Effingham Co. students find out how much work is needed to plan a wedding

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Many married couples will tell you their wedding was the best day of their lives.

Effingham County High School students found out firsthand it's a lot of work to make that happen.

Just like a bride and groom, students in Colleen Kennehan's Business Communications class have been planning their big day for quite some time.

"We've spent probably the last month and half, two months on this,” Kennehan said.

A process that can strain the healthiest of relationships, in the hands of high school students.

The goal? Simple, transform the Local on Laurel in Springfield into a wedding ready venue. Hold the wedding and reception And do it all in about three hours.

A task made tougher because.

"Lots of these kids have never experienced weddings,” Carlson Events owner, James Carlson, said.

Although the wedding itself wasn't real, the expectations were.

"We are going to do the actual characteristics of an actual wedding,” Carlson said.

Which means?

"Prepping food, doing floral arrangements, we'll have a setup team that will handling the actual setup of the tables and chairs and linens and China, we have a DJ that's one of the students,” Carlson said.

Students, like senior Kevin Kurtz, jumping into action and learning a little along the way.

"Everything's got to be perfect and it's just always moving, always got to be on your feet doing something,” Kurtz said.

While they learned a lot about the business side of things in the classroom, Kennehan hoped bringing their project into the real world would teach them skills that will make them successful in any career.

"One of my goals was to get them out of their shell a little bit. It's a business communications class and trying to get them to talk and interact with one another was a big thing I wanted to accomplish with this,” Kennehan said.

A goal it seems they met, as the bride and groom - or in this case fellow classmates - sealed their project with a handshake.

And while they may not be walking away with the love of their life, they certainly are walking away with a lifelong lesson and who knows, maybe even a job.

"You know we are always recruiting high school students for a lot of our events on the weekends, so we are basically giving an opportunity to them too if they want to participate in our company,” Carlson said.

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