Should I get a Wedding Planner?

Planning your wedding can be such an exciting task….. before you start that is.

When you think of wedding planning you think of cake tasting, trying on dresses, looking at venues. No one warns you how hard wedding planning actually is down to the nitty gritty details.

The fine but important details include how are guests getting to the venue/s, considering allergies, cheapest vendors, reliable vendors, booking an Officiant, deciding on who should be invited from the 300 people you hardly know or don’t know at all, and if you have decided to make your own invitations- God help you!

The vendors are an important one because if you don’t work within the wedding industry or know someone who does then it is hard to know which companies can be reliable. One of my friends is due to get married in July and is now onto her third different evening venue because the previous two pulled out due to closure; the most recent one was only a couple of weeks a go. She has ended up using the same venue from the morning for the evening too. Thankfully, it is a great venue and they have been amazing help for her but it was stressful times having to look elsewhere in a panic…twice. The same friend had to change the date of her wedding last year because there wasn’t an Officiant available on her original wedding date, even with a year’s notice. Stress seems to be the key theme of her wedding planning and she handled everything extremely well considering, but a wedding planner would have made situations like this more preventable and less fretful if they did occur. However-touch wood- everything is running smoothly for now and she and her partner have just finished home making 150 invitations – wedding troopers!

Wedding planning is time consuming. Simple fact – having a wedding planner will save you time, a lot of it. So what happens on the wedding day itself…. Do you want to be worrying about where the flowers are? Has the caterers acknowledged the allergies, is the photographer and videographer getting the correct shots you want? Is everything going to schedule? Has guests been picked up and taken to the correct venue? You don’t want to be thinking about any of that, plus more that goes on. All you want to focus on is enjoying your special day so it’s nice to have someone taking care of all of the logistics for you. On my parents’ wedding day the cars did not turn up to collect the Bridal party and caused delays. Luckily we had very nice neighbours who bundled my mam and her huge dress, plus bridesmaids and mothers into their cars. Unfortunately my mother’s stress levels were already through the roof. This worryingly is quite a frequent occurrence I’ve seen especially when booking vendors through Facebook Pages – always make sure they are legit. When my parents got wed there was no Facebook or Internet so proving even time committed to retail shopping doesn’t always bring the best result.

The main issue with a wedding planner can be cost. Most people instantly assume that they can’t afford one. It’s always worth checking because in the long run they can be cost effective. You will find a wedding planner know’s a lot of vendors in the area and are professionals at finding the best people for the job because they have seen them in action more than enough. They will also know what to expect for costing’s to make sure no one is ripping you off. A wedding planner also knows the details a vendor needs to get you a more accurate quote e.g. it’s not enough to know how many tiers you want on a cake but the measurements of them too as you might receive an amazing price for a three tier cake only to find out later that it’s actually doll sized layers. The same goes for styles of hair, make-up, choice of foods, etc. Remember the wedding planner will aim to work within your budget, they will provide you with a cost up front so you wont have a big surprise bill at the end.

“But I want to choose the fun stuff!” I hear you say! AND – you can! A wedding planner doesn’t have to be included in every aspect of the wedding. You can hire them to help with specific parts of the planning whether it is just the pre-planning or just the organisation on the day, you can even ask them to do all of the boring stuff while you do all of the fun stuff mentioned above…. Cake tasting- YUM! Dress trying – YEY! Venue visiting – YIP!

Lastly, if you’re like me and like to please everyone then you will be very frustrated to learn that it is almost impossible to please everyone at a wedding. Especially the British, we are known to be a moaning but polite nation, which means that we put on a fake smile and probably complain behind your back. The main thing to remember that this day is based on two people declaring a life of commitment to each other and you should do it anyway you want. However, if you do find a mother-in-law unhappy that the hors d’oeurves are salmon instead of chicken, you can save time clashing by saying “the wedding planner suggested it and we agreed they were nice”. Likewise, if you receive an online dig from a long distant cousin you’ve only met twice because they aren’t invited, and you’re not brave enough to take ownership… then say that the wedding planner helped organise a strict guest list to match your budget. It’s nice to have someone else take a little heat off your back…. Or blame your partner. Just make sure you also BIG THEM UP to plenty of people too as no advertisement is better than word of mouth for a wedding planner, and with your help they could save the lives of so many other bride and groom-to-be’s.

It is completely your choice to include a wedding planner in the organising of your big day. If you’re lucky enough to have lots of hands on help and positive recommendations from friends and family then that will take a heap of stress off. Just be warned- in the beginning you might find your are receiving handfuls of offers for help but then find everyone is too busy when you have 20 table centrepieces to make or 150 invitations.