Dot Your I’s and Cross your T’s: Wedding Planning Edition

Far too often there is a common misconception that there is no need to hire a wedding planner to assist you on your big day. People think they are not necessary anymore. This is due to the advancements of modern day technology with online wedding websites, Pinterest, TV Shows explaining DIY projects, etc. To the average person on a budget, hiring a planner is just an additional expense on the list of costs you are already about to incur. Well, contrary to this popular belief, wedding planners are VERY important, and TOTALLY worth investing in! Sometimes you can even save money by hiring one. Let me be clear, I am not only speaking from a wedding planner’s perspective; I am speaking from personal experience.

We all know that every big event that occurs in our relationships (anniversaries, holidays, birthdays, etc.) are important. However, your wedding day is the ONE day that totally takes the cake! It's the ONE day that you will always be able to look back on and hopefully say "that was such an incredible day"!

If you are a future bride or groom to be, and your expectations are to feel relaxed and stress free throughout your engagement period, you're in for a wide awakening. Let me be frank, a relaxed engagement period USUALLY NEVER never happens! Which is why I believe hiring a wedding planner is worth every penny spent. You're investing so much time and money as is, why not just spend the additional "X" amount of dollars and hire someone to do everything for you.

Here are some negatives of planning your own wedding:

1. You don't always get to fully enjoy the moments because you’re too busy running the show.

2. Things can easily go from 0 to 100 and become quite chaotic.

3. You potentially may look back and say "I wish I would have hired someone!"

Don't get me wrong, planning your own wedding is absolutely possible and can turn out to be wonderful! BUT you are POTENTIALLY setting yourself up for a stressful few months and most importantly a stressful day. Trust me when I say, it's a lot harder than it looks.

My sister and I believe that every bride and grooms wedding philosophy should be:

‘Every Love Story Is Beautiful, But Ours Is My Favorite.’

-ELSIBBOIMF-

You don't want to look back on your wedding day and compare it to someone else’s! You should feel completely content with the way your wedding turned out.

So let me give you my top 10 very important reasons why Franck Eggelhoffer (Father of the Bride) actually played such an important role in that movie.

#1 Efficiency.

When planning a wedding, productivity is key. If you work a full time job, plan on spending your evenings looking through wedding magazines or browsing the internet for the best and most affordable deals you can get. Remember you are accountable for everything that happens at the wedding because ultimately you organized it.

*It’s a lot less nerve-racking when you allow the planner to be efficient for you. Let them put in all the effort to make sure everything is happening the way it should be.

#2 Life.

Life happens, things come up unexpectedly, and you can’t always rely on everyone else to pick up the pieces. You shouldn't be floating around with a list of responsibilities when an important life event is occurring. Who needs that pressure? Certainly not me!

*When hiring a planner, your wedding won't get put on hold. The show will go on! It's your wedding planner’s duty to make sure everything happens the way you want it to unless you tell them otherwise.

#3 Specifics.

There are so many details that go into planning a wedding! For example, transportation, accommodations, time schedules, what to bring where, who is to do what, which seats are to reserve, etc. If you work a 9:00-5:00 job plan on calling vendors during lunch hours (not all vendors are open past certain times.) Sometimes people get so tied up in worrying about the basics that they push away the details, and their wedding day ends up not turning out the way they hoped it would.

*A good wedding planner loves detail. They know all elements wedding related. They know venues, vendors, and specifics that we tend to forget. Your planner is your go to person who knows the ins-and-outs of your big day. No detail should be forgotten.

#4 Inspiration.

Yes, I have a Pinterest and I love it. It's great for wedding inspiration, but let's be honest everyone uses Pinterest for party planning and events. What happened to creativity through our own eyes? What happened to originality?

*99% of wedding planners have an eye for beauty. Being inspired isn't something that just anyone can do. A wedding planner typically is inspired to give you original ideas, and to give you ideas you may not have even thought of for your big day.

#5 Budgeting.

