I've had a bit of a look through and notice I haven't had a rant for quite some time. Most if my rants are about peoples' professionalism or lack of it. So in case this is something you have been missing here comes a quick blast.
Very often the bane of a Toastmaster's life at a wedding is the photographer.
They almost never work to time and very often lose sight of who the day is about - the bride and bride groom, sometimes confusing it with their own artistic desires.
However there are times when other agencies let things down.
I work as a Toastmaster in the wedding industry. I work hard and I am well paid. I think I deserve the money I get. However I get very annoyed when I see people who should know better, people like hotels and so on, quite blatantly ripping people off because it is a wedding. Little things like charging extra for putting down a scrappy piece of red carpet that doesn't even line up with the approach to the required room are a disgrace. (Wait with me - I'm just getting to the photographer bit.) The automatic extra that goes on dresses if they are known to be for a wedding and so on.
Anyway, photographers. I recently worked at a wedding where the photographer was allowed just one hour between the end of the church service to the call through for the wedding breakfast. This was an incredibly short amount of time. However the photographer, whom we shall call Chris, was a top bloke and worked hard within these restraints. We pulled out all the stops due to prompting from the venue and I was ready to call through just five minutes late. The venue wasn't ready. They were not ready for another thirty minutes. They would have gone ape
if they had had to wait for the photographer for that long. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Occasionally, in my work as a Toastmaster, people say some amazing things. Very often they have had a drink or two and simply do not realise what they are saying. Recently I was working away, doing my best Master of Ceremonies bit when a man, quite close to the organisation of the event came to me and asked if I knew a ceertain individual. I responded in the negative. He went on. "He was a Tower Warder and then became a town crier and he does this" (meaning toastmastering)."Mind you he's really good." (Implying I was crap.) We wanted him but he was busy. No disrespect" I thought this was hilarious. I think it was the "No disrespect" thing that was so funny.
Last Friday it was the wedding of Leigh and Abigail at Burghley. It was a marquee on the grounds of Burghley Cricket Club. Marquee weddings are a little like buses. I don't do one for ages and them I am Toastmaster at two or three all together. The pavilion at Burghley was delightful.
The wedding was lovely, as were Leigh and Abigail. The best thing though was the band. They were the Houndogs www.thehoundogs.co.uk. They were brilliant! They looked and sounded superb.
I don't quite know what is happening at the moment, but I seem to be pretty popular. Another four days' Toastmastering in this week, including a very short notice wedding for Mrs Patel through Lakhani at Edgbaston on Sunday 26th. It's all go!
Live Long and Be Toastmastered
