I did not hire a wedding planner when I got married. I should have. It would have made my life a lot easier. Yes, I made it through the event. The wedding happened and it was... well, a wedding. Best of all, I married a wonderful man and had all my family and friends around to help us celebrate. But it could have been much better with the assistance of a wedding planner / coordinator / consultant / designer (yes, there are subtle differences, but for the most part the terms are interchangeable) it could have been much more memorable.
Now that I have worked in the industry for more than a few years I would not need their services as much as I did the first time, but I would still seriously think about employing a wedding planner. The reasons are multiple, but here are the main reasons:
Ideas: An experienced wedding planner offers you the one thing no bride (except a serial bride) has -experience. Even an unimaginative one has been involved with enough weddings and seen enough to have ideas that you have probably never thought of. Besides, most wedding planners get into the wedding planning business because they love weddings. They love to dream of new and imaginative ways to stage a wedding. This reason alone could help you break the cookie cutter wedding mold and avoid the common mistakes that turn an otherwise elegant affair into a tacky event.
Knowledge of Resources: A good coordinator has the experience to know what constitutes a good price and is poor price on each particular discipline that are commonly used for weddings. Likewise they know where to find everything from wedding cakes to the favors that you need for your wedding saving you a ton of time running all around... even if you choose a wedding planner that lets you do the leg work (but why would you? Your engagement period should be a time of building your relationship, not pulling your hair out!).
Scheduling Expertise: A good consultant knows how much time the decorators, florist, and pastry chef are likely to need to get your wedding venues ready for your wedding considering exactly what you want in each area, saving you the hassle of booking the venue only to discover later that you paid for too much or too little time to accomplish your wedding goals. Likewise, they have the experience to know how other factors impact the scheduling of your wedding.
Contract Expertise: They are familiar with wedding contracts. An experienced wedding planner knows what is standard in the wedding industry and what is not. This can save you a lot of money.
Professional Distance: Your wedding design consultant is not emotionally involved in your wedding. Therefore when they meet with your vendors they will less likely to succumb to the temptation to buy things that you do not need to achieve your wedding dream.
Stress Relief: A wedding planner can save you a huge amount of stress. Not only will they do the leg work to contract all your vendors, but a good one will supervise everything on your wedding day so all you have to focus on is getting yourself ready for your wedding, your new husband, and generally enjoying the day with all of your loved ones around you.
Of course, just like anything else, the trick is to interview perspective wedding planners just like you would any other wedding professional. Look for experience, professional credentials, creativity, indications that their style matches your own, and above all a willingness to listen and help you discover the details of what you want for your big day.
As a result of a little bit of work on your part hiring a wedding planning professional you should be rewarded with a much less stressful engagement as someone else takes care of making sure that everything is just right. But even better, with your wedding planner's expertise and practiced negotiating skills, the money you pay a wedding planner is often recouped to a large part over what you would have paid for your wedding on your own.
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