“How did you get into this?”
Someone asks me how I got into wedding coordination at every wedding I work. I always say, “27 Dresses was based on my life.” I tell them how I come from a large family, which means I have been in weddings, or have helped my mom with weddings, for as long as I can remember. I have played every role. From being a flower girl, junior bridesmaid, bridesmaid and maid of honor to cutting the cake, making the flower arrangements, raking the grass, designing the invitations and hosting the shower - I’ve done it all.
If you weren’t a big rom-com fan circa 2008, 27 Dresses is a romantic comedy featuring Katherine Heigl as Jane, the forever and perfect bridesmaid. She’s been a bridesmaid 27 times and has loved weddings ever since she helped at her cousin’s wedding as a child. She not only serves as a bridesmaid, but also becomes the wedding coordinator for every single one of her friends. An iconic scene in the film features a fun montage where she models all of her dresses for a New York Journal reporter and love interest.
One of my earliest memories is getting ready for my cousin Andy’s wedding where I got to be the flower girl. I remember everyone in the family having a job - my mom was ironing, my aunts were styling hair, my dad and uncles were carrying coolers to the cars. This would be the first of many family weddings where together, we all “made it happen.” As I grew up, I would learn that my experience was extremely unique. Most people had not been in multiple weddings by the time they grew up, let alone attended more than one wedding. Not everyone had a cousin Dana or Aunt Lynn to run the show for them.
I started Day of With Dana to use my experience to help those couples without “a village” to help them achieve their dream day.
I wanted to share my knowledge with the families that have never thrown an event. My competitors are mostly full-service planners, however, I provide a more specific element that many planning their own day need - a day-of coordinator. I allow my couples to have someone handling everything they’ve planned for the day-of without having to pay an arm and a leg for a full-service planner.
To show how much 27 Dresses looks like my life, I recreated the iconic photoshoot from the movie. While I’ve never been in a wedding with an “L.A. Wedding” or “Gone With The Wind” theme, I have had my fair share wearing cowboy boots, and I served as Hoover Belle city hostess in Birmingham, Alabama while in high school.
So...who did it better? Me or Katherine Heigl?
Special thanks to Jett Walker Photography and Hair and Makeup by Danielle Ivy Chip