You’ve become engaged and while visions of everlasting love dance in your head, planning a wedding can be stressful. The average wedding takes over 250 hours to plan and includes 22 different vendors. What’s a bride to do? There is so much to navigate and coordinate. Wedding planners used to be something only celebrities and the ridiculously rich could afford; Luckily, that is no longer the case. Now there are many options for having professional wedding planning services.
Having a professional wedding planner can help in so many ways.
Here are our top 10 ways a wedding planner can help you and your wedding:
1. Budgeting
a. Your wedding planner can take your budget as a whole and make sure all of your vendors and selections are in line within your dreams and your means. Be honest about your budget; it will only help you in the end. It wastes your time, your vendor’s time and your planner’s time if you don’t. Wedding planners are used to working with every budget and have seen it all. Planners know that not every bride likes to spend their money the same way and will help you allocate your funds appropriately so you will see your vision on your special day. Be specific about your desires! If you would like to spend more on flowers or spend more on the food and beverages tell your planner and they will be sure that you get what you want.
2. Vendor Referrals/Selection
a. Your wedding planner is your best resource to the best vendors available. They work with different vendors all the time and can tell you very quickly who is brilliant and who is not. This is going to help save time in the interviewing process. A great wedding planner is skilled at matching the personalities of their brides with the perfect vendors in order to keep you on track with your ideas and your budget.
3. Contract Negotiation
a. Your wedding planner can help negotiate with venues, vendors and suppliers. Wedding planners have created special relationships with these people which you can only benefit from. Ask your planner what they can negotiate for you. Because wedding planners are such a source of referrals for venues and vendors they often do special things for those clients.
b. Your wedding planner works with contracts day in and day out and can help you review each vendor’s contract and alert you to red flags that may appear. Your wedding planner is on your side.
4. Etiquette
a. Don’t know how to address an invitation to a Doctor and her husband? Confused about what is just plain old fashioned or improper? Your wedding planner does! Let’s face it; etiquette can be confusing. Your wedding planner can guide you through this maze while offering suggestions on invitation wording, place cards and thank you notes.
5. Organization & scheduling
a. One of your wedding planner’s main jobs is to keep things easy and organized for you. They can set up tastings, trials, and mock ups with all of your vendors around your personal schedule. Let them handle it and save you the hassle and the stress.
b. Your wedding planner will also keep you informed of each vendor’s payment schedule and deposit requirements so you won’t be late and take on more fees than you need.
c. Your wedding planner can handle all of the final payments and tips for the vendors on the wedding day so your mother or another family member can simply celebrate the day with you and not worry about who to pay.
6. Save money
a. One of the biggest reasons to hire a wedding planner is to save money. How can that be if I’m paying them a fee/commission? The first reason goes back to the vendor negotiations and referrals. Wedding planners can often negotiate a better contract with extras that you on your own could not. Your wedding planner can also save you money by recommending only the vendors that meet your price range. There are great vendors at every price point and your wedding planner can narrow in on the one’s that are most appropriate for you and your future husband (ok and maybe your parents too).
7. Save time
a. Another major reason to hire a wedding planner is to save you time. Your wedding planner can do all the research and leg work for your ideas by sourcing linens, lighting, chairs, china and other décor options. They can price shop all the rental companies and wholesalers to find you the best deal, presenting the best options directly to you. Leaving the shopping around to your wedding planner saves you time to enjoy the final products instead of searching for it yourself.
b. Are you looking for something unique? Your wedding planner will hunt it down for you. Are you looking for that red rose printed aisle runner that Ashley Simpson used at her wedding to Pete Wentz? Your wedding planner can easily get that for you too (p.s. it was Original Runner Company).
c. Does your Mom or your soon to be Mother in Law have lots of questions that you just can’t deal with (or don’t want to deal with)? Your wedding planner can answer them with a smile and save you the hassle and the headache.
8. Mediator/Middleman/Buffer
a. Whether you think of it as a blessing or a curse, a marriage is often the blending of two families. Family situations are something your wedding planner is used to handling. Don’t have the heart to tell your future mother-in-law that she can’t sing “My Heart Will Go On” at your wedding? Let the wedding planner tell her there just isn’t time for that during your ceremony. Your wedding planner can be used as a neutral party and a helping guide for both sides through the planning process
9. Stress & Crisis Management
a. Planning a wedding can be very stressful. A wedding planner can take that all off your shoulders by being your ally in the process and providing you with advice and support. Lots of unforeseen things can happen but don’t worry because your planner has seen it all before. They have all the answers and solutions to any problem that may arise. Your wedding planner is a professional problem solver and will be able to fix anything.
10. Set Up and Strike
a. As a little girl you imagined your wedding day as a day of beauty, getting ready with your bridesmaids, stepping into the perfect dress, walking down the aisle and seeing your future husband waiting for you, the sealing kiss, the dancing and the happy ever after. Somehow I don’t think your little girl dreams entailed placing 250 votives on the dining tables and windows, making sure that your guest book and gift cards make it safely from the church to the reception, calling the Officiant to see if they’re going to make it on time and making sure that your DJ is set up with a wireless mic for your dad’s toast. You want to enjoy your wedding without worrying that everything has been done the way you have so diligently planned it. You want your family members and wedding party to have a good time and not be passing out dinner and worrying about the catering. Allow your wedding planner to set up each detail that you have planned and take it down, pack it up and get it safely back to you. Because after you are pronounced “Mr. and Mrs.” you deserve to spend time with your husband not take out the trash.
There is a wedding planner out there for everyone and every budget. As soon as you say “Yes” you will be overwhelmed with what has to be done to make your special day special, and hiring a planner with ensure you that all those things can and will be done. So enjoy making you and your future husband’s dreams come true by allowing your fairy god planner to smoothly make your wedding day an amazing moment in your lives together.