How to plan your wedding at work without being fired

wajohnson09

This gem of an article was on the home page tonight:

http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-budget/articles/plan-your-wedding-at-work-without-getting-fired.aspx

I get the researching thing vendors thing, but that's what I do over my lunch break. I've done a few phone calls here and there and that's about it.

Is this seriously an issue? Any good stories of bridezillas gone wild at your work?

beethery

I read that and was kind of blown away.

Shouldn't be that difficult. Research at home, take down phone numbers. Call vendors on your way in to work, possibly leave voicemails. If they call you back during the day, use your breaks for the calls. Send emails on your phone if you need to. You don't need to spend all day on the phone with vendors and do everything while you're at work. You don't have to be a giant sneaky shit to work it out, and you can still get work shit done in the mean time.

PrincessOfHavoc

Seriously? Your wedding really isn't that important. Because guess what, if you are fired for dicking around, how are you paying for the wedding?

larrygaga

I remember Pam from The Office saying that she HAD to plan her wedding while she was working. I always thought....Why? What do  you have to do at home? I'm sure it can take a backseat to wedding planning, whatever it is.

I am just starting wedding planning and I really can't imagine it taking up so much of my daily life that I have to do it at work.

I do knot while at work, but only for fun. 

climbingsingle

I may knot while I'm at work, but almost all of my planning is done on my off time. I don't get this. 

My former assistant was really bad when she got pregnant. She spent most of her day looking/shopping online for things for the baby. I had to speak to her several times. 

wajohnson09

I think what really got me was the "don't bring your binder and fabric swatches to work"- really?!?! If they wrote it in the article it must mean someone has actually done that?!?

I do read on the knot boards at work, but that's for my own sanity. My department is full of umm "unique" people.

I guess our previous receptionist planned her whole wedding on the work computer and phone. Like taking wedding related calls and letting business calls (on the main company number) go to voicemail. She also would paint her nails and fix her friend's hair at the front desk so I guess I'm not surprised.

Edit- I can't spell

smalfrie19

I know I did a lot of planning via email, and I do keep my personal email up in the back ground, so I would respond to emails every once in a while. And I still make to do lists in my down time at work. Like today. I don't have much to do so between misc projects I have asked for to keep me busy, I am on TK. 

beethery

I mean, I work with my parents and I can multi-task, so they don't care that I knot and do research here and there as long as I get my shit done.

BUT, I know that wouldn't be possible at other jobs I've had, and I know for a fact I'd just have to do things at home or during my miniscule lunch breaks. I am very confident that I'd be fine keeping the majority of planning at home without getting behind the 8 ball on wedding stuff.

jenna8984

I swear to God I had a friend quit her job "to plan her wedding". Her FI was the breadwinner and they could afford all of their bills without her working. But I really think she just used it as an excuse to be lazy and preview SAHM status (<---SAHM's are not lazy but when you have no children it's another story). Because I honestly don't know what she could have possibly spent 6 months at home doing.

#1. The wedding was during the daytime at a single venue/ restaurant with 100 guests

#2. There was nothing fancy/ over the top that would have taken more planning than any other wedding

#3. And my favorite- it was a full on PPD. Courthouse wedding 5 months prior for health insurance (since she quit her job) and she didn't tell a soul, I didn't find out until the "wedding" day.

#4. Less than a year later she cheated and within a year of divorce eloped with the other man.

So it was obvious that she just wanted the whole "fairytale" wedding experience and didn't care about anything else including the groom.

slothiegal

jenna8984 said:

I swear to God I had a friend quit her job "to plan her wedding". Her FI was the breadwinner and they could afford all of their bills without her working. But I really think she just used it as an excuse to be lazy and preview SAHM status (<---SAHM's are not lazy but when you have no children it's another story). Because I honestly don't know what she could have possibly spent 6 months at home doing.

#1. The wedding was during the daytime at a single venue/ restaurant with 100 guests

#2. There was nothing fancy/ over the top that would have taken more planning than any other wedding

#3. And my favorite- it was a full on PPD. Courthouse wedding 5 months prior for health insurance (since she quit her job) and she didn't tell a soul, I didn't find out until the "wedding" day.

#4. Less than a year later she cheated and within a year of divorce eloped with the other man.

So it was obvious that she just wanted the whole "fairytale" wedding experience and didn't care about anything else including the groom.

I mean...I don't even know where to start with all that.

tammym1001

I brought my binder and fabric swatches to work. I also left work to go meet with vendors. I did almost all phone calls and e-mails to vendors while I was at work because they were working at the same time as me. 

