Why you need a wedding planner

In Planning Help by LoveThisDayEventsLeave a Comment

In the last few years I have fielded all sorts of questions about why should people have a wedding planner.  Personally, I think it is money well spent and a well chosen wedding planner is something you deserve!  On your wedding day itself, you physically can not be the person checking in the other vendors, setting up the personal details (that you have worked on for months!), troubleshooting and certainly not the person taking down the chandeliers at midnight.  You are the BRIDE.  You should be focused on the person who loves you and enjoying your family and friends.  You are the host of the party.  Hiring a wedding planner will make sure that you get to be the girl in the pretty white dress.

Photo courtesy of Two One Photography

I have heard the following arguments and trust me, I sympathize with all of them!  I will address each one below

  • #1 – You are on a budget.
  • #2 – Wedding planners are scary.
  • #3 – You have a great friend / sister / mother / aunt who has offered to help.
  • #4 – You have a super specific vision of what you want your day to look like.
  • #5 – Your venue offers a coordinator.

Well ladies and gents, here is the honest truth.

#1 – we are all on a budget.  Hiring a planner will allow you set realistic expectations on how to spend your money and get the most out of what matter to you.  Put a value on your time (and sanity).  OF COURSE you have the ability to research (as long as your boss doesn’t monitor your internet usage) but what about the time to gather bids, revise bids, set up meetings and weigh your options?  A good wedding planner will save you time and money by doing the leg work for you.  A good wedding planner can assist you in making cuts so the wedding is still gorgeous but is an accurate reflection of what you and your fiance want and care about!  And a good planner probably knows more people the industry (the established and the up and comers).  They know who is running a special, bringing on an intern or a partner and where to find the least expensive X, Y or Z that you are looking for.

photo courtesy of Brinton Studios

#2 -yes, some wedding planners ARE scary.  There are a lot of us out there with different personalities and design styles.  Make some calls, do some online research (again, if your boss doesn’t check your email) and see who you connect with.  Not every planner is right for every bride.  Find the person who understands YOUR vision and what is important to you and your fiancé.  Make sure they LISTEN to you.  Make sure you LIKE them. This is the person who will be with you all day on your wedding day.  You need to like them AND the work they do.

#3 – Help is ALWAYS appreciated.  But do you really want a family member doing manual labor on your wedding day?  Don’t you want them to actually enjoy the day?  And (trust me) it is a lot easier to say NO to a professional whom you have hired to do a job than it is to your future mother in law.  A good planner will work with the volunteers and delegate the to – do items (and make sure they are all actually finished).

#4 – You know what you want your wedding to look like.  Fantastic.  Let your wedding planner help you find the right people to execute the vision.  Your wedding planner will have a clear understanding how to make your dream day actually your dream day!  If you have a modern floral style – your planner will direct you away from someone who specialized in mountain wildflowers.  If you love dessert bars – you will be guided to the best bakeries that specialize in those.  As the wedding industry booms, vendors in every category  specialize in different styles.  Cakes, flowers, stationary and photography are so personal now a days – your wedding planner will serve as your guide and interpreter into this new world.

#5 – Your venue offers a coordinator.  Great – that person should oversee the food, alcohol and staffing of the venue.  Possibly the delivery and installation of linens.  But the venue coordinator is not the person to call when your DJ gets a flat tire.  Your venue coordinator is normally not the person to field touchy family situation questions.  If you are considering relying on the venue’s in house coordinator — ask exactly what they do prior to the wedding and what their commitment is on the wedding day.  Do they stay until the end of the evening or do they leave after cake cutting?  But remember, the venue coordinator (and yes, there are a lot of absolutely lovely ones whom I adore working with and consider close friends) is working in the interest of the venue.  The wedding planner is working in the interest of the Bride and Groom.  And a good wedding planner knows how to work with the venue contact and how to make a team that works IN YOUR BEST INTEREST.  Stay tuned for another post explaining the difference.

You deserve the wedding of your dreams and you deserve a wedding planner who will work side by side with you to create the wedding that YOU want.  As weddings add more and more production elements, wedding planners start to take on the job of theater directors and stage managers.  If you have a great director and a calm and organized stage manager – you get to be the star in your own production.  I could go on and on forever on this subject but I won’t.  But you do deserve a wedding planner on your big day.

photo courtesy of JGP Weddings

Leave a Comment