Luxury Wedding Planner Explains Why She Always Includes Drug-Testing Kits in the Bathrooms (Exclusive)
Alvarez recently went viral for a video where she disclosed that she puts fentanyl testing strips in the bathrooms at weddings, including luxury events
Alvarez tells PEOPLE about sharing her experience and the reactions to her common-sense safety measureOne wedding planner's explanation of a measure she puts in place to keep vendors and clients safe has gone viral.
Alexis Alvarez, owner and lead planner at Burst Weddings, opened up in a TikTok on April 22 about the practice of including fentanyl testing strips in the baskets of personal care items that can be found in bathrooms at some weddings.
"Hey, I am a luxury wedding planner, and I put fentanyl testing strips in the bathrooms at luxury weddings, and I want to talk about why," the initial video begins.
Alvarez explains, "The reality is, I know, you don't want to think that your guests are going to, and maybe your guests are different, but I've been planning weddings for over eight years, and I know for certain some of your guests are using drugs in the bathrooms at your wedding."
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Acknowledging that couples, their families and even vendors "can't stop them from doing that," Alvarez feels the measure is the best way of keeping things safe.
"I mean, if I see somebody doing blow on the counter in the bathroom, I'm gonna have security quietly escort them out. But the odds are, I'm not going to catch them, so I want to protect us, all of us, from the experience of an overdose, if at all possible."
Noting that she also carries Narcan, she explains that she wants to take both a preventative and a reactive approach to keeping everyone safe.
"I got a lot of hate for when I post it on Instagram, but they're very easily accessible. You can get them from most libraries, police departments, and it could just save someone's life," the video concludes.
Speaking to PEOPLE about the viral admission, Alvarez says that she shares these measures to let clients know that her brand is "pretty forward-thinking."
"I've always pushed the envelope and been a values-run company. The way I came to be known locally was from speaking out after finding myself face-to-face with homophobia in the wedding industry. From there, my business evolved to being more values-driven," Alvarez explains.
"Last October, I was working a wedding [where] there was a table that had very quickly caught on fire. Basically, a table number had blown over into a candle, and it was a paper table number, and so the table went up in flames quickly. We were able to get it put out and replace [the] linen. Everything was fine, and no one ever made it happen," she explained.
The experience did get her talking with other professionals in her industry, "about general safety in the wedding industry, and how we go into events assuming that everything's going to be fine. But we have hundreds of people in one space where many of them are usually under the influence of some sort of substance or another."
"The responsibility of making sure that we're hosting safe events, that we have safety protocols in place, which should be an industry standard, isn't one because the wedding industry isn't really regulated the way a lot of other industries are," Alvarez explains.
"So this kind of conversation about drug use at events, even overconsumption of alcohol, really kind of evolved from those initial conversations about particular incidents to realizing there were a lot of unsafe practices at weddings, and we're not really taking the precautions that we should be to keep people safe. It kind of started there and then evolved into this particular safety precaution that I take," she continues.
While she was "very nervous" to share her thoughts about this polarizing subject on TikTok, she was inspired by "seeing so many people open up about the losses that they've experienced in their personal lives from overdoses."
"You never know. It could be active addiction or, like with other live events, just a recreational thing someone isn't doing very often. And then just like that, a tragedy happens."
The video started a conversation on TikTok, where Alvarez went viral for explaining the practice. People were confused by her mention that guests would be asked to leave if caught using, though they were provided test strips to keep their use safe. In a subsequent video, she explained that "There are some very real consequences, from a legal standpoint, to venues and planners very specifically, if this sort of behavior is proven or caught being done on property."
"Venues can be shut down for this sort of stuff. Caterers can lose their liquor licenses. Being a professional in the wedding industry, I do feel that I have a responsibility to the venues, to the caterers, to make sure that we're protecting them as well. It's this fine line that I have to walk between harm prevention, which is kind of the topic of the conversation here, but then also protecting those who are essentially my co-workers, and in many cases, small businesses as well."
In another video, Alvarez discusses the test strips and how they're used. While some people think the conversation being brought into the context of a wedding is unbecoming in different respects, Alvarez sees it as being prepared for another "what if" moment.
"Just like I'm the person who's asking, 'Well, what do we do if it rains? What do we do if these plants are damaged?'... I'm asking about how to handle it if the cake isn't delivered, or the cake is dropped or whatever. I'm also asking, 'What do we do if someone overdoses? What do we do if there's drug use?' " she says.
"To me, that thought process makes me as effective as I can be in making it a great experience of an event for everyone. It kind of has to go beyond the fluff of a wedding and into the safety and caretaking of all the people who are there."
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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