Scenes from a Wedding

I’ve reached the age where I’m going more often to weddings of my friends’ children than to my friends’ weddings. A few weeks ago, my family and I attended a wedding in the mountains of western North Carolina.  It made me think of the other weddings I have attended in recent years.

Each one had a notable image you remember above all the others.  In Cambridge, it was the view of Boston and the game at Fenway Park from the top floor of the high-rise hotel. On Cape Cod, it was the backdrop of the picturesque Nantucket Sound  In Maryland, the stately reception hall of a grand mansion turned museum. In North Carolina, it was the bride arriving in a horse drawn carriage in an outdoor setting. In southern Spain, it was the incredible scenery of the mountains and the coming together of two diverse families. Of course, none are as unforgettable to me as the wedding I attended as an exchange student in France where a man from the groom’s family started a wild fight with a man from the bride’s family…

Yet, as different as each of these weddings were in location and theme, they all shared common elements;  they all have a ceremony, special clothing for the wedding party, a reception, food, entertainment, guest lists, attendants, family logistics and gift registries. And they all take a lot of planning.

It’s a lot like business. Every business is different. It has a unique offering, a different market, a different set of players and a different culture. But every business has to market, sell, serve its customers and keep the organization running efficiently. And they all take a lot of planning.  Mike Oleksak   2009