Listen to the Podcast About Bear Brook Valley
Podcast Summary
In this engaging conversation with Kathleen from Felix and Fingers, Ensle Guy, an accomplished event planner at Bear Brook Valley in New Jersey, shared experiences from his career journey, which has led him from being a grooms attendant to an event manager, with over 180 weddings successfully orchestrated in his portfolio.
Bear Brook Valley takes center stage, showcasing Ensle’s remarkable dedication to crafting memorable, personalized, and impeccably executed events for clients. During this interview, Ensle entertained with a funny anecdote about a best man who forgot the wedding rings, causing a last-minute dash to retrieve them from the bridal suite. This moment underscored the crucial role of event coordinators in ensuring wedding events run smoothly and efficiently, even with unexpected hiccups.
Further adding color to his story-telling, Ensle shared quite an unusual request he’d received from a couple wanting baby pigs from a local farm to be part of their wedding. Unfortunately, the weather ruled against this innovative idea, but it gave us a peek into the varied, intricate, and sometimes eccentric requests event planners at Bear Brook Valley are adept at handling.
At the heart of Ensle’s tale is the essence of a dedicated team at Bear Brook Valley, expertly managing attention to detail, last-minute changes, and creative client requests to deliver dream weddings. These anecdotes remind couples of the importance of a seasoned coordinator to handle wedding logistics or any eventualities. Bear Brook Valley’s commitment to creating unforgettable, personalized weddings is crystal clear.
Learn more about Bear Brook Valley
This interview was provided by Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Felix And Fingers (00:24)
Hello, this is Kathleen from Felix and Fingers with Eventful Endeavors and I’m here with Ensle Guy. How are you Ensle?
Ensle Guy (00:31)
everybody. I’m good, I’m good. Thank you so much for having me.
Felix And Fingers (00:35)
my
gosh, I’m so excited to have you. Ensle is an experienced event planner with Bear Brook Valley in New Jersey, where he’s been bringing wedding dreams to life since 2019. Over the past five years, he’s worked his way up from grooms attendant to assistant coordinator and then full-time wedding coordinator and now event manager with over 180 weddings personally executed. That is so many weddings.
His passion for curating seamless, beautiful and personalized events shines through for every celebration. Wow, wow, wow, wow.
So yeah, with 180 weddings, you’ve probably seen and done it all. Do you have, have you ever had to do like a last minute save that felt like a movie moment?
Ensle Guy (01:17)
Absolutely. Okay, so quick story. Usually day of the wedding, we do a brief rehearsal with the wedding party. And during that time, I usually point out the best man and make sure that he has the rings. And I tell him, like, this is your one job. Everyone’s gonna be looking at you when it comes time for the rings. So make sure you have them in your jacket pocket. So went through my whole spiel this one day, took them through the entire ceremony rehearsal. We get to the actual ceremony and…
Felix And Fingers (01:29)
Mm-hmm.
Ensle Guy (01:43)
when they call for the rings, he says out loud, oh, I hope I didn’t forget them. And in my head, I was like, oh, he’s just joking. He really has them in his pocket. And so he’s looking around frantically and then I realized he actually doesn’t have the rings. And so I’m like, where? Right, he had one job, one job. I’m like, where are the rings? So they were in our bridal suite, which is across the parking lot in another building. So I look over at my fellow coordinator, Becca, and I’m like,
Felix And Fingers (01:56)
You had one job!
Ensle Guy (02:12)
What do we do? So she sprints across the parking lot, runs to the bridal suite, finds the rings, runs them back over to where the ceremony is, and we have them there within like five minutes or so. They just kind of like stalled and bought some time while we got them over there. But after that, I was just like, my gosh, I went to them, I was like, you had one job, dude, like what happened?
Felix And Fingers (02:32)
my gosh, and
this is why this is the importance of a day of coordinator at the very least. And also I know like on wedding days, I certainly get all my steps in when I track, you are running all over the place. That’s amazing. What’s the funniest or most bizarre request you’ve had from a couple?
Ensle Guy (02:38)
Right, right.
Absolutely.
The bizarre request. I once had someone request to have baby pigs at their wedding. Yeah, yeah.
Felix And Fingers (03:00)
Wow!
Ensle Guy (03:02)
Yeah, we have a local farm that we partner with sometimes. And if the weather permits, we like to have, if it’s possible, we like to have live animals if we can. so I learned that pigs are very temperamental apparently, and they can only come out and enjoy the daylight if it’s 70 degrees or above.
Felix And Fingers (03:10)
Yeah.
