The Big Big Day

Hours before the first guests arrive, a crew of dozens is at work laying the infrastructure for Erin O'Toole and Waleed Delawari's wedding reception. Under the massive chandeliers and gilded arched ceiling of the Viennese Ballroom in Pasadena's palatial Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa, techs in scuffed sneakers and untucked T-shirts bolt together lighting stands and tape down hundreds of yards of power cords for the 40 floor lights, 28 pin-spots and six full-size spotlights that will illuminate the room. Stoic laborers wheel hand trucks piled with flowers over the dance floor, maneuvering around the trio of white chaise longues made for the event. Up on the stage, miked for both a DJ and a traditional Afghan band, crew chief Carlos Novoa is fussing with the ivory chiffon draping, getting it to hang just so.

Off to one side, a phalanx of black-coated waiters reviews the evening's written instructions, detailing when to serve the baby greens with truffle vinaigrette and when to transition into the roast breast of chicken with port wine, portabello ravioli or filet mignon. Orders received, they fan out across the room, squeezing among the silver Chivari chairs to align fistfuls of flatware at each of the 220 place settings.

Each table is covered with a custom-made, silver-patterned satin taffeta tablecloth, painstakingly pinned up to reveal the custom-made pink linen underlay. The tablecloths hardly show, though, under the profusion of floral centerpieces, disposable cameras, artfully scattered rose petals, stemware and handmade sugar cookies and crystal bells that each guest will get as favors. Each place has an ivory satin napkin encircled with a little wire sprig adorned with 10 artificial diamonds; three people spent three days making the rings by hand.

This is the biggest night of O'Toole and Delawari's lives. But it's nothing special to Brian Pincus, vice president of Bob Gail Special Events, the main coordinator of the evening's festivities. "It's a little higher end than the average," he says. "But they didn't pull out all the stops."

It's tough not to be jaded if you're in the wedding business these days. The industry--sorry, romantics, that's what it is--is booming, with the tab for venue rentals, music, catering and other nuptial paraphernalia now totaling as much as $55 billion a year. The cost of the average wedding is some $26,327, up almost 73% from 15 years ago, according to surveys by the Fairchild Bridal Group, publisher of several wedding magazines. In Los Angeles and other big cities, it's more like $40,000.