I have a friend that is really organized.
My cousin can plan a wedding.
I can plan my wedding myself.
I don’t understand what are you going to do?
These are all explanation that brides give in deciding not to hire a wedding planner. In some cases, weddings come out just fine without any additional help. There is no stress. The wedding starts on time. You get prefect pictures. All of your vendors show up on time. All of the décor is just beautiful and exactly what you wanted. The food is prefect. And all the relatives get along great.
Ok for the other 99% of weddings, it is very stressful for the bride and her family. A wedding planner is there to not only alleviate the stress, but can also save you money along the way that may pay for their services. They are the one point of contact for all things wedding. A good wedding professional will be your scheduler, accountant, counselor, a second set of eyes, and your best friend. They help with venue and vendor selection. They will steer you clear of pitfalls that will save you money. They will even make sure that certain family members are seated across the room from each other.
The first task is to find the right planner for you. It should be someone that you can get along with, but is not a “yes man”. Do a thorough interview with the person you a considering. You should treat this like a job interview. A good planning professional should be able to tell how long they have been in business and have references. They should have enough staff to cover your whole wedding. It is a good idea to ask for references from other vendors. These people work most closely with the planner. They will know how organized the person is. You can also ask about other clients of the planner.
The next item would be to check out the planner’s website or portfolio. Make sure it looks professional with pictures that should not be stock photos. Ask questions about the pictures, designs, and the story behind what you are viewing. A planner should be all about the bride and groom’s vision. Ask about the vendors they work with. Does it seem they have knowledge of other wedding professionals and that this will be an asset to you when working to hire those people?
The last item is the cost. For many brides, this is the difficult part. A bride often thinks “Why spend this money on a wedding planner, when I could use this money in other areas”. A good wedding planner will charge on average $2000 for full service planning and $750 for day of planning. Beware of planners that you find on Craigs List and other sites for $500 for full service planning. These people are often not professionals. The money you spend on a good planner will often come from saving in other areas.
Once you have hired a wedding planner what can you expect? A full service planner should be with you for appointments with vendors, as well as dress shopping. They will help you review contracts and take over talking to and getting vendors paid. They will take care of wardrobe malfunctions for you, bridesmaid and groomsman. They will attend and help plan your rehearsal. They make sure your wedding starts on time by providing a detailed timeline of your day. And when it time to start taking pictures, they make sure relatives and friends stay out of the pictures until the appropriate time. They make sure your vendors show up on time and that your décor is put out to your specifications. In many cases they will also help you get your honeymoon planned. You should not experience any stress, because all of it will be directed at the wedding planner.
A day of coordinator should be hired at least a 2 weeks before the wedding. These professionals will get your list of vendors and contact them to make sure they will be on time and at the designated location. They will make sure these people get paid. They will attend the rehearsal. Finally, a day of coordinator will be there with you on the day of the wedding to make sure everything goes as planned. They are there to take care of any last minute issues.
What are the other benefits of a wedding planner? Other vendors and venues often prefer to work with a planner. A planner will be there to translate the wishes of the bride. Vendors are working with several events. They do not have the time to take the call of brides who may change their minds several times a day. A planner will take all of those calls work with the vendors to make the changes that make sense. Vendors and venues will often give discounts to planners that they will not give to a bride. Recently, a bride called around to several venues looking for pricing for a specific date. She was given one price, when the planner called back and the venue realized the bride was working with a planner, the venue came down $1000 on the price. Planners can often get trusted vendors to make exceptions to the rule. Another bride had an emergency that caused her to have to change the date and location of her wedding. She wanted to get married within a month and also wanted a lot of floral. Most florist had closed their books, but a planner was able to get their trusted florist to agree to do the wedding.
Wedding planners know other qualified, trusted vendors. One of the worst feelings is paying someone, rather it be the caterer, photographer, or DJ and these people do not show up on time or at all. A professional wedding planner will know other professional vendors who take their reputation seriously. A recent bride decided not to take the advice of her wedding planner and hired her own DJ. The DJ showed up right before the bride and groom were ready to enter the reception and did not have the music ready that the bride and groom had chosen. They had to stand outside with their wedding party while he got ready. He also charged $200 more than the DJ that the planner had suggested.
Although hiring a good wedding professional is always a good idea, this may not be an option for everyone. There are other options that can provide you piece of mind with much less of a price tag. The Centex Planning and Design offers consultation services for a much lower price. This service gets you vendor selection help through email and phone calls. We also provide a custom timeline for your wedding. We help you avoid the pitfalls by providing advice and guidance throughout the process.
Do you need a more of hands on approach? The Centex Planning and Design also provides a DIY wedding seminar. This is a 6 hour seminar that includes lunch and snacks. We talk about vendor selection, look at options for invitations, go through a simple décor setup, look at options for saving money on dresses and much more. You will get nice binder to take with you.