Ensle Guy (03:22)
So this one bride really had her heart set on having the teacup pigs here. But we couldn’t make it work because the weather wasn’t gonna be warm enough on the day of her wedding and she was so heartbroken. we tried and they just wouldn’t bring them here day of, so yeah.
Felix And Fingers (03:34)
gosh those
temperamental pigs that’s hilarious now I want to get remarried so I can have a pig as my ring bearer that’s amazing yeah the pig would probably do a better job than that man of a hunter you were just talking about I love it what’s a wedding trend that you secretly wish would disappear do you have any of those
Ensle Guy (03:37)
Yeah.
Right? How adorable would that be? Right?
Yes, yes, he would have the rings. Yeah.
goodness. yes. Garter tosses, they’re always so awkward for everyone watching. It feels like it should be an intimate moment with the bride and groom and it’s never that. It’s like, it’s like, like magic mic display of like showmanship on the dance floor. I’m like, I don’t want to see this. Like let’s not do that. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (04:02)
you
That’s funny. Yeah,
I think I don’t know that I’ve done as many weddings as you, but I’ve done my fair share. And I don’t think we they’re not as popular anymore. I don’t tend to sit in them. Yeah, they’re sort of fading out of style. We’re still doing the bouquet tosses, but the garter is kind of fading out of the way. What is an underrated wedding detail that couples should focus on more? Is there something more like forgetting to do?
Ensle Guy (04:27)
Yeah, that’s a good thing. I’m glad they’re phasing out. Yeah.
Yeah.
That’s a good question. think couples should just focus on the atmosphere, the ambiance. I feel like sometimes people, you know, they get hung up on like the color scheme or the flowers or you know what mean? But I feel like just like providing a really cool atmosphere for your guests to enjoy and for yourselves too. You know what mean? I feel like that’s kind of overlooked. Like the overall entertainment, like, you know what mean? I always say when your guests arrive, you want them to be wild. And so sometimes I feel like…
Felix And Fingers (04:49)
food.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Ensle Guy (05:11)
people can pay a bit more attention to the overall atmosphere, like what music is playing, what the ambiance looks like, yeah.
Felix And Fingers (05:18)
No,
totally. Absolutely. It’s important to keep in mind that big picture of how do you want to feel? What do you want to see? Yeah. I love that. How do you feel about DIY weddings? Is it a blessed disaster or like, is it a waiting disaster waiting to happen or a blessing?
Ensle Guy (05:25)
Right, right.
I personally feel like they are a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t love a DIY situation only because I feel, yeah.
Felix And Fingers (05:40)
Leave it to the professionals.
Ensle Guy (05:43)
only because I feel like the couples should enjoy their day as much as possible. And if they are busy setting up like the ceremony space or the reception space, it takes away from the overall like getting ready, celebrating throughout the day. Leave the heavy lifting to your vendor team. Let us take care of that. You guys enjoy your day as much as possible and then just come out and take a look at everything once it’s all set up.
Felix And Fingers (05:56)
Thank you.
Yeah, I have to agree. I have to agree Leave it to the experts You know awesome. Let’s see
Ensle Guy (06:09)
Right.
Felix And Fingers (06:12)
question for you and what was it? if you could plan your own dream wedding, what would it look like?
Ensle Guy (06:17)
My own dream wedding would probably be very classic, very elegant with elements of old Hollywood glamour. I love a throwback to the golden era of Hollywood. So that would probably be the vibe for my wedding for sure. Maybe a great Gatsby or I don’t know, famous movies or cinema-esque. Yeah, it would be really cool. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (06:45)
High glamour,
I love it. I love it. Do you ever get emotional at weddings or are you just like, so focused on your logistics and you’ve got all your, you’re the one that has to hold it together.
Ensle Guy (06:47)
Yeah, for sure.
Right, so usually I can hold it together until we get to the parent dances during the reception. Like when we get to the father, daughter, and the mother, son, that’s when I lose it. Because at that point, like the ceremony’s over, like I can take a deep breath, you know what I mean? We’re at the party section of the night, and then it’s always a sweet moment to see like the bride and her dad, or the groom and his mom. It’s always a beautiful moment, and I’m always usually crying in the corner somewhere for sure.
Felix And Fingers (07:04)
Mm-hmm.
No, a thousand percent. We typically DJ our first dances just because if you’ve been listening to Taylor Swift sing the song, you might not, I might do a great version of it, but you might not want to hear me sing it in that exact moment or whatever the artist might be. But occasionally we do sing those first dances and I always have to look away. Look, look away. Don’t get emotional. You don’t want to hear me cry saying you’re the thing.
