Afbeelding
My adventure began after a 13-hours flight somewhere in mid- August, 2019. I had the unique opportunity to work as a wedding planner on the island of Aruba in the Caribbean Sea. I did not know anybody on the island, neither did I ever attend a wedding ceremony before in my life… but this is exactly what your internship is for: pulling you out of your comfort zone.
When I started, my placement company was right in the middle of their high season. Meaning I was immediately working around 50+ hours a week. Those first weeks were pretty intense: I was still adapting to the tropical climate and my new social life was still basically non-existent. Luckily, my first tasks were not too difficult. I was assisting other wedding planners on their wedding days. Which meant picking bridal couples up from the airport, bringing flowers to the bride on her Big Day, confirming vendors etc. After a while, I received more responsibilities and got assigned my own bridal couples. That’s where the true wedding planning started!
Working on Aruba meant that I was dealing with various cultures. Many of my colleagues had a Latin American background, while most of the bridal couples and families came from the United States. This definitely required (and stimulated) some cultural flexibility and sensitivity, especially since the well-known “Dutch directness” is not always greatly appreciated ;).
All in all, my Aruban adventure as a wedding planner has really boosted both my personal and professional development. But above all, it sparked the idea of starting my own Wedding & Events planning company called Loortje! I would’ve never started this without my internship!
