So there is the version of the event industry that we all see living on Instagram. It’s soft and take-your-breath-away beautiful. It’s champagne towers, custom monograms, floating veils and late night dancefloor stills shot on film. These images sparkle and make you see yourself there or make you want to get married all over again (even if you swore you’d never do that again).
Unless you are in the industry, you don’t even in the slightest think about the sweat that is behind all the dazzle.
The real version starts before sunrise and ends long after the last dance. It’s the calloused hands and aching backs. It is the muscle memory and efficiency practiced over and over again, most often by people of color.
Chances are any celebration or event happening you will find that the backbone is standing on the professional black and brown people who rarely get publicly thanked. Without these amazing, hardworking humans NOTHING would happen on time, on budget or honestly at all.
Have you ever watched an amazingly strong Hispanic man carry double his height in chairs on his back across a field so a wedding can have dinner under the stars? I have! I have seen him and many others do it over and over, unloading and carrying stacks of chairs and heavy tables, glassware, bars, barbacks, dancefloors, candelabras, huge trees that feel emotionally aggressive. Whatever it takes to make the set up look Instagram perfect.
Sometimes the entire set up has to be redone. The alignment is off. The spacing feels wrong. And they just laugh and shake their heads, shrug it off and do it all over again. Even as the work slowly wears down their bodies. Even when it hurts. They still have a job to do. They have families to feed.
Tables do not level themselves, Drapery seams do not magically line up. Lighting does not hang on vibes alone.
When a Bride looks in the mirror and sees herself perfect and ready to walk down the aisle often it may be because a Latina makeup artist has worked their calming, quiet magic. They have done this a thousand times, making someone feel stunning, adjusting every face and skin tone all while calming nerves. Somehow they do all of this while putting up with hungover Bridesmaids arriving late for their allotted time in pullover sweatshirts instead of button ups .
When the night is in full swing and no one is thinking clearly because espresso martinis were served with the dessert course, it may be our black sisters who are running bridesmaids bags to hotel rooms. Phone lipsticks, Golden Goose sneakers for the Bride to change into for late night dancing that got placed in the wrong Goyard tote all carefully transported and collected by them. They do these things for the convenience of no one screaming at the planner while crying in the hallway that “it just wasn’t perfect”. They do this quietly and professionally, without applause.
This amazing event industry of ours, it loves to say it’s about love, connection and community. And I do believe that, mostly. But to often the people physically building these moments are invisible to the story we tell on social media.
The venue gets tagged, the photographer gets tagged, the planner gets tagged, the florist gets tagged, etc.. I mean even the shoes get tagged!!!!
We don’t tag the crew. How can we? These nameless wonderful humans who build our visions.
We forget the rental teams, the sous chefs, the servers, bussers, scullery, the 2nd assistants, shit the 1st assistants, H & M assistants, camera assistants, set up crews. We forget the breakdown crews who come at the end of the night when the party is over and the glamour has gone home. The people sweeping up the confetti or cleaning up the urine (see my Whirlybird post).
This is not charity or a trend, this is acknowledgment.
People of color and minorities are not adjacent to the event industry.
THEY ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE EVENT INDUSTRY.
Supporting diverse vendors isn’t just a trend or a checkbox of something you do to feel like a good person while sipping on your Old Fashioned. It’s something we all need to acknowledge now. Events wouldn’t happen without our diverse professional vendors. And currently they remain the least protected the most expendable in conversations the easiest to overlook once the lights come on.
We live in a country that loves to celebrate but resists seeing the people who build the celebration. The ones lifting, calming, fixing and anticipating. We praise beauty of the party while ignoring the bodies that make it work. Social media wants to see the joy and not see grappling with the labor.
Recognition matters. Protection Matters. Fair wages matter. Safe working conditions matter. IMMIGRATION POLICIES MATTER! Respect matters even when the work is physical and behind the scenes.
If we can all toast with champagne we all must be willing to look squarely at the people carrying the trays of glasses.
Because the backbone of the event industry is not decorative, it is human.
And these humans deserve to be scene, valued and protected.
Sidenote, cause you know I love a sidenote:I want to be clear about something before I close. I know there are countless minorities in leadership roles across the event industry. Planners, designers, producers, owners. People running the show with brilliance and authority. I see you, and I respect you deeply.What I am speaking to here is something adjacent, not opposite. I am speaking for the people whose labor is essential but whose names rarely make it into captions. The ones who do the heavy lifting, the early mornings and late nights, the setup and the breakdown, often without credit and sometimes without the safety to speak up for themselves.In this political climate, visibility can feel risky. Advocacy can feel exhausting. So this is not a call-out. It’s a spotlight. A quiet but intentional one.This industry does not float on champagne bubbles alone. It stands on the backs, hands, and hearts of people who are rarely seen but always necessary. And they deserve to be acknowledged.
