WHY HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER?
I asked my friend Elena, who is a kickass wedding planner in Toronto to shed some knowledge on why wedding planners play such an important role in the planning of a wedding and why YOU should consider getting on board with a planner, such as Elena.
Here's what she had to say...
Your wedding day is the most important day of your life, so of course it’s only natural you want everything to be perfect. You’ve only been dreaming of this day practically your entire life or at the very least a couple years. Wedding planners have the skills, knowledge and passion to meticulously look at every detail and make sure everything falls into place as you dreamed it would.
It takes an average of 250+ hours to plan a wedding. While you can source mass information online, it can be overwhelming and time consuming. Wedding planners will do all the leg work for you, they already have all the vendor connections and know which reputable vendor is suitable for your budget, needs and style. This alone can save you hours of wasted time. Wouldn’t it be nice in this fast-paced society of ours to have someone else do this all for you and more? Let’s discuss why wedding planners are invaluable at this crucial time in your life.
Your Wedding Concierge
Wedding planners are there at your beck and call to ensure this production – your wedding goes off without a hitch. You dream it or want it and they will out source it for you. Wedding planners have lists and the right contacts to organize every aspect of your wedding ie. venue, photographer, decorations etc… the list is endless. Now with the Pinterest trend the sky is the limit and everything can be made possible. Wedding planners are there to guide you and assist you in the planning process so you can enjoy and be stress free.
Crisis Averted
Imagine you find out the day before your wedding that the hotel you booked for your out of town guests have double booked and will not have rooms available for those guests after the wedding or the DJ calls sick and will not show on your wedding day. What bride or groom wants to deal with all this on the eve of their wedding? Wedding planners deal with every crisis for you, no matter how small or large. You will not even hear of this problem on the eve of your wedding because your wedding planner will be behind the scenes already resolving everything for you and coming up with solutions. At the end of the day you will be notified of the resolution and that all is well and taken care of.
Managing Your Budget
With so many options it is no question you can easily go over budget. A wedding planner will provide you with a comprehensive budget template and help you stick to your budget by working with you to prioritize your spending. This template will display how much you are spending in each stage of the planning process. Not only that but they will update you on when you have upcoming payments and remind you on the day of that the payment is due. They essentially become your wedding financial advisor.
Event Design
Establishing the aesthetics of your wedding day will be one of the most important aspects of your wedding. It sets the tone, ambience and guest experience of your entire day. A good wedding planner will interpret your vision, love story and personality and create different mood boards for you. They will provide advice and inspire you with different design options and make your vision come to life.
The Dream Team
If you work full time you may not have the time to call three different décor companies and go back and forth with emails to determine price and décor options. At that point you may just pick the first decorator you spoke with because it’s the easiest option but you may miss out on savings and hiring a qualified and reputable vendor. There are so many moving parts on your wedding day and each vendor is providing a crucial element to your wedding. If one vendor does not do their part it will be a domino effect that will affect other areas of your wedding as well. Wedding planners have worked with a wide variety of vendors in the industry and will provide you with the right vendors for your wedding. They will put together your dream team of vendors that work well together and provide quality of service.
Venue Coordinator or Wedding Coordinator?
The most asked question by couples when they want to save money and plan their own wedding but would like a professional to ensure their wedding day goes as planned. Venues will tell you that they have a venue coordinator that will take care of your wedding but that can be misleading and what exactly does that entail? A venue coordinator is looking out for the best interest of the venue. The venue coordinator looks after everything that has to do with the venue as in food, set up of tables and chairs that they are providing, cleanliness of the venue itself, setting appointments with potential couples to discuss catering and venue needs etc. Whereas a wedding coordinator is looking out for the bride and groom’s best interests. The wedding coordinator will be there from morning to night to ensure makeup and hair is arriving on time, limo is on its way to your destination, setting up ceremony décor, overseeing set up of reception space, queuing: entrances, speeches and the list goes on and on. Without a wedding coordinator ensuring all goes well on your wedding day, who will set up and over see everything? That will be left in your hands. If anything goes wrong on the day of your wedding the venue coordinator will not be able to resolve any issues that arise. Think of wedding coordinators as security for all the money that you spent on your wedding. They are there to ensure all goes well so you do not have to be dealing with problems on the day of and have the money you spent all go down the drain as your day is ruined. Not only that but if the bustle on your wedding gown rips, the wedding coordinator will have her emergency kit with her with a sewing kit and sew your dress back together in no time!
Save Your Sanity!
One of the most important jobs a wedding planner has is saving the bride and groom’s sanity. All the bride and groom have to do is relax and enjoy their wedding day and the days leading up to it. Instead you may end up worrying if the correct colour flowers will show up or have a print out of the timeline you created at the head table in front of you to making sure the entrees are coming out on time (true story of a friend who did not hire a wedding coordinator). Wedding planners/coordinators will give you piece of mind so you don’t have to worry about a thing and actually enjoy your engagement and be a guest at your own wedding.
Want to learn more about Elena? See her details below.
Website: https://www.eventsbyelena.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eventsbyelena/
Email: info@eventsbyelena.com