First and for-most your wedding should be something that you enjoy and treasure. Not something you can't wait for it to be over because of all the stress it caused. I can speak from experience on both ends. Before I had my wedding I knew I wanted to become an Event Planner and Create Invitations. I had volunteered to create several events for a group of 10 to a group of 5,000 people. Yet I knew that even though I knew I was organized and I excelled in this field I wanted guidance and support.
I will start off with my good experience just in case people want to stop reading after my bad experience. I had hired a wedding planner that didn't turn out to be a good experience. I had fired her a couple of months before my wedding because with 2 years of planning I had nothing to show for it other than my photographer and videographer. Well, after telling my family and friends my story they all pushed me to finish the planning on my own and I didn't need to hire anyone else. After I had let her go I went into panic mode (even though she didn't do much anyway) and hired the rest of my vendors almost instantly. I was fortunate enough to have formed relationships with my few vendors and that helped those following weeks a lot. Even though I had finished my vendor list, my decor plan, my floor plan, my timeline, among other things. I felt as if it would be very unwise for me not to hire someone for my wedding. So I went ahead and searched and searched and searched some more for the person I felt I needed. I had found someone bran new to the industry so she didn't have much experience but compared to everyone else I spoke to she actually cared. Not to mention it doesn't matter if the person is new to the industry it matters that they care 100%, and are willing to prove themselves. As I mentioned before I had planned events and I knew there were too many details for me to worry about on the day of my wedding. I needed someone I could trust and have complete faith that everything would turn out fine. Which it turned out better!
To get an event planner means that you have little or no stress at all. Your vendors are preselected to your budget, all the little details you would never think of is already being taken care of, your budget is closely monitored, you have guidance with other events revolving your event, the list really just goes on and on. Yet the most important is the actual day of your event. If your lucky enough you will have your planner beginning to end. Meaning you will have that person on your event day ironing out all the details. From the timelines, floor-plans, being the orchestrator for all the vendors, keeping you calm by shielding you from all the little things that could go wrong, and of course the little details that you would not think of because you don't plan an event everyday. Things as what to do if your wedding is outside and all the menus are flying around because of the wind. Where would be the escort table and when would be the perfect time to set it up that way people don't create a bottle neck anywhere. How do you tell your guests the cocktail hour is over and its time for them to take their seats at the reception? Will you remember the pen for your guest book sign in? The list goes on and on.
In reality, yes, hiring a planner or a coordinator might sometimes cost a bit much but again they do this as a living and will shield you from A LOT of stress. Yes, they could also negotiate better rates for you because they have relationships with the vendors but that is something small to be compared to you actually being able to enjoy your event and not stress about a thing. I feel as if when you find your planner that suits you and the planner does the job because he or she truly enjoy making peoples visions come true then your event will turn out better than you can expect.
My next few lines might scare some people off from getting a planner but I find it best for you to know all ends of the spectrum and know how to choose your planner.
I had gotten engaged in Virginia, and yet my Finance and I were both from South Florida with both sides of our families residing there as well. The most logical thing was to have our wedding there. I had searched for wedding planners over the internet and was mainly looking at all the pictures of the events the planners had planned. I had fallen in love with the look that one planner had yet I thought her price would've been completely out of my league but I decided to call anyway. Long story short I found her to be decently priced for the type of pictures she had. So I went off and hired her. I would say it was my biggest and best mistake I made in a very long time. It turned out that this planner was only in this industry for the money. Yes, she worked with several great people and had amazing cliental but because she was only interested in the money she had very little regard for what I "the bride" wanted or needed. Things kept getting worse but I had convinced myself that at the end she would pull through and make my wedding amazing. There came a point where I could no longer fool myself, and had to let her go. This planner had not acted like a planner at all. I planned my entire wedding even though I had paid her. She was extremely unorganized, ALWAYS late, had no regard for my budget, confused me with other brides all the time, and the list went on and on.
Now, why get an event planner if something like that could happen to you? Or even better how to avoid a situation like mine. First, not all planners are like that. Yes, there are several people who are just in it for the money and may not have your best interest at heart. But remember I said hiring her was one of the best decisions I had ever made? Well, I say this because even though not all brides will hire me. I will try and spread the lesson I learned to every bride I come in contact with in order to save them grief. I personally love ascetics, and I was pulled in by the beautiful pictures. My error was not to look at the reviews.
Always try and find reviews! The next thing to do is
shop around. Then, my most important tip is for you to
get along with your planner. I don't mean you need to find your best friend but you need to be able to feel comfortable in communicating your thoughts and ideas. If your uncomfortable or find something odd or off about the person it doesn't mean their bad planners but they are just not for you. Which is fine! Again, this is YOUR event and you need to be comfortable and happy! Trust your intuition, and you can't go wrong.
What to be aware of when you have narrowed down the planners. Well, I personally would look for honesty and professionalism. My original planner had failed to mention that her fee was 20% of my budget. I figured that one on my own much later on. Then, she gave me this "selling point" on how she would get all the invoices from all the vendors first that way she could see if it went with my budget. Long story short I realized she was adding 20% commission to every invoice (without letting me know). Again, if a planner is honest with you and informs you that he or she will be adding finder fees then by all means. Bottom line is that no one but you the bride should get the invoices first! Obviously the planner should be copied on them and intervene if there is something wrong with it. Remember, you are the one paying the bill not the planner in that case you get to see the bill first.
I hope this blog has helped you understand how to pick your planner. I first had to go through a bad experience which I learned a lot from, but I knew that I needed help and I couldn't be happier with my decision to hire a coordinator for my event.
