For COO of DoSomething.org Aria Finger, success is celebrating a joyous occasion with loved ones
Success was turning around and seeing an officiant with whom I attended middle school, a DJ who was a baseball teammate in sixth grade, a photographer who is an awesome creative force at DoSomething.org, and not a single person that I didn’t truly love. I didn’t lament “having” to invite my coworkers at table two. In fact, it was quite the opposite, as the only regret was not having enough room to include more of those incredible teammates who I see every day at this meaningful event.
During the planning process, people kept recounting horror stories about brides (OK, sometimes grooms, but honestly mostly brides) who’d gone off the deep end—crying over baked instead of mashed potatoes with the main course or spending more than the GDP of a small nation on one night of their lives. I knew that I did not want that. So we opted out of most of that nonsense, and we were lucky that the people in our lives let us.
There was no pressure to choose a color scheme (we never did) or have fancy hors d’oeuvres (cue Mexican food truck instead) or even send out physical invitations (thank you email and a quick Google form). My stellar and ever-supportive bridesmaids didn’t even blink an eye when they were still putting together the bouquets just minutes before we all had to walk down the aisle—a task that I had given them less than 24 hours’ notice that I would need their help on.
The key was choosing what was important: good music, yummy food and enough white wine to get us through the night.
I was able to enjoy this DIY wedding standing, dancing and laughing next to an incredible guy who is now my husband. I was and still am really happy. And isn’t that what success is all about anyway?
Aria Finger is the COO of DoSomething.org and was featured in Issue 1 of Forefront Magazine.