Instructor Christine Stieber (right) holds a mock rehearsal during a Wedding Consultant Certificate class.

Jennifer Lopez may have given event coordinators a high profile in "The Wedding Planner," but most usually keep a low one during a function.

"You have to be very calm," says Christine Stieber, president of Fullerton-based The Perfect Day, who can vouch that many planners do carry emergency event essentials on their person, like Lopez's tool belt in the movie. "You definitely have to be detailed oriented, think on your feet and not let your ego get in your way. I've planned weddings that were not my taste," says Stieber, with more than 25 years experience in event coordination.

"I mean Winnie the Pooh was just not me, but it was for the bride and groom and they were lovely and happy at their wedding."

Stieber is instructor for the Wedding Consultant Certificate class at Cal Poly Pomona. The non-credit class is offered during winter and summer quarters through the College of the Extended University.

"I have people telling me that they've had so much fun planning their own weddings that they want to do the same for their friends. But I tell them that you can't do your wedding for another bride." Stieber advises planners-in-training to set up shop before they take on a client and avoid potentially ruining a couple's special day.

"The couple doesn't get another chance just because you didn't know what you were doing."

During the 10-week class, Stieber teaches students how to set up a full- or part-time business, interview vendors and clients, prepare contracts, timelines and budgets. Also covered are site selection, invitations, catering, rentals, music, decorations and other details. She even holds a mock rehearsal dinner during one class.

According to Stieber, more and more couples are using professional wedding consultants. With so many arrangements to make and budgets to juggle amid rampant emotions, planners can focus on the professional and creative aspects of the job since they're not emotionally tied.

"I get to be the ogre when family members drop those helpful hints on the bride and groom," says Stieber, who often counsels couples on how to handle stress, crises and meddling family and friends.

Having worked in corporate event planning for a decade before planning weddings, Stieber wasn't prepared for the emotional aspects that come with the territory.

"It's the best part and the hardest part," she says. "I heard that brides cry over the color of their napkins, but I had never had a CFO do that before."

She planned her first wedding at a friend's urging and has been hooked ever since.

Stieber says that as many as 60 percent of couples don't set an accurate budget for their wedding, with the average costing $25,000. A good coordinator will help the couple stay on track with both time and budget.

As luck would have it, one of Stieber's most unusual weddings introduced her to the Cal Poly Pomona campus. She planned a wedding at Kellogg House Pomona, once the winter home of university benefactor W.K. Kellogg of cereal fame. The couple decided to remarry after years apart and chose "till death do us part" as the theme. Stieber planned a wedding murder mystery in the campus' 1920s Mediterranean mansion, which is also the site of the certificate class.

The next Wedding Consultant Certificate class will be held Monday evenings Jan. 7 through March 17, 2003. For more information or to register, call (909) 869-2288 or visit www.ceu.csupomona.edu.

 

10 Tips fo a Wedding Couple 1. Establish a realistic budget. 2. Include in your bouquet a wedding ring or favorite flower of a special loved one. 3. Use picture frames as place card holders, and send a small wedding photograph with your thank you notes. 4. Brides and attendants should each bring several extra pairs of hose. 5. Have an "anti panic" bag filled with a sewing kit, pins, sanitary supplies, pens, etc. 6. Prepare a complete and realistic itinerary of each professional's arrival and departure as well as activities of the day. 7. Purchase shoes one month before the wedding and wear them around the house to break them in. 8. Scuff up the bottom of the shoes so they are not slippery. 9. Consider preserving bouquets-including garters, boutonnieres and invitations- to create a wonderful vignette. 10. Keep your sense of humor throughout. Everything can have a funny slant if you just look for it.