This is probably the most important point listed here, and the main reason people do not hire a wedding planner. A wedding planner is not in their budget. Let me clarify something, hiring a wedding planner is not always as expensive as you think it's going to be.

Here's a con: When planning your own wedding it's your duty to keep track of EVERYTHING. You should keep track of all payments, deposits, and remember which vendors have been paid off. Trust me when I say it can get extremely stressful, and is by far one of the couples least favorite part about planning a wedding.

*When you hire a planner they become your personal wedding bookkeeper. They go to you for approval on the budget and make sure they're hiring vendors within your budget. Wedding planners typically know wedding finance101. They know people in the industry. A wedding planner should know prices, who or what is in your budget, who can give you what you’re looking for, what is worth it, what is not worth it, and how to save you money. In the end, all responsibilities of payments lie on you, but all responsibilities of keeping track should lie on the planner.

#6 Breathing.

Every bride and groom about to embark on this journey should take a step back and give themselves some breathing room. The reality is they're getting married and that in itself is a big deal! Making this commitment for life can change everything. Of course, this is a beautiful and exciting time, but it can be very stressful and cause a lot of anxieties.

*It’s a wedding planner’s job to keep you at ease. They should make sure you have everything and everyone you need to make you feel complete, calm, and happy on your big day.

#7 Outlining.

An organized wedding can end up being flawless. An unorganized wedding can easily look like a key stones cop’s skit. If you don’t organize what's happening, you are typically not going to get the results you’re looking for.

* Planners formulate and outline a plan for you, they run it by you and then they execute it.

#8 Individuality.

This goes hand in hand with inspiration. As stated previously, Pinterest may be your form of expressing you and your significant other, but having an incredible wedding ‘board’ of others ideas is not something a couple should aim for. A wedding should scream the couple’s name not the couples on Pinterest's name.

* Wedding planners typically try to get a feel for you and your soon to be spouse. They usually interview you and ask questions to get an idea of what you want and what you like. Sometimes they even personally know you. Being an outsider looking in can be a helpful tool for customizing your wedding to be unique to you. People will remember what made your wedding different from everyone else’s!

#9 Managing

There is no way that you can manage everything on your own for your wedding day. Time management is key in planning and throwing your wedding. The venue has to be booked by a certain time. Invites have to be sent out in advanced, etc. If you don't have time management skills, planning your wedding is not going to be simple.

*Planners are managers. They're good at giving instructions. They are on top of their game and will make the process of throwing a wedding look flawless.

#10 Fantasy.

Last but not least, the fantasy. Your wedding should be the day you've dreamed of for so long, the most important piece of your love story. You should wake up feeling nothing but complete joy in your heart, and unfortunately, this is not always the case. Brides and grooms typically wake up feeling anxious about the cake not arriving to the venue yet, or the groom and his party running late because one of his groomsmen drank too much the night before, etc. This day should be about you and your partner, not everything else.

* Let the planner handle the stress. Let the planner worry about the cake arriving and the groom’s party running late! You're there for the ride and to celebrate the love you and your soon to be share!

A key point I want to share with you:

You don’t have to hire a wedding planner for the entire process of planning your big day. Really, you don’t have to hire them until a month before your wedding day. The planner handles what YOU want THEM to handle. Whether that is a just assisting on the day of the wedding, handling the entire process, or aiding in the preparations a month before the big day. They should support you in whatever you need once hired.

Here is a little 101 on Wedding Planner Fees:

Some planners charge a fee based off of the budget of the wedding. Other planners have a flat fee which is the most common approach these days. A day of wedding planner gets involved two weeks before the big day and can charge anything from $600.00 to $1,800.00. Full service wedding planners usually range between $2,000.00 to $10,000.00, based off of experience and demand. Keep in mind a new wedding planner is just as hard working as a high-end planner.

So there you have it! My top 10 reasons why hiring a wedding planner is worth it!

Sorry about the long post. Guess I am just kind of passionate about it :)

Also, the two picture's are from my best friend Ashlee's engagements shoot. They're beautiful aren't they?!

Xo.