Fall is always a busy time for us, and this year especially, a lot is happening at Vienna. Football is back, too, which means I’m spending a lot of time talking about game plans—on and off the field.
One of my favorite parts of planning a celebration is sitting down with a family and hearing what they have in mind. Sooner or later, someone always reaches for their phone.
“Matt, we loved this idea.”
“Can we do something like that?”
“Look what they did for the entrance.”
I want to see all of it. Show me the screenshots, the Pinterest boards, the TikToks, the ideas your son or daughter has been sending you, and the things you’ve seen at other celebrations that caught your attention. Knowing what you like gives me a place to start.
But I’m never looking at those pictures thinking, “How do we recreate this?”
That’s not what we do at Vienna, and it’s not what I’d want for your family.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being inspired by another great event. Our team pays attention to what’s new, what’s creative, and what people are excited about because celebrations are always evolving. But after working every side of events for more than thirty years, I’ve learned that something can be incredible for one family and completely wrong for another.
So, when you show me something you love, I’m probably going to start asking questions. What caught your attention? Who’s going to be in the room? What kind of celebration are we trying to create?
I’m not trying to talk you out of anything. I’m trying to understand why you responded to it in the first place.
Then I want to know about your family.
Tell me about your son or daughter. What are they into? What kind of personality do they have? Are they going to love making a huge entrance, or would that make them completely uncomfortable? Tell me about the grandparents, the friends they’ve had since kindergarten, and the traditions that matter to your family.
Those things tell me a lot more about where we should go than any picture ever could.
Families change their minds, too. That’s part of planning. You might come in convinced you want something and two months later decide you don’t. Your son or daughter may see something completely different and get excited about that. You may come back to me with ten new pictures on your phone.
None of that bothers me.
I’d rather we keep talking and get it right than hold onto an idea simply because it was the first one we discussed.
Sometimes the idea you bring me ends up being perfect, and we figure out how to make it your own. Sometimes one part of it sends us in another direction. And sometimes, after I get to know your family, the picture we started with has nothing to do with where we end up.
I love when that happens.
Maybe it’s the quarterback in me, but you don’t run a play just because you saw another team score with it. It has to make sense for your team.
We can start with an idea you saw somewhere else, but by the time we’re finished, it should feel like it could only belong to you.
So, bring me the screenshots, Pinterest boards, and TikToks. Then we’ll put the phone down and talk about your family.
Because the pictures are just the beginning. What we create from there should be unmistakably yours.