the phone with me while I resubmitted my form and I now have email and verbal confirmation that we have the trolley.  And out of the goodness of his heart, he gave me his 2010 rate since I thought I had booked it before his 2011 rate when into effect. 

This was the moment when I realized that I am just like every other stereotypical bride.  Really, would it have been the end of the world if I hadn't gotten this trolley?  No.  Would it have ruined my wedding?  No.  Was I practically hyperventilating at the thought of not having this trolley?  Absolutely.

Luckily, crisis averted...this time, anyway!