Wedding Agility

On occasion I judge and critique projects done by college students as part of outreach by the SW Ohio PMI chapter. It seems more often than not a wedding comes up as one of the “projects” done by a group of students. A wedding is perhaps one of the first and largest projects that most amateur project managers attempt to undertake. Some couples hire professional wedding planners, I suspect the vast majority do not. Hence a wedding is a prototypical project management experience for many people regardless of what their profession may be.
I am very close to two very important people who will be getting married latter this year. I could offer my project management services to this couple the way a photographer or a florist may contribute. They have been busy planning and it seems that they have a good handle on the tangible aspects of the day. I worry still that all of this planning may ironically become an obstacle to that perfect day they both so richly deserve. Rather, I think a more valuable offering to my son and his future wife and any other couple planning a wedding is this adaption of the agile manifesto.


A wedding is a momentous event where family and friends gather to witness the vows of the bride and groom and the start of a new life together. It clearly needs a lot of preparation and planning. This is especially true when there are out of town guests and considerable financial expenditure is involved. All that planning, especially when the bride and groom are in the center of it all can take on a life of its own and over shadow the really important things that day. Through my wedding and being a guest at many other weddings over the years experience over the years I have come to value:

• Family, friends, hugs and tears over reception hall/church guidelines and “The Knot “ check list

• Precious memories of a happy day over hours spent posing for photographs

• A multi family & multicultural celebration over a party planned by a few people

• Being present in each moment over worrying about what has to happen next

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, I value the items on the left more.


I find it relatively easy to teach and mentor people about the classic aspects of project management what I struggle with is imparting the wisdom I have gained over the years about what is really important. That seems to be true for a wedding as well as many other endeavors. How to find the right balance is the central question.