Why Hire A Wedding Planner
Photo by Terri Baskin
1. Your planner is your gentle guide through a stressful journey.
The biggest reason couples invest in a wedding planner is to take advantage of years of experience and industry knowledge. Like hiring an accountant to do your taxes or a real estate agent to help you find and buy a home, it’s worth investing in a pro to help guide you.
Our goal as a planning team is to save you money in preferred rates, guidance on what’s worth investing in and what can be skipped. And, of course, to save you in mental health anguish and make this process digestible and fun!
We juggle the roles of designer, legal counsel, budget manager, logistical coordinator, family mediator, trend setter/follower and etiquette coach, all at once.
We create and enforce a to-do list over your planning months, help you create your aesthetic and translate that into vendors and products (both rented and purchased,) reviewing and sometimes negotiating your contracts, creating a floor plan and timeline that reflects our experiences in these different venues AND putting out any fires during the wedding weekend.
Most of our clients have demanding jobs or school programs they are navigating, some are already parents, some travel a lot, some are in the process of buying homes, starting businesses; you name it, we’ve seen it. You deserve an ally in this to keep you sane and on track.
2. Your planner is ready to answer all of your etiquette questions.
Do I have to include her in my bridal party if I was in hers? They just started dating, do I have to invite him? When should I send these out? How many forks do I need? Who comes to the rehearsal dinner? What should my mom wear?
No matter how unconventional your wedding will be, there will be plenty of etiquette questions you’ll want a seasoned professional to help you with.
4. Your planner will pair you with the best people.
While it is easier than ever to find a multitude of wedding vendors online, they can all look the same after awhile and it’s hard to figure out who is reputable and reliable from their social media presence.
A solid planner will be woven into the local wedding industry and can help you figure out who is a good fit for you and help you avoid the vendors with less than stellar reputations. Not every client writes a bad review about their experience, but the planner always remembers.
5. Your planner will help you craft and stick to a budget.
Unless you’ve planned a wedding in your area in the last year or two, chances are you have no clue how much things cost and what a realistic budget should be, especially based on the designs you like.
Before we get started, we sit down with your partner (and loved ones if others are contributing to the costs) and walk you through, step by step, how much you can expect to spend per category, where we should invest and where we can save.
Planners typically qualify for some discounts or preferred rates with vendors because it’s easier to work with an experienced planner than a couple without one.
6. Your planner will take your Pinterest/Instagram/Tik Tok dreams and turn them into reality.
Social Media has no shortage of beautiful wedding inspiration, but it can be incredibly overwhelming to translate what you like about certain images into a design game plan.
Your planner can navigate what you like, pair it with the venue setup, the time of year, your guest count and your budget to create a design plan that makes sense and brings your scattered vision to life.
Having an experienced designer be able to translate what you like to the linens, table decor, stationary, florals, candle containers, bar setup, etc. is worth its weight in gold.
7. Your planner will serve as a mediator between you, your partner and other invested loved ones
Wedding planning always comes with lots of (solicited or unsolicited) opinions from family, friends, and more. And planning an expensive event puts pressure on all of those important relationships.
Having a trusted ally to serve as a third-party for advice, a listening ear or a negotiator can help save a lot of arguments and tears down the road.
8. Your planner (and their team) will allow you (and your family) to be present.
After all the money is spent, don’t you want everyone you love to be able to enjoy the weekend? Your planner will set you up for success and a game plan for every scenario.
Cake fell over in the van, your photographer doesn’t show up, your reception venues sprinkler system goes off, your maid-of-honor is hungover and getting sick in the bathroom all morning, etc.
Anything you’ve had a nightmare about, we’ve dealt with it already.
There is nothing more gratifying than seeing a calm, happy, clear-eyed couple and their families on the wedding day with no worries of who is loading up the car at the end of the night and if the bus driver showed up to the hotel on time. That’s our job.