SAN ANTONIO – Event planners say they are struggling to make magical events happen amid staff and supply shortages, but they’re trying to make it work despite the circumstances.
After 22-years in the business, Jaime Cooke, owner of JLen Events, says she’s had to reimagine how she put together events, celebrations and fundraisers.
“Everything is changed -- the way you build a budget, your planning timeline. Nothing is the way it was before the pandemic,” Cooke said.
She said every month had brought new challenges since the pandemic hit. Most recently, she’s been dealing with the delay in supplies arriving late and the limited ability to get items from overseas.
“Our vendors are so strapped. Our resources are so minimal. Budgets are lower. Timelines are shorter. So that’s the biggest difference,” Cooke said.
Megan Oropeza, a newlywed, got married a year ago after two previously rescheduled dates. She says she knows firsthand that it takes patience and flexibility to make the perfect wedding happen.
“My dress took a lot longer than normal because it had to be shipped in from Australia, and then having the alterations done --things like that that would normally take, you know, six weeks, we’re taking longer,” she said.
Oropeza’s advice after all the ups and downs of planning is to keep it all in perspective.
“All the stress that I went through that we’ve gone through was nothing -- you know, once we got to that actual altar and actually had our vows exchanged,” she said.
Cooke urges families and corporations planning those last-minute parties to be ready for changes and have grace for those they hire to put on the events.
“We’ve already got a contingency plan, just like we would normally do because right now, I can promise you, it’s usually showing up late, it’s showing up broken, or it’s not showing up at all. So we’ve got to have something in our back pocket,” Cooke said.