Ensle Guy (07:38)
Right. Right.
Right, yeah, yeah. I know, whenever they’re…
Apparently, whenever they’re dancing, I always think about like my parent dance at my wedding, what that’ll be like, and I’m like, aw, this is gonna be such a sweet moment for me and my mom, so yeah. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (07:57)
I know. And when the bride comes
down the aisle every time. And like I’ve done a lot of weddings and every time it chokes me up. Every time I did a, it wasn’t a wedding, but I played at a country club event the other week and they had requested this song by Ingrid Endress, More Hearts Than Mine. And it’s about how when you’re dating someone, you meet the whole family. And then when they break up, you’re breaking more hearts than mine is the hook.
Ensle Guy (08:06)
I know. Yep. It’s beautiful.
Felix And Fingers (08:26)
And this, it’s, I know, it’s so sweet. And it was requested by like a girl who was probably 11, 12. She’s like really big in the like tween demographic. And she was with her parents. And so during that song, the daughter was dancing with the dad and the mom was dancing with the son. And it’s this beautiful song about families and love. And I nearly lost it. so it’s, yeah, sometimes hard to stay neutral at these.
Ensle Guy (08:26)
No, that’s so sweet.
You
Felix And Fingers (08:55)
emotional events. If you could be a guest at one of the weddings that you’ve worked on, which one would it be? Do you have any like memories or details of a specific wedding that
Ensle Guy (08:57)
for
Mm-hmm.
I I do. The first one that comes to my mind was back in March of 2023. One of my favorite brides, her name is Karina. She used to be a cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins.
And she was the sweetest bride. She surprised her groom with this really cool choreographed dance with some of her friends and former teammates from the cheerleading squad. They all came in and did this whole routine and the groom was so surprised. It was probably one of the most fun weddings we’ve had here at the venue and it was just a beautiful experience and it always sticks out in my mind. And so that one for sure would have been the one that I wanted to be a guest at. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (09:45)
my gosh, that’s amazing. have a borderline obsession with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, which is an unpopular thing to say in Jersey. I have been booed off stages. You cannot talk about the Cowboys up here. This is Jetson Giants and it’s Eagles country. But I love watching the videos. They always do their little thunderstruck dance at all their weddings. It makes me happy. It makes me very happy.
Ensle Guy (09:48)
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know right, you gotta be careful.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (10:09)
But just in general, whether it’s teammates or like when we can get the dance floor packed with all of their friends from college or whatever it is, it just feels so good to like, because it’s all about bringing people together. It’s of course celebrating their marriage, but it’s also bringing about all these groups together that are going to celebrate this couple and support them through the actual part, which is the marriage. Yeah.
Ensle Guy (10:33)
Ready, ready.
Felix And Fingers (10:36)
Let’s see, have you ever had a wedding almost not happen? And how did you fix that?
Ensle Guy (10:40)
Yes, so we almost had a wedding not happen. We had a blizzard here in New Jersey. Maybe two February’s ago, we had a blizzard and I felt so bad. The bar was so sweet and all of her vendors couldn’t get to the venue because it was a snowstorm. So like she didn’t have hair and makeup day off, like her photographers barely got here.
Felix And Fingers (10:45)
Yeah.
Ensle Guy (11:02)
But her and her bridesmaids did their own makeup. They figured out they’re here and we got the DJ here eventually. So we were able to have…
things going but it was was touch and go for a while we weren’t sure what we were gonna do because like if our vendors couldn’t get here we wouldn’t have anybody else besides like our staff and like none of us are trained florists or like DJs or photographers we can do our best but we definitely can’t do those things so luckily everything came together and people got here eventually but that morning was very very stressful because we just had no idea like the roads weren’t plowed yet it was like snowing throughout the entire morning and so yeah
Felix And Fingers (11:38)
Yeah, always like for, we traveling the day before is always, always best if people can pull it off. But yeah, you just never know with winters. You really never know. I got married in Chicago. And so I was like, as much as I wanted a Christmas wedding, I knew that it just wasn’t in the cards. If, if anything should happen. And it’s so unpredictable.
Ensle Guy (11:47)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, first one. Yep.
Yeah, and Chicago can be like brutal in the wintertime, right?
Felix And Fingers (12:07)
But I’ve been in Jersey for two years now, and I’m finding it a lot more pleasant than Chicago winters. But yeah, you never know when those crazy things happen. And good for you guys for rolling with the punches and for that couple. God bless them. That had to be so stressful with all the other things.
