It seems like just yesterday I was going to visit a client with my good friend and mentor, when he told me he had received a call from a TV show looking for leads on local Florida event planners. As the words came out of his mouth, thoughts of how cool it would be to showcase my planning skills on television ran through my head. Being a reality TV fan, I agreed to contact the person at the network and find out what they were looking for in a planner.
After my initial conversation with a producer from the Style Network's, "Whose Wedding is it Anyway?", I found out that what they were looking for was me. Why me? I am Ana Cruz, a local Miami event planner who started my business in May of 2001. My style is, well, how can I put this, "off the beaten path". My clients are what some might call "a little different". The day that I left corporate America, I swore that I would never compromise my way of being to please anyone and that I would never again wear pantyhose.
So back to my stint on reality TV. The first time one of my weddings was ever filmed, I was understandably nervous and concerned that I would be followed around by producers, sound and camera people that would love for me to embarrass myself or make some critical mistakes. Luckily, I did not and the team turned out to be really nice. I planned a perfect wedding for a young couple who, with all of their quirks, were a perfect match for me.
The bride, a writer and, by the end of the process, a botanist, had planned her wedding date around the blooming of the beautiful peony flower. I had to console her at the florist on the day we were told that a drought in India would perhaps shatter her dreams of a wedding arch filled with peonies. Drama aside, the peonies arrived, the day was gorgeous and I was able to deliver to my clients the reality of a dream wedding; all this in front of seven million viewers. Three years later, the Style Network still airs the show because the wedding is a fan favorite.
What happened after my first encounter with "reality TV"? Well, I get tons of e-mails from dreamy brides, aspiring planners and students looking for mentors. I answer every e-mail, even the bizarre ones. My experience was positive and my business significantly grew, so I agreed to do another show. This time it was reality meets the Travel Channel.
A producer at the Style Network asked me if I would be willing to plan a wedding for a local Boca Raton couple. Seems like a normal request, right? Well, the couple was local, but the destination was anything but. Within two weeks, I was on an airplane with my new clients traveling to Santiago, Chile. Their wedding would be happening in four days.
My nerves kicked in because this time I would have to pull off a stellar event without my favorite vendors. I was no longer on my turf and my "peeps" would no longer have my back. I was embarking on an adventure that was called "Married Away" - a Style Network show which features weddings at exotic destinations.
When I arrived in Santiago, Chile I was eager to meet the vendors that would be helping me pull this wedding off. Up to this point, I had only been able to reach the General Manager of the hotel that would be offering lodging to us. The gentleman also managed a sister-property in Santa Cruz where the wedding ceremony would be taking place. I was told it was the most beautiful vineyard in all of Chile. For me, it was a venue that I had only seen in pictures and possibly the location where I would fall flat on my face in front of seven million viewers. Forty-eight hours before the wedding, I still had not seen the magnificent vineyard which I was told was only 45 minutes away. I insisted on traveling to the location while the bride and groom and their guests went off on a fabulous excursion. I needed to figure out how I was going to make this another reality home run.
It was very early on a Thursday morning and I boarded a mini-van along with my "shadows", a cameraman, a sound guy and a show producer. Off we went through the winding mountain roads to the vineyard of my clients' dreams. The 45 minute trip turned out to be more like one-and-a-half hours.
Finally, we reached the Santa Cruz vineyard, but it didn't match the pictures at all. The public relations person from the Santa Cruz resort arranged for transportation for me and the crew to get to the vineyard. Another bus ride followed, this one 30 minutes and with more winding roads. Finally, the picture that was in my head became reality just before my eyes. The ceremony site was only a horse carriage and cable car ride away. It was worth the trip, but could I get the bride and groom and their guests to the ceremony site on time? Of course. Did I pull off another fabulous wedding? Yes.
The Chile episode aired about one month after I came home. Again, I was inundated with e-mails and new and even more adventurous clients. Reality TV had been good to me again. So good, in fact, that I have since had two more weddings filmed for the world to see on the Style Network's "Whose Wedding is it Anyway?".
One of these weddings took place at Fairchild Botanical Gardens and aired in the middle of 2007. The last wedding that was filmed will be aired on February 25, 2008 and featured a very interesting couple who exchanged vows in a beautiful historic mansion in Coconut Grove, Florida..
Whether a wedding theme revolves around a blue and brown cake, or pleasing a client who just has to get their pet ferret down the aisle, I make it happen - reality TV or not. The millions of viewers who watch me do it have been a tremendous boost to my business and to my confidence. That is definitely the upside of reality TV. What is the down side? It seems that every time I rush to the supermarket without any make-up and wearing my pajamas, I inevitably hear the words, "Aren't you that wedding planner from TV?" I'm still a reality TV junkie. The reality about reality TV is that I can make one couple's dreams come true on one special day, but I can watch it happen over and over again through the magic of television. You can't beat that.
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