What Does a Wedding Planner Actually Do?

 

People often ask me what does a wedding planner actually do?  Most people have seen American films with a wedding planner in them.  They often seem to create more drama and work but every wedding seems to have one.

The real life wedding planner is a little bit different from the movies…

…thankfully!

So what does a wedding planner actually do?

In a nutshell, we organise your wedding on your behalf but there’s a whole lot more to it………

 

I Save You Time

I know that more and more of you are short on time with busy jobs and family life.  Planning a wedding takes up a good chunk of time every week which many couples just don’t have available.

In fact a wedding takes 250 hours on average to plan.

Could you find enough spare hours every week?  Do you need to put that extra strain on your already busy schedule?

I save you time by undertaking a multitude of tasks on your behalf.  Things like:

• Creating and managing your wedding budget, keeping it up to date every time there’s a change
• Finding your ideal venue
• Sourcing and then managing your wedding suppliers
• Issuing your invitations and tracking RSVPs
• Advising you about wedding etiquette and best practice throughout
• Pulling together the detailed plan of your day

 

 

I Supply My Professional Organisation Skills

Does the thought of planning your own wedding bring you out in a cold sweat?  Do you have no idea where to even start?

As a professional project manager, I know exactly how to take a big chunk of work and break it down into manageable pieces.  I also know how to prioritise the workload and make sure things are sorted in a logical order.  So that overwhelm doesn’t have time to get hold of you at all.

Don’t underestimate the amount of planning needed to deliver a wedding.  Even a small wedding will still need serious planning – chances are you will still need the same amount of suppliers as a big wedding.  This means keeping track of who you’ve booked, what you booked them to do, how much you’ve paid them, how much you owe them and when you need to pay as well as many other tasks along the way.  So if planning isn’t your bag then keep reading.

Other popular scenarios where people choose to have a planner include:

–     Not getting married in your home location
–     Getting married in less than 6 months,
–     Having a big wedding (e.g. 100 or more day guests)
–     Marquee or tipi wedding
–     Choosing a dry hire venue*.

These all need more planning or time commitment so definitely worth considering a planner if this is you.

*a dry hire venue is where you literally just hire the building and you need to find your own bar, caterers, venue decorators etc etc.

 

I Support You

As well as the practical support, I’ll hold your hand throughout the planning.  There are lots of decisions to be made whilst planning your wedding and I’ll support you in making those decisions.  It’s worth noting though that the decisions stay with you so I’m not going to decide which florist you use for example or what colour scheme you have.  So you’re not losing control of your day.

I’ll offer advice, suggest alternative solutions and answer your questions.   It’s amazing how many things couples need help and advice with and I’m there to guide you.

 

Finding Your Suppliers

Finding the right suppliers for your wedding can be a bit of a minefield – how do you know who to trust?  How do you know you’re not being ripped off?

Your planner will be able to recommend her trusted suppliers to you and will work with them throughout to ensure they understand your requirements and are on track.

Rest assured though, you will always retain full control of the design of your day.  Your planner will help to bring together your design ideas.

She’ll make sure everything will work together as well as suggesting other ideas for you to think about.  All the plans will be reviewed and agreed by you so you don’t need to worry about losing control of your day.

 

 

On The Day

When it comes to your big day, I’m always there throughout the day to make sure the plan is executed perfectly right down to the placement of the last name card and lighting of every candle.  If you’re having a marquee or tipi wedding, I’ll also be there in the days up to the wedding during the build to oversee the set up.

I’ll make sure all your suppliers are in the right place at the right time.

I’ll resolve any last minute hitches (and with so many moving parts, they do happen.  But if you have a planner you probably won’t even know about it until after the event).

I make sure you are okay and are totally happy with everything as well as supporting your family, your guests and your bridal party.  For example, I’ll help to pin button holes on, direct people to the toilets, lend them a sewing kit or dash out to the supermarket if you’re running out of beer!  But please don’t ask us to look after children or animals, this definitely isn’t in our remit.

There’s so much that a good planner will do on your wedding day, I could go on forever.  But the key thing is that having a planner there, means that you can relax and enjoy your day without needing to worry about a thing.

The exact list of things a planner will do will vary depending on your ideas and your individual wedding plans as well as the service you have booked, so be sure you are clear about what your planner is and isn’t going to do for you.

Most planners have different packages they offer so take your time to understand what they include and think about the level of help you need.

You can read more about my planning services here.  But I’m always happy to chat to couples about what they need help with and create a bespoke package that suits their needs.

 

Louise