Ensle Guy (12:15)
Yeah.
For sure. Yeah. Yeah. All
things considered, she was a really cool bride, so it worked out for her. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (12:30)
Nice. Awesome.
Let me see. Okay, what would be your dream celebrity wedding to coordinate?
Ensle Guy (12:39)
Well, she’s already married, but if Beyonce ever got married again, I would love to coordinate her wedding. I would love to. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (12:49)
I like, and also
the fact that their wedding was so, we still haven’t, like nothing has leaked from that wedding. We have no idea. We got visuals from Solange. I loved her pantsuit. I loved the cape. my gosh. I don’t want to brag, but I do have Cowboy Carter tickets.
Ensle Guy (12:55)
Right, right, we still haven’t seen the visuals yet.
Right. Yes. Yes.
Yes, so
do I! I just got mine last week!
Felix And Fingers (13:13)
Are you going in
Jersey? Are you going at MetLife?
Ensle Guy (13:15)
I am, yes. Yes.
Felix And Fingers (13:15)
I’m going with a friend,
we’re going to be in DC, but boy boy. So Beyonce and Jay-Z, we’d have Blue and the rest as, Blue I guess at this point would be like a little matron, like a Mrs. of Honor, what do you call that? A maiden, a little, yeah, junior bridesmaid would be. And then, yeah, my gosh. I can’t, and their taste level too is just out of this world.
Ensle Guy (13:20)
Okay, fun, Yes.
Yeah, I’m made of honor at this point.
Right. Absolutely.
I know, it
would be so impeccable. I love it.
Felix And Fingers (13:44)
We gotta get them over
to Bear Brook Valley.
Ensle Guy (13:48)
I know. They were
here, Jay-Z’s nephew, last summer I think it was, he got married at a venue like 30 minutes from here. And so they went to that wedding and I saw it later on on social media and I was like, literally went half an hour from where I work. my God, why couldn’t it have been my venue? You know what mean? But it’s okay. It’s all right.
Felix And Fingers (14:04)
I’m gonna put it
into the universe that when when blue Ivy gets married you’ll handle that wedding
Ensle Guy (14:08)
Yes.
There you
go. Absolutely. Yep.
Felix And Fingers (14:15)
Indoor or outdoor weddings? What are your favorites?
Ensle Guy (14:19)
Oh, indoor for me personally, just because I like to control all the elements and being outside you can’t control the noise or the weather. So I would love like a beautiful like indoor wedding with lots of natural light coming into the space. I feel like that’s like a happy compromise. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (14:24)
Really?
Yeah, and the air conditioner. But those outdoor weddings are truly beautiful. And you guys have a beautiful outdoor air. You guys do the best of both worlds, correct, at Bear Brook?
Ensle Guy (14:41)
Lovely.
We do.
Yeah, so we have the heart-shaped pond outside where most couples opt to get married. But then we also have a fully indoor ceremony space called the stables that is more barn-esque. And then we have a half outdoor indoor situation underneath our carport pavilion where it’s overhead. It’s covered with beautiful lighting, but it’s still outside just in case there’s a light drizzle in the air. So yeah, we can accommodate a few different situations.
Felix And Fingers (15:07)
great.
And that has to be reassuring for your brides and grooms that like, no matter what, even if it’s not the outdoor day we planned, there’s still beautiful space inside. You’re not gonna have to deal with tents. You’re not gonna, know, like, cause even those I’ve been rained on through a tent before.
Ensle Guy (15:19)
Right.
Absolutely.
Right. Yeah.
Yeah, we did a few
tented weddings during the pandemic and those were not fun.
Felix And Fingers (15:35)
No, I know. when they do rain,
the rain will gather in the, you know, so it’s great to be at a venue like yours that’s already set, knows the protocol, knows what’s going to work best for you. And you guys have such beautiful outdoor views and space, but like you said, the indoors is just as gorgeous. All right, let’s see.
Ensle Guy (15:46)
way.
Thank
Felix And Fingers (15:57)
If you weren’t a wedding coordinator, what job would you have?
Ensle Guy (16:01)
I probably would work in fashion maybe. Yeah, I’m kind of like known here at the venue for like my fits and putting myself together. So yeah, I probably maybe would work in fashion, maybe be a stylist. I’ve always liked dressing other people as well. So maybe that would have been a path that I would have chosen.
Felix And Fingers (16:08)
Yeah!
Mm-hmm.
