Introduction

One of the most frequent questions I get as a wedding planner is, “so what exactly do you do?” Many people think we don’t begin working until the wedding day (FAR from accurate). Others think it’s all about stocking a kit for emergencies. We do that, but this alone definitely wouldn’t justify our cost. So why, exactly, would you hire one of us? Can’t you just download a checklist from a wedding website and just go through the process?

You could! However, it will make getting to your wedding with your sanity intact very difficult. A LOT goes into wedding planning, and most of it doesn’t make the checklists. Wondering what I mean? Check out the following 11 reasons why you might want to reconsider going it alone.

1. You Get Your Time Back

This is the biggie. Wedding planning is a LOT of online research, phone calls, emails, and coordination. If you aren’t working full time, it’s doable. If you both have careers, though, it’s quickly going to become unmanageable. And wedding planning will be all you talk about, all the time, and when you’re both sick of it, there will still be more to be done. You will literally do nothing else outside of work – not to mention during – for the entirety of your engagement.

If you have a planner, though, they will take care of most of that. Your wedding planner will handle the planning timeline, so all you have to do is respond to their requests, one at a time. In my own business, I give my clients one assignment at a time, and they know exactly what they need to get to me and when. We communicate a lot through my online client lounge, which is Google Drive-based. I can upload a questionnaire to complete or photos of options for them to consider, and they can look at things and get back to me when it’s convenient for them, whether that’s 8 pm or 2 am. 

2. Stress Reduction

Primarily, because you have your time back. When wedding planning becomes all you talk about (and without a planner, it will be), you get sick of it. One or both of you. This, along with the sheer amount of things to do, breeds so much stress. Venting to friends even becomes hard, because you’ll be so busy with planning that you’ll rarely be able to talk to them. Same with family.

A wedding planner will make sure you have only one thing to focus on at a time. We also try to build in breaks for you within the process. You’ll be surprised how much easier things are!

3. Budget Guidance

You’re going to invest a *lot* of money in your wedding. Probably more than you’ve invested in anything before, other than your home or vehicle. You sought professional guidance then, didn’t you? A wedding planner can help you set your budget. Some of us will track your spending and guide you through reallocating money when you find something you just have to have. And you will.

4. Prioritization

Unless your budget is completely unlimited (highly doubtful), you can’t have everything you want. A wedding planner will help you spend your money where you’ll get the best bang for your buck. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all spending plan, even for couples with the same budget. Your spending priorities depend on your own vision for what you want your wedding to be, as well as your budget, guest count, venue, etc.

5. Local Industry Knowledge

Your wedding planner has been in the field for years and knows which vendors are proven pros – and which ones aren’t. They can keep you from hiring a vendor who might not deliver, which would definitely put a damper on your special day. That venue that says it seats 300? That may depend on the seating plan, and a head table might not even included in that plan. If you add in an extra bar, or mix table types, that’s going to change how many people can be seated comfortably. You definitely don’t want to lock yourself into a venue, and then discover you’ve limited what you can do with your space.

6. Event Planning Experience

Planners know how to get everything done in a finite amount of time, and they’ll guide you through decisions in the order they’re necessary. Many couples get excited about all the pretty stuff (which is really easy to do!), but the time for that is after your dream team is assembled. A lot goes into planning an event for a hundred or more people, and while you probably haven’t done it before, wedding planners do it every day. Let us help!

7. Etiquette

You’ll want some guidance with what is and isn’t appropriate, in your stationery suite and on the wedding day. We can help you finesse many situations, such as when you have more than four parents between the two of you, and not everything is amicable. No matter what your family situation is, chances are we’ve seen it before and have a suggestion or two.

8. Mediation

Even with a planner, wedding planning still comes with some stress. The two of you may not have the same vision of your wedding in the beginning, and different priorities will come up during planning. It’s to be expected, and it doesn’t have to derail the process. But it really helps to have a third party to help the two of you decide what will work best for you as a couple – without getting frustrated with each other.

9. A Sounding Board

A wedding planner will be able to tell you which ideas are executable, and which ones just aren’t feasible with your time and budget. This will save you SO much time, not to mention money.

10. You Won’t Have to Worry About Forgetting Anything

An experienced planner will have checklists with what needs to be done, what needs to be remembered, and when. The rehearsal evening and wedding day are especially troublesome for this, just because you have so much on your mind. (Like finally getting married!) One bride forgot her wedding dress. A planner will make sure there’s a plan for everything.

11. Timeline Management

You will have anywhere from 5 to 20 wedding pros who all need to set up their respective services and work together on the wedding day. This could easily become chaos without someone to arrange the timeline for the day. As a wedding planner, I work with all the pros to find out their needs. I also carve out a couple of moments during the day for the two of you to stop and just take it all in. The wedding day is a whirlwind, but a planner can help with that. Also, you will need someone to get you from one item on the day’s agenda to another without getting ambushed by Great-Aunt Marge, who wants to know when the two of you are planning to have children. Sounds laughable, but you’ll want a graceful out!

12. Fun!

What can be stressful and overwhelming by yourselves becomes an enjoyable process when you have someone to lead you through it. I’ve even been known to send my couples on a date night to give them some time together that’s non-wedding-related. It’s so much easier on your relationship when you can leave the bulk of the work with someone else. 

Conclusion

I hope I’ve given you enough information to convince you how much you need a wedding planner. We more than make up our cost with the value we provide and the stress we alleviate. Does this sound like something that might be helpful to you? Let’s talk! Check out my services, or schedule a consultation. The earlier you involve me in your wedding planning process, the more I’m able to help you![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes” top_section_title=”” bottom_section_title=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Twelve Reasons Hiring a Wedding Planner Will Save Your Sanity

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