I wanted to share a few event experiences that still make me smile and laugh. In the moment, some were more stressful than others, while some were simply incredible—but that’s really what it’s all about, right? Learning from the stressful moments so they don’t happen again and holding onto the amazing ones to carry you through the next event, and the one after that.
I’m not even sure where to start with this one… I truly believe events require special talents! You need the will to make things happen and the ability to be prepared for anything and everything. I praise everyone who works in events—you really do have to build a strong backbone, be open to criticism, keep learning, and of course, try to maintain a good sense of humor. The laughs may not happen in the moment, but I can tell you… they definitely happen for years to come!
I have to start with a story about my colleague because this one is a classic. I didn’t realize the client had misunderstood this for 20 years until I finally told her the truth. We were working on several events at Atlantis Paradise Island. My colleague Sean was the lead for the TV show My Wife and Kids, and they were filming on the beach that day. At the same time, the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational was loading in—specifically the team heading up the Nike event—and they were looking for Sean.
I was working on another event but helping wherever I could. I got a call from Sean saying someone from Nike had called him, and he told them he was on the beach with My Wife and Kids, and once he was finished, he would come up and help with the location setup. I told him I would meet with them and cover until he was done filming for the day. From that moment on, we all noticed a slight chill in the air. It felt odd, but everything went smoothly.
Fast forward 20 years—I was working with one of the Nike team members on another event, and we started reminiscing about the Atlantis days. That conversation came up, and I started laughing. I said, “Sean had been working with the TV show My Wife and Kids filming on the beach—he wasn’t down there laying on the beach with his own wife and kids!” We must have laughed for hours, and I still laugh about it to this day. I guess that’s where you learn about effective communication. We all communicate—but do we communicate effectively?
This next one really threw me for a loop. We were working on a high-end wedding, and there were going to be some celebrities attending, so everything needed to be perfect. The bride had planned most of the wedding, but the groom had a couple of key requests. He wanted a bagpiper to play after the ceremony and then lead the guests to the dining room after the cocktail hour.
The ceremony took place in the Versailles Garden at the Ocean Club, and the reception was at Dune, so it was going to be a lovely stroll for the bagpiper and guests. My job was transportation for the guests, but I was also responsible for finding both the pastor and a bagpiper in Nassau, Bahamas.
Believe it or not, I found a bagpiper who was also a pastor—I felt like the luckiest person in the world. The only challenge was that he had another wedding shortly before ours. To make sure everything flowed smoothly, I arranged transportation to pick him up at the church and bring him directly to the Ocean Club. For extra insurance, I rode in the car myself to make sure he arrived at the right place.
The wedding began, our pastor was in place, and the ceremony was beautiful. Afterward, I handed him his bagpipes, and he played as guests walked to the next level of the garden for cocktail hour. And that’s when everything took a wrong turn.
After he finished playing, I approached him and said we would get in place for the stroll to the dining room in about 30 minutes, and he could relax until then. He looked at me and said he had another wedding and couldn’t stay.
Wait—what???
I said, “No, no… you still have to finish the stroll.”
He replied, “I can’t stay. I must leave now.”
I suddenly had 30 minutes to come up with a new plan. I ran to my boss, and thankfully she didn’t kill me on the spot. We both looked over at the trio playing during cocktail hour, and I made my way over. The only person who could possibly lead the guests was the flutist. Nowhere near what the groom had envisioned, and I wasn’t sure I would survive this one—but believe it or not, we did.
All I could think of was the Pied Piper leading these beautifully dressed guests through the garden on their way to dinner. Talk about the importance of communication, details, and timelines. To this day, I’m still not sure where the breakdown happened or why the pastor never mentioned he had a third wedding that day. I also learned that you can’t take these situations personally—even though sometimes you still do. You just have to make sure everyone is on the same page, working from the same timeline, and fully committed to the entire event. This is definitely one we still shake our heads about—the bagpiper who disappeared and the flutist who saved the day!
Here’s a lesson many of us learned from another high-end wedding: never have the landscapers spray the grass to make it greener the day before the ceremony. Otherwise, anyone wearing a long gown—especially the bride’s white dress and train—may end up absorbing that green spray while walking down the aisle.
We were extremely lucky that the bride and groom laughed it off, and that the bride happened to have another dress to change into for the reception. When we assisted at another wedding a few years later at the same location, we made sure to remind the planner several times: please make certain the landscapers do not spray the grounds the day before the wedding!
Okay, I’ll share one more fun one—I love this story and still can’t believe I did what I did… but I did it! LOL.
We were hosting the press junket for After the Sunset, and I was assigned the task of driving Pierce Brosnan and his publicist back and forth to the interview location using a golf cart. That afternoon, I picked them up and drove them to the interviews. I had been told there would be a cocktail party afterward, but it would be up to the celebrities whether they stayed.
So, I waited nearby with the golf cart, ready whenever they were. Then the news came in that Pierce had just been informed he would no longer be playing James Bond. After a few journalists asked him how he felt about it, I got the call—they were ready to leave and would not be staying for the party.
We loaded into the golf cart and headed back to the parking lot. There wasn’t much conversation, and Pierce didn’t look like himself. I felt terrible for him—I couldn’t imagine how that must have felt.
I’m still not sure where this next moment came from, but something took over. I pulled into the lot and stopped the cart. Right before Pierce got out, I put my hand on his knee, looked him in the eye, and said, “Pierce, I know you’re all out of nice right now, but go back to the resort, have a cocktail or two, relax, and tomorrow you’ll be back to nice.”
He looked at me, said thank you, and walked away.
And I immediately thought—what did I just do? Am I going to get in trouble? I probably should have kept my mouth shut.
But the next morning, there were more interviews scheduled. I was walking past one when I suddenly heard someone call out, “Dear Lisa!” I turned around to see Pierce Brosnan smiling and telling me he was back to nice.
Talk about making your day—and hearing that from Pierce Brosnan? That felt like a dream come true!
In the ups and downs of the event world, there are stories that last a lifetime. The challenges keep coming, and you learn from your mistakes and mishaps—but overall, you walk away with some pretty incredible memories.
Favorite Quote: “Experience is the teacher of all things.” – Julius Caesar
“Event planning is the art of managing the unexpected, repeatedly, while smiling.” – Unknown
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