One caveat to my planning our wedding at work: DH owns the business where I work and I'm the only person in the office. All my work still got done and it wasn't affecting anyone else

holyguacamole79

This article makes it sound like you should eat, sleep, and shit your wedding.  You can have a life, too!!

theartistformerlyknownas

I do everything at work, lol. Almost all my planning has been done online/via email (binder?? who even has those anymore?) with maybe 1 phone call to the venue. The internet is faster here than at home, and when I'm home I'm making dinner and going to the gym and watching Jeopardy with FI. Bigger decisions like flowers we made together at home... but I researched the hell out of what I wanted while I was at work, figured out how many I'd need of each and worked out all the costs and best deals, then placed the order at home with FI.

I'm on the computer at work ALL DAY LONG, lots via email or with various web-based tools running in other tabs, and Excel always cranking. It's always been pretty easy to quickly do things like paying bills or Christmas shopping on Amazon in between tasks.

Cookie Pusher

I did a lot of my planning while I was at work. Well, not so much the planning as the execution of some of my DIY stuff. My company has access to software and stock images, so it just kind of made sense to do some of that stuff at the office during our slow times. Also, I made over 300 individual flowers. If I was on a particularly boring phone call, my hands were busy. However, none of the stuff I did kept me from kicking ass at my job so it wasn't an issue. Plus, my coworkers (who are like family to me) were fascinated by what I was doing and gave me some really great feedback.

goldchocobo.defunct635829490514903826

I TK at work, it keeps me sane.  I always hit my deadlines.  As far as planning, I just sent a few emails.  

LOL at the "Don't bring your binder and swatches to work" ummmm, what?  Also, why do you HAVE to do these things at work??  Put on Netflix and do it at home.  Sheesh.

Maggie0829

tammym1001 said:

I brought my binder and fabric swatches to work. I also left work to go meet with vendors. I did almost all phone calls and e-mails to vendors while I was at work because they were working at the same time as me. 

One caveat to my planning our wedding at work: DH owns the business where I work and I'm the only person in the office. All my work still got done and it wasn't affecting anyone else

Same here.  I pretty much planned my entire wedding at work.  My job is one where I only have work if the client needs something.  Most of the time the client is not requesting anything so I just sit and wait which means I have a lot of time to kill.  So when I got engaged I got super excited because I knew that I wouldn't be bored at work anymore.

I will add that when actual work did come in my wedding planning got pushed to the back burner. Also, when I had to make calls to vendors (which wasn't very often since most was done through email) I got up and went outside so as to not disturb my co-workers.

Marzipan13

Maggie0829 said:

tammym1001 said:

I brought my binder and fabric swatches to work. I also left work to go meet with vendors. I did almost all phone calls and e-mails to vendors while I was at work because they were working at the same time as me. 

One caveat to my planning our wedding at work: DH owns the business where I work and I'm the only person in the office. All my work still got done and it wasn't affecting anyone else

Same here.  I pretty much planned my entire wedding at work.  My job is one where I only have work if the client needs something.  Most of the time the client is not requesting anything so I just sit and wait which means I have a lot of time to kill.  So when I got engaged I got super excited because I knew that I wouldn't be bored at work anymore.

I will add that when actual work did come in my wedding planning got pushed to the back burner. Also, when I had to make calls to vendors (which wasn't very often since most was done through email) I got up and went outside so as to not disturb my co-workers.

Same here!  My work is only dependent upon the people who call or stop in with a request, so I have done probably 80% of my wedding planning at work.  It's keeping my sanity at work, too.  Tbh, I have no clue how I would do this if I couldn't do it at work.  

goldchocobo.defunct635829490514903826

Marzipan13 said:

Maggie0829 said:

tammym1001 said:

I brought my binder and fabric swatches to work. I also left work to go meet with vendors. I did almost all phone calls and e-mails to vendors while I was at work because they were working at the same time as me. 

One caveat to my planning our wedding at work: DH owns the business where I work and I'm the only person in the office. All my work still got done and it wasn't affecting anyone else

Same here.  I pretty much planned my entire wedding at work.  My job is one where I only have work if the client needs something.  Most of the time the client is not requesting anything so I just sit and wait which means I have a lot of time to kill.  So when I got engaged I got super excited because I knew that I wouldn't be bored at work anymore.

I will add that when actual work did come in my wedding planning got pushed to the back burner. Also, when I had to make calls to vendors (which wasn't very often since most was done through email) I got up and went outside so as to not disturb my co-workers.

Same here!  My work is only dependent upon the people who call or stop in with a request, so I have done probably 80% of my wedding planning at work.  It's keeping my sanity at work, too.  Tbh, I have no clue how I would do this if I couldn't do it at work.  

