Why Hire a Wedding Planner
Why do I need a wedding planner? What do they really do all day that my family cannot? Why do they cost so much?
These are the most common questions I get when meeting with potential couples.
I can answer all three in a short and long version.
Short Version: This is not their first rodeo with planning a wedding and unlike family they have a group of vendors and knowledge to go with that, as for $$ yes they do cost but the trade off is a flawless dream wedding that everyone enjoys.
Long Version:
Why do you need a wedding planner?
For most couples this is their first maybe second time planning a wedding. As for the wedding planner, they have planned several just that year. While each couple is unique, the wedding planning process has its basic concept with a few changes. Your wedding planner off the top of their head can tell you how long you need for certain pictures, how long your ceremony will take, how much travel time you need for ceremony site to reception, and all the in between. Think of them as a good friend giving you their recommendation on the best place to eat, shop, drink, dance, and how to live like a local in a new city. They have the best knowledge on which vendors work best together, the location and atmosphere you are trying to convey, and lastly make all of your dreams become reality.
What do they do all day that my family cannot?
Oh where to start....if you become a RTEC bride/groom one of the first things I let you know is that I wear sneakers on your wedding day. Yes I change for your ceremony, but as soon as it is over back to the sneakers I go. Why, well I am running around all of wedding day doing the following: checking in vendors, communicating with cake set up, dj/band set up, going over timelines, perfecting decor, checking in on bride and groom, verifying bad weather plans, cleaning up messes, fixing last minute items, finding or buying last minute forgotten items, making sure vendors are prepared (this is a huge part of my job), communicating with photographers/videographers to make sure they are on the same timeline, mic checks, slide show checks, monogram checks, bridal party entertaining, making sure family is in the correct area, deterring unwanted visitors, oh and staying hydrated. This is what I do all day and normally it is within a few hours, hence the sneakers. Also unless your family members are not in this business, if someone does not show up (knock on wood this has never happened due to great communication with vendors), I have a team of great vendors that I can call and get to the wedding to fix anything that is needed.
Why do they cost so much?
What is boils down to is time and experience. The more experience and time a wedding planner is spending on your wedding the higher the cost. Is it worth the cost, in my opinion yes. Even this wedding planner hired a day of coordinator on her very own wedding day to run the show. Why worry about all the details and oh no's when you should be focused on your special day and enjoying all the people around you. That is what your wedding planner is for, to worry about the details, make sure your vision is executed, and take the time to ensure the wedding day goes smoothly.
Time is one of things that is hard to understand how much is put into a wedding as a wedding planner. We take the weekends to spend with the bride and groom, which takes away time from our own families and friends. Why do we do that, we love our jobs. Along with long weekends, we also have meetings during the week about your wedding details. I spend an average of 40-60 hours of prep time for each wedding. Now that may not seem like a lot, but that is just prep work; meetings with couples, meetings with vendors, emails, timelines, site visits, figuring out travel time and best traffic routes to and from ceremony and reception sites, and packing my own bags. Then you have wedding weekend which is anywhere from 10-24 hours in addition. So if we are keeping track of hours spent on a wedding it is about 80, in addition to other costs like gas and meeting spaces, that is how I get my price for couples. I hate this part of running a business, it is hard for me to justify charging the amount that I do, but also breaking it down this way shows how much I should be really charging in order to provide for my family. At the end of the day I choose a happy middle ground to provide a service needed to brides and grooms, what is justifiable for spending long weekends away from my family, and still being reasonable for the market.
The reality of wedding planning is that it is a bit pricey, but worth every penny for the experience of enjoying your wedding day and focusing on your upcoming marriage.
Cheers to wedding planning, hire a planner, relieve the stress, eat more cake, and if we havent met yet click the link below.