Wedding Planners Save you time
Time equals (insert value here), what is your time worth? When it comes to planning a wedding, if you are not an experienced wedding planner, it can take you hours and hours to do multiple searches, looking for venues, vendors and set up all those appointments. When you hire an experienced wedding planner, you will be gaining access to all of the resources the wedding planner has right at their fingertips. They have worked with hundreds of vendors and will be able to save you time and match you with the perfect vendors who will be the best at executing your vision. You will spend a lot of time with your wedding planner, however, it’s a little like one stop shopping, after your wedding planner has learned what your vision is, they will then be able to lay out before you a selection of choices for you to select from, saving you countless hours of searching. Another added bonus is that your wedding planner is most likely knowledgeable about which vendors are the best, and which vendors are reliable and professional so that you don’t get caught hiring an unprofessional or uninsured company.
OVERVIEW OF BIG PICTURE
Your wedding planner is holding the entire picture in her head, heart and hands so that you don’t have to. The wedding planner will be thinking of all the little details that surround your wedding, including timing, pack-lists, guest experience, transportation, lighting, weather, seating, guest flow, and event deliverables from each and every vendor. The Big Picture is held together and organized so that you and your fiancé can focus on the good things; your celebration, your vows and your families. The stress of hosting a large event like a wedding can be overwhelming, but when you have an expert planner, you are able to let go and enjoy the experience and fully participate in this once in a lifetime event!
Dreams come true!
Your wedding planner will listen to your vision and bring it to life. Hiring a wedding planner means you get to say what the look, feel, and mood of your wedding will be and your wedding planner’s job is to make it all come to life. A really good wedding planner is able to add touches to your vision that will enhance it or make it even better than you ever imagined and because of experience, they already know what works and what doesn’t work. The best part of my job as a wedding planner is making dreams come true, and also I love adding an element of surprise so that on the day of, the couple has a major WOW moment, but also sees in real time their own vision personified. If you have a dream, I think the only way to really make sure it happens is to have someone you can trust who is acting on your behalf, because once the wedding day is close it becomes harder and harder for the couple themselves to oversee the details since being a bride and groom is already a job in and of itself.
Stay on budget
One of the most important jobs a wedding planner will do for you is to keep an eye on your budget and give you a heads up if it looks like you are going over on any of your budgets for vendors. Having worked with your vendors in the past and having an established relationship with vendors means that there won’t be any odd surprises for you when it comes to ordering services. Often, your wedding planner will be able to trouble shoot ways to keep you within budget while still maintaining the essence of your dream wedding. A wedding planner with experience comes with many tricks in her bag and she will work hard to manage your budget. The best is when we can actually save you money and still give you what you want. Working with a planner is financially beneficial in so many ways. They will help you avoid vendors taking advantage of you, they will find you great deals and control overspending on nonsense. A good planner will make sure you always understand all the costs involved in hiring each vendor and give you good advice in regards to gratuities and extras.
Day of wedding flow
Keeping your wedding flowing smoothly is something so important for you and your guests. Your wedding planner will be the one you can count on to handle in stride all the little things that can throw a good plan off. You can plan, plan, plan, but inevitably there will be obstacles that present themselves on the day of, and you want someone that can keep an eye on the event timing while being able to also solve problems and make good in the moment decisions to ensure your wedding runs smooth. Wedding planners have plan A. B. & C in place in case of weather or other environmental challenges and are able to change plans in the moment and go with the flow to give you a seamless event. Over the years one of the things I have heard couples say is, they want their wedding to feel relaxed and fun and not overly uptight or fussy. People often think this means that they don’t need a planner and I am here to tell you that it is the exact opposite of what you would think. If an event is properly planned you won’t even notice the planning, the entire event will flow effortlessly through the different stages and the guests will be enjoying themselves and relaxed in the experience. On the other hand, if you have not planned properly you run the risk of chaos and uncertainty taking over with little moments of disruption throughout the day. Here’s an example:
A groom does not want assigned seating because he hates it when he gets to a wedding and he has to sit at a table he doesn’t want to be at and it feels awkward to him, and yes, this can happen for sure. He says he wants open seating at his wedding so that it will be a ‘Casual’ experience. Here’s the thing, even though the groom may feel very casual, the rest of the guests are from all walks of life and different age groups and many of the closest guests are older and not at all comfortable with this ‘casual’ situation. On the day of the wedding, everyone is enjoying and having fun and now it is time for guests to be seated for toasts and dinner. People start making their way to the dinner tables but they are confused, they circle looking for a name on the tables but there is none, the servers verbally let all the guests know they can sit where they like, there are visible signs of people feeling uncomfortable and couples start whispering to each other trying to decide where to sit. Each person thinks they are not important enough to be next to the bride and groom so they all try to sit far away from the couple. The servers have to convince family members they can sit at the head table so that everyone will get seated. This entire seating time takes over ½ hour so that the toasts and dinner are delayed. This ‘Casual’ seating has now caused a delay and the caterers are thrown off on timing the meal and the bartenders are thrown off opening champagne, there is an awkward ‘Mood’ in the room. This mood is caused by uncertainty and chaos. This is one of the most important reasons to hire a good planner. If every detail is planned and thought through and your guest experience is at the core of your objective then you are going to create a container to hold the experience inside of and your guests’ time will be spent enjoying instead of trying to figure out what is happening and what they are supposed to be doing.
Access to Ideas & trends
Your wedding planner is a living treasure chest of good ideas for your wedding. From welcome signs to signature drinks. From first dance songs to unique seating charts, your wedding planner has seen it all. If you want a trendy Pinterest chic station or if you want something completely unique that hasn’t been done before, having a wedding planner to bounce ideas off of means you are getting in insider’s guide to what’s best and how to completely entertain and wow your guests. All the wedding planners I have ever met are keeping up on current trends and looking at what’s happening in event innovation. I think you are really in for a good time planning your wedding if you partner with an expert and are open to suggestions. Dreams really do come true!
