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blue water woman--winter 2017--YUMPU

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W<br />

orry not<br />

by Patti Samar<br />

gillian (CANN) Poretta<br />

formerly of port huron<br />

married charlie poretta<br />

on September 16, <strong>2017</strong> in port huron<br />

Who planned your wedding?<br />

I did it all myself. I had a “day-of” coordinator. The day-of<br />

coordinator is definitely a more affordable option than hiring a<br />

wedding planner. I created a schedule for everybody and for her.<br />

She helped us coordinate the walk down the aisle and she made<br />

sure all of the vendors were there and set up. She took care of the<br />

little things so I didn’t have to. At the end of the night, she made<br />

sure everything was cleaned up and taken care of. It was perfect.<br />

The day-of coordinator took all of the stress away. She hid all of<br />

the issues from me and made sure we were on time the whole day.<br />

It was great.<br />

What kept you organized:<br />

I created a bunch of spread sheets. We had a budget meeting<br />

with our parents. I’m really careful with money and I wanted to<br />

make sure we were getting a good deal. Overall, we were pretty<br />

frugal.<br />

What is she glad she spent money on:<br />

The photo booth. That was worth it. Also, our reception was<br />

at the Blue Water Convention Center and I wanted to create an<br />

intimate feel on the dance floor, so I designed a suspended bistro<br />

lighting system and had it hung from the ceiling. I think it was<br />

really worth it. I’m also glad we had real flowers. They added a<br />

really nice touch.<br />

dress shopping:<br />

It was the fourth dress I tried on. It was on the half off rack. I<br />

put it on and that was it.<br />

gillian poretta<br />

Warren, Michigan<br />

Photo: Megan Block-Brewer and Kathryn Bessette<br />

of Mulberry & Sage Photography<br />

words of wisdom:<br />

Communicate with everybody involved. The spread sheets were<br />

helpful in keeping track of everything. Just be organized. It was<br />

extremely stressful, but that’s what planning a huge party for<br />

300 people is. If you don’t sweat the small stuff, then things will<br />

go wrong. If I was to do anything differently, I’d try and stress<br />

less. I’m high stress anyway. You just have to focus on a solution<br />

to any issue that comes along. It was all worth it, though because<br />

the day-of was absolutely perfect. I’m just so happy with the<br />

way it all turned out. It was perfect. It all felt just right. It just<br />

came together.<br />

12 <strong>winter</strong> <strong>2017</strong> BlueWaterWoman.com

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