Sunday School: The Words According To the Wedding Industry

MOB, FOB, strike, sweetheart table, agreement….on my! Are you thoroughly confused on what some of the words according to the wedding industry mean? You have probably watched J.Lo’s movie The Wedding Planner at least once and heard one or two of these industry words. I should point out that this movie is a great “feel good” entertainment movie – of course any movie with Matthew McConaughey is worth watching. But, it doesn’t reveal half of the non-glamorous things wedding planners endure on the day of a wedding. That’s another blog post for another time.

Since you are probably in wedding planning mode, you’ve come across some words that have left you speechless. In the past, I’ve had clients ask for explanations on various terms which lead me to write this article. Today, I’m going to break down a few common industry terms that you will hear throughout your planning process.

MOB – Mother of the bride

FOB – Father of the bride

MOG – Mother of the groom

FOG – Father of the groom

Wedding planner vs venue coordinator – Your venue coordinator works for the venue. Your wedding planner works for you. I wrote an article on why you should have both. You can read the article here.

Tasks checklist – Keeps the planning process on track. The checklist is usually kept via a calendar and may be a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly calendar process. It’s a method to ensure all of the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed

Timeline (at times called production schedule) – the wedding day schedule/blueprint/guide your wedding planner will create to keep the day running smoothly and on-time.

Agreement – Agreement is another name for contract which you should have with all of your vendors.

Sweetheart table – At the reception, the sweetheart table is a table for two specifically set-up for the bride and groom and sits away from other guests.

Estate table – Modern seating that can seat more people and has become popular the last few years. Estate tables are usually 48′ wide by either 6′ or 8′ ft long. This measurement varies dependent upon your rental companies inventory.

Escort cards – Direct guests to their specific table.

Place cards – Direct guests to their specific seat at a table.

Strike – At the end of the night, when vendors take down/remove their decor/items from the venue.

I will admit at times vendors (me included) will forget and talk the “industry” language with our clients. If this happens, feel free to ask your wedding planner or that particular vendor for an explanation.

I hope this list gets you started on words you may not know. You don’t want to miss next week’s Sunday School lesson. You will hear from a guest who will be talking all things stationery. Make sure you join the celebration and hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss any updates on this series.