Have you ever wondered what it’s like interning at a high class wedding venue? I know I did before I applied and was accepted into the internship program. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but boy was I totally wrong-in a good way! Being an intern is more than just shadowing your supervisor. It’s learning and growing in a profession that you are interested in. Throughout this blog post, I am going to take you through the application processes, all that I have experienced in the internship and how it is going for me so far! However, I do want to warn you, no matter how many details I give you, it will never prepare you enough to really understand what it takes to be a venue representative at a high end wedding venue like LaBelle Lake. The best advice is to just dive in and take it one moment at a time.
I know that choosing a major in school can be hard. Trust me, I changed mine three times. But that is what is so cool about an internship! You get real hands-on experiences in the field you want to study and if you end up hating it, there’s still time to change your major and career goals. Before I applied to LaBelle Lake, I thought about what I wanted to gain from their program. I asked myself questions like, “Will this fit into my career path?” “Will this be beneficial to my education or is it only part of what I want to do?” Questions like these will help you narrow down which internship program to apply for.
One thing I have learned from this experience is that LaBelle Lake offers a little bit of everything. Not only do they teach you how to manage a wedding, but all the logistics that go on behind the scenes. I’ve gained experience in marketing, making connections, building relationships and how to really sell myself to other people. Not only that, but you learn random skills like how to bluetooth a microphone, set up a dance floor and how to herd goats. This venue gives you every opportunity to learn new skills and my advice is to take every single one of them. Immerse yourself into each wedding, tour and details meeting. There is always something new to learn and no better way to grow.
One time I decided I wanted to climb a mountain. That mountain was 14,000 feet and it snowed on me. I was cold, wet. and sore from climbing all day. Not only that, but I was exhausted from waking up at 2 a.m. to do it and my asthma was getting worse the higher I climbed. Nonetheless, I pushed forward and eventually made it to the summit. I felt accomplished, on top of the world, and worthy of the donuts they were selling at the top. During a wedding, it might rain on you or you’ll have wind so strong it knocks over all your tables. You’ll feel exhausted from being on your feet all day and your skin will hurt from the sunburn (highly preventable, but still.) Your legs will hurt from running back and forth to get supplies and your eyes will start to blur over because you’ve been awake since 6am and have no plans to go to sleep until midnight or later. But when your head hits your pillow at night, you’ll start thinking about how the day went and you’ll realize that you just provided the best wedding anyone could ask for. When those Yelp and Google reviews start flooding in, you will realize all that hard work was worth it for a happy bride and groom. And when your supervisors praise you for your hard work and dedication, you will feel accomplished, on top of the world, and worthy of the wedding cake you ate.
My point is that this internship is not easy. Not even close. Nothing good ever came out of easy work. Great things always come out of hard work and LaBelle Lake is full of hard workers who are willing to teach you how to do this job and to do it right. Not only that, but we do have fun on the job. Trust me, driving around the golf carts is a joy I never felt until I turned that key. Going forward, I hope that you will take this advice and trust the process. You will find no better place to learn, grow, and increase your skills in this career. As always at LaBelle, if you can dream it, you can do it. So if you’re dreaming of this internship, stop and apply now.
If you are interested in joining our team as a LaBelle Lake intern or have any questions, please send your resume and cover letter to events@labellelake.com.