"Your wedding is likely to be the most important event you’ll ever host. Unlike an ordinary celebration, a wedding is a series of specific planned moments: first look, vows, grand entrance, first dance, kick cutting and send off. To make your dreams into a reality you need someone whose whole life has been spent coordinating events. My name is Gerad and I’m a wedding coordinator who lives in Austin, Texas.
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Even from an early age I found myself loving the event industry. For example, as a young kid I would put on these 'stuffed animal variety shows', building a stage out of pillows and blankets, and I'd force my parents to watch. It's funny, I never wanted to be the one on the stage, I always wanted to be the one running the event. So long story short, I tried to figure out a way to turn that into a career since I loved it so much. I went on to study Design Tech theatre where my love for stage management, coordinating, and directing really took off.  I ultimately moved to Austin knowing that there would be a lot more opportunities for me here. Shortly after moving, I decided to try one of my childhood dreams and be a wedding coordinator and the rest of history.
 
As a coordinator. I’m pretty direct approach. I'm very Type A, organized and like to ensure all my events run perfectly. I like to think I bring an element of fun to my weddings, but if I see a red flag or hear an idea that I know from past experience won’t work I’m not afraid to tell you that. I will then explain to you why that idea will not happen as you envision and then propose solutions.

So, I bring this bag to every wedding, it kinda has a little big of everything in it. Never know what you need to be prepared for but you definitely need to be prepared. I bring my timeline, of course, that's always ready to go up until the big day. Things like: a first aid kit is always good to have no matter who you are. Word of advice–do not take your shoes off on the dance floor, broken glass is not fun. I keep things like a portable steamer in here, sewing kit, lint roller, command hooks, glue dots, guest book pens, lighters–very important. I'm constantly lighting and un-lighting candles for a wedding. Things like tape– I've got lots of different types of tape. This is my favorite pocket of the bag actually because it's got the food in it. It's always good to have food, you never know if you forgot to eat or maybe the couple forgot to eat and someone’s running low. Gotta get 'em a little boost of energy but my favorite part is definitely the manny fanny. So, this stays with me at every wedding. The most important things: scissors, pens, as well as safety pins – I can’t say enough good things about a safety pin on a wedding day. Breath mints too! Breath mints right here in case someone is about to walk down the aisle and needs a breath mint. And those are some of the things in my bag. 

If I had any advice to offer to a newly engaged couple, I’d say this: Chances are, this is the first wedding you’ve ever had to plan. I strongly recommend you get someone on your team who is highly competent and experienced coordinating events. When you work with me, my goal is to allow you to hand over all of the stress and anxiety so that you can relax and enjoy this entire process. To get started, just send me your wedding date and I’ll check my availability. I’d love to hear more about what you’re looking for."