24 hours with Nicky Briger, editor of Marie Claire
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of a major magazine event? In this 24 hours with, Marie Claire editor, Nicky Briger, prepares for one of the magazine's biggest events - the Prix de marie claire.
6:00am
Wake up and check emails and social media. Get the kids ready for school, throw on old faithful black dress – always a saviour on whirlwind event days. I put make-up on while packing school bag.
Slice of toast in one hand, coffee in the other, I race to the office – on the phone to Jackie Frank, Marie Claire’s general manager, Susie Hogan, marketing, Kat & Co from event production, Jana Pokorny our fashion editor, and Debbie Walters, photo editor.
7:00am
Arrive to the office, during which I have an argument with security who won’t let me into the building without my pass which I suspect has ended up on the floor of the fashion cupboard when I was trying on Prix dresses last night. Not like I’ve worked in the same building for 10 years or anything…
7:20am
Snuck my way in to Marie Claire HQ, ninja style. Emails are flooding in. I take a quick scan of the weather bureau – no chronic cyclone storms or major weather warnings predicted (as per last PDMC).
8.20am
Leave the office for a site visit. Kat & Co have been bumping in for two days. This is my first glimpse of the event space which has been in planning stages for about 12 months. Two words: blown away.
10:00am
Back at MC HQ for an all-staff briefing to discuss roles and responsibilities of the night. Our fabulous staffers are being briefed on best practise schmoozing and the who’s who of celebs, clients and media.
11:30am
As if tonight’s colossal event wasn’t enough work for one day, we’re also on deadline for our October issue! Have to check our cover final and sign off last-minute pages asap. Con-call with Lexus to finalise specifics ahead of tonight.
12:30pm
Who has time for lunch – it’s farrrrrrshion darl!
Seating chart has involved 987432548756 hours of back-and-forth – need to get the positions right in the room so people are happy and entertained. Yes, between Jackie Frank and I there were some last-minute (entire) rearrangements.
1:15pm
God bless my team (and their babies) for hand-packing every single personalised The Daily Edited luggage tags and Virgin Australia Gold Membership passes reflective of the ever-changing seating plan.
1:45pm
Our brilliant video producer just unveiled his phenomenal work – the intro video that will open the entire awards night and set the scene. Beyonce’s feminist words are ringing in my head.
3:00pm
Final dress rehearsal.
40 looks by 40 Australian designers. 40 models. Not to mention the 80+ pairs of Christian Louboutin stilettos. HEART. IS. POUNDING. The lighting, the lasers, the music, the atmosphere, the styling… can’t wait for our 200+ guests to witness this moment later tonight.
4:30pm
Hair and makeup. Need a bucket of foundation to cover up the sleepless nights in the lead up to tonight. Pity the poor make-up artist who was assigned to me.
6:30pm
Thanks gorgeous Toni Maticevski and Swarovski for making me feel like a princess! Off to the red carpet to greet our principal partner Lexus (who also made sure I wasn’t late by transferring me here). Note to self: must buy the LC500h!
7:00pm
Red carpet in full swing! Hello Asher Keddie, Jesinta Franklin, Dannii Minogue, Terry Biviano, Kate Waterhouse, Kylie Gillies, Sally Obermeder, Steven Khalil, Napoleon Perdis, Lianna … breathe.
7:05pm
Moment to remember: my boss Jackie Frank and Kate Waterhouse twinning on the red carpet (same dress) #greatPRforAlexPerry
8:00pm
Champagne Taittinger is flowing and I’m about to take to the stage.
8:20pm
In true Perdis family form, Napoleon and Lianna give a heartfelt, powerful speech following their category win calling for acceptance and marriage equality.
9:45pm
Fashion moment goes exactly as hoped and planned – perfection.
10:00pm
Guests are going nuts for their personalised gifts, pilot gold memberships from Virgin Australia!
10:45pm
Fleet of Lexus cars are on standby to drop our guests back home.
12:00am to 1:00am
Bump out underway, finally share a glass of bubbles with Jackie and the fashion and marketing teams, toasting a job well done.
2:00am
Finally home and spend half an hour trawling social media and posting a few snaps of my own (no time during the night!).
6:00am
Awake, dammit. Too excited to sleep properly. Start trawling through online news stories.
7:00am
Get the kids ready, do the school drop-off and race to Seven.
9:00am
Hair and make-up at Seven (thanks Gary!). Must cover up another long sleepless night.
10:00am
On The Morning Show chatting all things Prix with Larry and Kylie.
