DREAM MAKER: Garvan Woodland Gardens’ wedding coordinator retires

Submitted photo WEDDING TEAM: The Garvan Woodland Gardens wedding planning team includes, from left, Dee Garrett, property manager; Ginger Ladehoff, wedding sales executive; Rush Fentress, rentals and events; Suzie Burch, retiring wedding coordinator; and Kelly Aubuchon, wedding coordinator.
Submitted photo WEDDING TEAM: The Garvan Woodland Gardens wedding planning team includes, from left, Dee Garrett, property manager; Ginger Ladehoff, wedding sales executive; Rush Fentress, rentals and events; Suzie Burch, retiring wedding coordinator; and Kelly Aubuchon, wedding coordinator.

After 15 years of making brides' wedding day dreams come true, Hot Springs native Suzie Burch is retiring from her trailblazing position as Garvan Woodland Gardens' wedding coordinator.

On Jan. 11, the staff of Garvan threw her a retirement party to bid farewell with a cake, gifts and a plaque to commemorate her years of service.

"Suzie literally wrote the book on how to do weddings at the gardens. There was no manual, there was no how-to book. We just said, 'Suzie, do weddings,'" Executive Director Robert Bledsoe said.

Bledsoe describes Burch as a "good, loyal, steadfast employee," and said, "at $250,000 to $300,000 a year for weddings, you want to present well. Suzie has done just that."

During her time at the botanical garden, Burch has catered to over 1,500 couples across the country, as well as international couples from abroad, including countries such as India, China and Japan.

After attending college and living in New York City for a short time, Burch moved back to Arkansas. She then began working at the florist shop Laurel's. The clientele at the store wanted a wedding coordinator, and her boss decided that she was the woman for the job.

"I learned from the bottom up how a proper wedding should function, from A to Z. I learned it there at Laurel's and at weddings through my church."

Burch shared that one of her most memorable experiences as a wedding coordinator involved a couple that married at Garvan in full Old West attire. The bride's dress had a "saloon girl tilt to it," according to Burch, while the groom wore a long duster coat, chaps, a large cowboy hat, and pearl-handled pistols.

"They were a very interesting couple."

However, her favorite memory is actually her entire journey at Garvan.

"All the people that I've met along the way. All the brides, all their families. Over these 15 years, I've seen a lot of families whose relatives have come back to get married here. It's been great to see the evolution of the garden itself, too. It's been fabulous. It's changed a lot over the years, and it's been great to be a part of that whole process."

When asked what wedding elements and trends have endured throughout her time as a coordinator, Burch was quick to say the wedding ceremony itself.

"The wedding ceremony itself is still the most enduring part of any wedding. It stays the same. Although the music changes and the dresses change, the actual ceremony is still the same throughout the years."

Though she has loved her job, she feels that it is time for the next generation to take over. Burch has some advice for her successors and other aspiring wedding coordinators: "Just keep a smile on your face. It's not about you, it's all about the bride. Whatever trauma or drama, it really is about them and not about us. Keep an open heart, open ears, and mouth shut," she said, laughing.

Dee Garrett, of Malvern, and Ginger Ladehoff, of Texas, will now be coordinating weddings at Garvan. Both credit Burch for all of their wedding-planning knowledge and experience.

For Garrett, calmness and focus are two of the biggest lessons that Burch imparted on her.

"Probably to stay calm because the bride looks to you to know that everything is OK. So just stay calm. And that things usually work out. And to do one thing at a time, and do it very well."

Ladehoff says that she will always remember how Burch treats others and networks.

"It's just how she interacts with people. She knows everybody in this town."

The two are optimistic about what the future holds, saying to look for more Friday night and Sunday weddings at the garden, more smaller, intimate weddings, and a more active presence on social media.

During her retirement, Burch plans to pursue what she loves for as long as she can, particularly her art. Burch has opened her own art studio and currently has works on display on in the garden's Magnolia Room. Mosaics are her medium of choice.

Even though she is retiring, Garvan Woodland Gardens has not seen the last of Burch. She will be at the garden twice a year to teach a mosaic-making class.

"I'll be out here a lot. I'm not gone forever. This has been too much of my adult life. I'm not ready to leave: just for a change."

Local on 01/16/2019

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