Sorry ladies, no disrespect!  You guys are lucky you could!  I have a very quiet cubicle so I feel like everyone knows my business.  My MOH works right beside me so I am sure people heard our convos more than once.

abbyj700

I do tons of wedding planning at work. I'm a conslutant so I can only bill my clients when I'm actually working on their projects - so regardless if I'm working from home, working at work I can go back and forth between doing work and personal things as long as I 1) get my jobs done to everyone liking and 2) don't bill my clients for my wedding planning!

Today for instance, I e-mailed a bunch of food trucks trying to find one for our rehearsal dinner. Last week I called to make an appointment to finalize our menu, made an appointment with the cake baker to finalize food, made an appointment with our now selected officiant to meet her, final reviewed the proof to our invite and ordered a sample of it. Really - not all that many things - but stuff I can do here to help my time out at home. 

I know FI has really appreciated how much I can get done on my lunch break and in between meetings rather than bring it home to distract from our time running our home, time with his daughter, time with our dogs and time to have fun!

sarawifenow

I have done about 50% of my planning at work. I am on TK all the time but that is because it is the slow time here in the financial world.

 

Booking vendors was all done in person with FI and my mom (who is graciously paying) because I wanted to make sure that we clicked in person. Other than that, I use my work email for a lot of my vendor contact. I think that as long as you can multi-task and your work doesn't fall behind, there is no reason you can't plan at work.

NYCMercedes

I worked in a cube close to a woman who was planning her wedding a few years ago. It was horrible. She did no work and was on the phone constantly with vendors. I knew everything about her wedding before I even went. I have no respect for her anymore.

goldchocobo.defunct635829490514903826

@NYCMercedes, does she still work there?  

NYCMercedes

@goldchocobo‌ She is there, I moved on. She didn't even invite all the cube farm to the wedding. Of those invited, only two couples came. She lied to the priests that her dad was dying so had to do a hurry up wedding. Turns out, she wanted to be married before 40, and she was, 39 and 51 weeks.

goldchocobo.defunct635829490514903826

NYCMercedes said:

@goldchocobo‌ She is there, I moved on. She didn't even invite all the cube farm to the wedding. Of those invited, only two couples came. She lied to the priests that her dad was dying so had to do a hurry up wedding. Turns out, she wanted to be married before 40, and she was, 39 and 51 weeks.

Ugh, I knew someone like that too.  HAD to be married before 30 so she she could start breeding.  4 years later, fertility problems.  Although I wouldn't wish that on anyone, she stepped on so many toes I just have to wonder if she feels like it was worth it....  

Wegl13

This article literally blew my mind but that is probably because I have a job with zero down time, and I have to be completely 100% focused when I am there. My entire family knows that if there is an emergency and I am at work, they better darn well call the office line because I don't touch my personal phone or email for the 10 hours I'm at work. I think I called a vendor once as I was walking out of or into the building during lunch. And that is about it.

loveislouder

... I bring my wedding binder to work because i don't have a 3 hole punch at home. I may knot a ton at work, my mom may call to ask a few questions here or there, but I am FAR too busy at work to just plan a wedding. Plus my FI is also involved, and he's not here.

falsara

Once all my regular tasks are completed I may get on TK forums just for something to do, and I do have my personal email up in the background, mainly bc FI is often at home and asks me questions about the laundry I need done and such.

I have  a whole bunch of downtime at my job since i'm not the main secretary, i'm just the lunch coverage.  I do look up vendor reviews and such but as soon as the phone rings or someone walks in my office it's right back on the stuff I need for work.

I make todo lists for when I get home, but its not just wedding stuff some of it is regular chores.  I also email vendors if I have a question.  But all major descisions are made with FI, and I like booking vendors after meeting them in person that way I can get a feel for them. 

I would never think of not doing my job just to plan a wedding though.  

ashleyep

I've planned a lot at work. I'm at my desk all day (I'm a programmer) and I pretty much work 50 hours a week so as long as I get my work done, they don't care too much. Plus I provide support in the evenings, which was just a lot of sitting at my desk until 6:30 making sure nothing goes wrong.

I always have my personal email open and I frequently have my spreadsheet open doing something or another. I've done a lot of research at work and sent emails. I try to limit phone calls to after work, but sometimes I've done it at work - it's not a big deal to step away from your desk to make a personal call.

I was at work for 11 hours yesterday. I'm salary, so it's not like I get paid overtime. So screw them :P

rnsoon

abbyj700 said:

I do tons of wedding planning at work. I'm a conslutant

 

SIB: I know I'm a newb, but commenting because I know this is a typing error, but WIN! I lost it at work when I read this. My boss looked at me like I was crazy.

Carry on.