Hi, I'm Susan Ohanneson, wedding coordinator and owner of Red Letter Weddings and Events in Bakersfield, California. Welcome to my blog! For most of my life I've been a closet wedding junkie-- even as a little girl, my sister and I designed bridal gowns for our paper dolls, and my friends and I played dress-up, planning and enacting mock weddings. My senior project in Home-Ec was to (guess what?!) plan a wedding, and it was one of the most awesome homework assignments I remember from high school! And I still love weddings! Every one of them is different and unique as the bridal couple themselves, and I just love it when two people seal their vows of love and commitment with a happy wedding celebration, surrounded by loving, supportive family and friends.
I began my professional career in academic medicine in New York City, my work invariably involving event planning in one way or the other-- fundraisers, gala events, departmental parties, and on the side, giving showers and coordinating weddings for my friends. In the early 80's I found myself owner of a Manhattan nightclub, Foibles and immediately began booking nightly entertainment and auditioning singers and comedians for our weekly Friday night "Best Of" shows. Soon after becoming established, some of my patrons sought my help in planning their weddings and private events, using Foibles as the venue. At the time it was all in a day's work-- a lot of fun, but I never seriously considered planning weddings for a living.
After Foibles, I landed a plum position with a high-profile Manhattan physician and philanthropist as her office manager and personal assistant, and spent ten years being mentored by this wonderful woman in the rarefied air of world-class art, antiques and high fashion...and we managed to see patients three days a week! Again, I was involved in planning social events, only this time the guests were listed in the Social Register and included people you read about in magazines like The New Yorker, Forbes or Vanity Fair. I took classes at NYU in Hospital Administration and transitioned into medical management consulting for major New York metropolitan hospitals before deciding to move back to Bakersfield, meaning to retire to a quiet country life. Again, I never considered bridal coordination as a career even though I spent my free time wandering the Chelsea flower market, Manhattan florists and museums, always drawn to anything "wedding."
Wait a minute---Bakersfield? That's one heck of a "lateral" move there, girl! Yeah, but I'm from Shafter and a farmer's daughter, so it makes sense...at least to me! Home is where the heart is, and I missed my family...I sure didn't come back for the climate! I hungered for the wide open spaces after 24 years of the concrete jungle, 16 floors above 2nd Avenue, breathing gritty, grimy exhaust fumes at rush hour coming in through my bedroom window.
For the past five years I have been an altar guild member, first at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and then became altar guild director at Grace Episcopal Church about three years ago, building a guild in an entirely new church. Soon after, I was appointed Diocesan Altar Guild Director of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, where my task was to re-organize and reconstitute the guild, overseeing every Episcopal parish guild within it. I am starting my second term under our new bishop, Chet Talton. And yet again-- it's a position that entails event planning on both parish and diocesan levels, not to mention overseeing all worship preparation the altar guild does at Grace.
About a year ago some friends and I were sitting around pitching ideas, playing "what if," and we agreed that it would be a great idea to begin preparing for weddings at Grace Episcopal Church, so I began researching the prospect. As it turned out, we shelved the idea, at least temporarily...but I kept feeding my secret old wedding "fix" by making my nightly forays into the Wonderful World of Weddings on the Internet. With a lot of wonderful support and encouragement from family and friends, I am now fulfilling my lifelong passion of coordinating weddings--as well as "regular" events!
When all is said and done, my most important goal is to provide excellent personal service tailored to the needs and wishes of each bridal couple so you may have what I like to call a Red Letter Day-- a day that is completely yours; one of the most joyous, memorable, important, special days of your lives!
All the best,
Susan
