I know the idea of a wedding planner writing about why you should hire a planner is obviously self-serving, but hear me out. Your time as an engaged couple should be a time for celebration, not a time to be stressed over every single detail of your wedding, and let me tell you – weddings have A LOT of details!
Here are five main reasons (although I could make a list that goes on forever) to hire a wedding planner:
- Budget!
- Creation: No matter how many websites you go on to see what the ‘average’ cost of each aspect of your wedding is, a professional in the field is going to be able to point you in the best direction. Pricing can be totally different depending on what area you get married in, what time of year, what day of the week and the amount of lead time before the big day! Your budget should also reflect the type of wedding that best suits you. You might want to spend more on a band, and less on florals – or more on food and less on linens. No online formula is going to be able to create a customized budget for you.
- Management: Once you and your planner have created your budget, they will be able to help you maintain it. How many times have your heard someone say that they doubled or even tripled their original wedding budget? Your wedding planner will be able to help you select vendors that match your budget, and help guide you in spending so that you don’t wake up one morning and realize that you have gone WAY overboard.
- Action Lists! One of the most stressful parts of planning can be getting started. What do you do first? This is where an action list comes in to play. As a planner – I create a guide for my clients so that they know how far out they need to book each vendor, order invites, pick out outfits for their wedding party, etc. One of the most popular questions I hear from clients that have hired me later in their planning process is, “Are we on the right track? What are we missing?”. When you have a guide for each step – you will never need to ask that question again.
- Timeline Creation! For my All-Inclusive Planning clients (as well as my coordination clients), I create a wedding weekend timeline. This timeline will have the entire wedding weekend written out in detail from the placement of each personal item to the timing for each event. I work with my clients to assemble this timeline and use all of my experience to advise them on timing. You might not know how long it takes for hair and make-up, or how long to expect a first look to take. If you have never planned a wedding before, you wont know what to look for as a red flag for timing or logistics.
- Design! Do you have an idea in your mind of what your wedding will look like? A planner can point you in the direction of vendors that will mesh well with you and your vision. Just because a florist (or any other vendor) is very talented and well-recommended, does NOT mean that they are the one for you! Another element of my design package is attention to the small details, such as the place cards and how they indicate what meal your guest selected.
- Everything Else! My All-Inclusive Planning package is really just that – All-Inclusive. I not only help you design and order your invitations, I double-check addresses, stuff and stamp them and track all of your RSVPs. I organize transportation for your guests, and work with local hotels on your room blocks. I work with you and your caterer to establish a cohesive menu that will be crowd-pleasing as well as impressive. You will have help with every single detail of your wedding!
All of that being said, one of the biggest and most important roles of your wedding planner is the wedding coordination. This is why so many planners offer coordination as a separate package. Hiring a wedding coordinator is often described as the ‘best decision’ made by most couples. This person will make sure that you, your family and your friends can truly enjoy your wedding day – without having to worry about all of the details you have worked so hard to plan! This person will make sure that your wedding party is running on time, your vendors have everything set up according to plan, your family and wedding party is lined up and walking down the aisle at the right time, in the correct order (to the right songs!), your personal items are all set-up (and broken down and packed up at the end of the night), and every other ‘formal event’ (introductions, toasts, cake cutting, send-off, etc.) is coordinated perfectly – as well as much, much more.
Want to talk more about the impact hiring a wedding planner can have? Lets do it.