July 2021

PEOPLE
site. Usually, we have two teams out daily,
this amounts to four vehicles with trailers
and 10 crew members.
It doesn’t matter how many times we’ve
talked through the plan, checked the
vehicles and job packs there is always that
little niggle that you’ve forgotten something.
Nine times out of 10 we haven’t and it’s just
your over active brain playing tricks on you
because it knows the pressure we put on
ourselves to make sure our jobs are perfect.
Everything we do has an element of
urgency. With our events we rarely see
repeat clients. The majority of our business
comes from weddings and these are a
once-in-a-lifetime event, there’s no second
chances so we must get it right first time.
Each of our clients and couples get our full
attention in the lead up to their event. This
starts in the office with six and four weekly
check lists and is carried right through to
the build day when the crew create the tipis
in the exact formation that has been 12-18
months in the planning.
We don’t like problems – we don’t really
have time for them… Of course, the nature
of the job means we do encounter things
that don’t go quite to plan occasionally but
the show must go on and in the fast paced
environment that we work problems get
solved.
Brett and I are lucky that we are
surrounded by a team that are smart
and hard working. Each member fully
understands the ethos of what we do and
why we do it.
TAKING TIME
We do rush around on a daily basis and
run out of hours in the day and days in the
week, but believe that taking some time
“AT THE END OF THE DAY WE ARE MORE OFTEN THAN NOT
EXHAUSTED! BUT WE CAN’T COMPLAIN TOO MUCH…
OUR WORKLOAD IS CONCENTRATED TO SIX MONTHS
OF THE YEAR”
out is important, not just for us but for the
team. I could quite happily sit at my laptop
from 8am–8pm and not stop but this isn’t
healthy or productive, for anyone. Brett
and I try and make sure we have 30 minutes
for lunch. When we can we’ll have lunch
together, often with Katy our event planner.
It’s a good time to fill each other in on the
different elements of our days and also
assign action tasks to each other’s ever
growing lists!
At the end of the day we are more often
than not exhausted! But we can’t complain
too much… our workload is concentrated to
six months of the year. April to September
is when we’re in the season and it’s seven
days a week and countless hours each day.
October to March is when we take stock, get
a regular sleeping pattern back and spend
more time with our loved ones (who get
somewhat neglected during the summer
season).
The reasons we love doing what we do
are quite literally endless. If we didn’t have
the love for weddings, events and tipis it just
wouldn’t work! No two days are the same,
none of our clients are the same, none of
the builds we embark on are the same. This
keeps it interesting – we never quite know
what to expect when the vehicles leave the
yard in a morning, but you can guarantee
the crew will come back with a story…
We’re unbelievably proud of what we’ve
achieved, proud of our team, and proud
of each other. What we do isn’t easy, it
takes hard work, dedication and all of your
time but the results we get make it more
than worthwhile. Receiving feedback from
ecstatic couples, birthday guys/gals, their
family and friends puts it all into context.
We can say, proudly, that we contribute to
a huge part of our clients’ events and our
contribution forms part of their memories
that will stay with them forever. To add to
this, we do it together – every step of the
way.
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