Amazing.
mean, from all the pictures that I’ve seen, like on your website and everything, you do look very chic. Then let me go into another question based on your fashion. What do you think that there’s like the perfect wedding outfit? Like, do you have any tips for wedding guests?
Ensle Guy (16:25)
Thank you.
Yeah.
Ooh, I say the perfect wedding outfit as a guest should be something that’s appropriate to the venue.
But also should like showcase your personality like incorporate maybe like a fun color Comfortable shoes for dancing. But yeah, I say people should always like express themselves when it comes to their clothing Whatever you’re feeling especially if it’s gonna be like a fun summer wedding You can incorporate lots of color or if it’s like more of an elegant like winter wedding velvets nice textures I think those are yeah, you can’t go wrong as a guest. feel like just as long as you don’t wear white You know what I mean? Stay away from the light colors, but apart
Felix And Fingers (16:56)
Mm-hmm.
Or even light,
Ensle Guy (17:18)
Apart from that, think you should… Right, right, right. Yeah,
Felix And Fingers (17:19)
light pink, light, lilac. You gotta see why.
Ensle Guy (17:23)
yeah, take a picture of yourself and see how it reads before you decide on that outfit, just because it might look differently in the lighting when you get to the venue. I’ve seen some dresses that are like light pink or light blue and they kind of photograph white when the lights are down, so be mindful of that. But then I say just have fun and express yourself and wear something comfortable to dance in.
Felix And Fingers (17:30)
you
Yeah, you don’t want to have your feet out on the floor at the end of the night. Or maybe you do. Or people, yeah, people have like the baskets I’ve seen of like flip-flops or even like we know you’re gonna dance. I’ve also made the mistake of not knowing what the bridesmaids were wearing and accidentally wearing the same color.
Ensle Guy (17:47)
Right, right, yeah, I don’t love that. Yeah, teacher’s on.
Right. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, that’s important. Like I recommend to my non-couples to put the color scheme on their wedding website so people can see that ahead of time so they can plan accordingly for sure.
Felix And Fingers (18:10)
and
Yeah, yeah, especially because I find more and more wedding parties are going with one color but different dresses. it’s, you don’t necessarily want to blend in as a bridesmaid when you’re a vendor. and I guess there’s one more song I missed, or one more question I missed, which is about a song. What is your most overrated wedding song?
Ensle Guy (18:23)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Gosh,
Okay. I would have to say, probably, it’s a beautiful song, just to preface, beautiful song, but if I hear it another time, I might just like lose my mind. It’s My Wish by Rascal Flatts for like a parent dance, suckling back to that. Like if I hear that song one more time, if there are other beautiful songs, My Wish is just like, great, but like pick another song to dance with your parents too, please.
Felix And Fingers (18:45)
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
No, totally. that’s the thing is like for us, yeah, we’ve seen it all, we’ve heard it all, but it’s still like it’s the first time for them and it’s magical for them. And so it is like, yeah, I’m singing this song for the thousandth time, but it’s also your first time. So I’m going to sing it as though it is the most special song that has ever existed.
Ensle Guy (19:22)
Hmm.
Right.
Man.
Felix And Fingers (19:29)
All right, well, I think that is all of my questions. Do you have anything else you wanna share before we get out of here?
Ensle Guy (19:29)
Okay.
Well, I would just say for anybody who’s looking to find a beautiful venue to get married at, check us out at bearbrookvalley.com We’re on Instagram at Bear Brook Valley, on TikTok, Bear Brook Valley.
Yeah, so just like follow us on social media, check us out. We’re currently undergoing a beautiful renovation here at the venue. So stay tuned for some updates, for freshening things up for the spring, for this wedding season. And yeah, just stay tuned. Fun things are coming for sure.
Felix And Fingers (20:03)
Nice. And if they book
at Bear Brook Valley, does it include someone like you to take them through their day? Do you include planners with your events? Okay, great.
Ensle Guy (20:12)
It does, yes. So
I am the event manager here at the venue. I have a coordinating team of three amazing coordinators here. So between the four of us, we do the initial sales tours. We’re here throughout the entire planning process. And we’re also here on the day of the wedding to execute everything for our couples too.
Felix And Fingers (20:20)
Right.
And that, once again, is invaluable. So everyone get married at Bear Brook and have Ensle make sure all of your details are perfect or one of his amazing teammates. Awesome. Well, it was so great to talk to you and hopefully I’ll see you soon. Anytime.
Ensle Guy (20:37)
Yes, please.
Yes.
You as well, Kathleen. Thank you for having me.
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