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January242023NOCOMMENTS
Saaty Photography

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Wedding Planning

What Does a Wedding Planner Actually Do?

Planning a wedding can be a fun and exciting experience, especially when you think of the big picture.

However, it can quickly become overwhelming once you start thinking about all the details and decisions. This is likely your first time planning a wedding (or an event of this size), and you may have a full-time job or other commitments where you need to spend your time. Sure, you may have a family member that is really good at organizing things and has more free time to help. Still, what happens when their opinions become too much or the wedding weekend arrives, and they want to enjoy the fun?

That is where a wedding planner steps in! Planners help you through the research and decision-making process, keep you on track, and ensure you and your family and friends can enjoy the moment.

Wedding planners are experts in the event industry. They can coordinate an event that is not only personalized to you but beautiful and logistically sound, all while respecting your budget comfort zone. A planner allows you, and anyone involved in planning, to focus on “fun” parts of the planning process (menu tasting, design, etc.). At the same time, they handle the logistics and back-and-forth details with vendors.

“…at the core is ensuring the wedding day runs smoothly.”

Many planning companies offer a variety of packages ranging from event coordination (also known as day-of or month-of coordination) to partial/guided planning to full-service planning. These packages may vary between planning companies, but at the core is ensuring the wedding day runs smoothly.

Sounds simple, right? The reality is your planner will spend anywhere from 30-40 hours on an event coordination package and 150+ hours on a full-service package, not to mention up to 12 hours on your wedding day! Let’s briefly break down the high-level difference between a wedding coordination package and a wedding planning package and what a planner might be responsible for in each of these:

Wedding Coordinator

  • Typically steps into the planning process around 2-3 months before the wedding
  • Assists in communicating final details and logistics with vendors you selected
  • Creates a comprehensive wedding weekend timeline to share with vendors as well as you and your wedding party
  • Is onsite on the wedding day, directing vendors and ensuring the timeline is being followed and the day runs smoothly

Wedding Planner

  • With you from the beginning, sometimes even before you have selected a date and location
  • Assists you in establishing a vision and realistic budget 
  • Connects you with professional vendors to bring your vision to life and reviews all contracts
  • Communicates all details and logistics with vendors throughout the entire planning process
  • Helps create a cohesive design based on your vision and budget
  • There to guide you during planning, providing etiquette guidance on aspects such as invitations, family situations, and wedding day flow
  • Creates a comprehensive wedding weekend timeline to share with vendors as well as you and your wedding party
  • Onsite on the wedding day, directing vendors and ensuring the timeline is being followed and the day runs smoothly

View My Planning & Coordination Packages

Planning packages offer a long list of services a planner will do to help make the wedding process stress-free and enjoyable for you and your family. However, in addition to that long list of service offerings, many more services are not listed that help make your wedding day seamless and let your friends and family have the experience of a lifetime. 

Some of these lesser-known services are…

  • Listening and empathizing as you go through the ups and downs of wedding planning
  •  Putting out fires and solving problems that arise on wedding day (without you ever knowing!)
  • Fashioning a bustle out of safety pins and thread underneath your dress when yours breaks
  • Ensuring that you and your partner actually get to eat the food at your wedding, uninterrupted
  • Finding another vendor last minute when your vendor gets sick on the day of your wedding
  • Giving you and your partner (and wedding party) breath mints and tissues before walking down the aisle
  • Making sure you have your room key/phone/wallet at the end of the night before you leave
  • Having bobby pins, boutonniere pins, and a steamer on hand to fix up any outfit
  • Helping out all your other vendors to help them bring their A-game

A wedding planner is much more than someone who shows up on the wedding day and tells people what to do (though that’s important too)! Trusting your planner and knowing they have your best interest in mind is essential. They are experts in their field and have seen a thing or two when it comes to weddings.

Booking a wedding planner will save you time and stress, so contact me if you’d like to work together to bring all your great ideas to life!

Blog photo by Saaty Photography


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January142023NOCOMMENTS

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in

Wedding Planning

You’re Engaged! Now What…?

Congratulations, you’re engaged!

Being engaged and beginning wedding planning should be a fun experience, but sometimes it can feel stressful or overwhelming instead.  You may be wondering where to begin as you start visualizing your wedding day. What should I do first? How much is this wedding going to cost? Who should I invite?

Here are the top three things I recommend you put at the top of your wedding planning to-do list.

1. Discuss with your partner key wedding planning decisions.

Once engaged, the first step in the wedding planning process is to sit down as a couple and discuss three key wedding planning topics.

First, establish who is involved in the decision-making process. Throughout the wedding planning journey, you will be faced with countless decisions. Where will the wedding take place? How many people will be invited? What is the overall vibe of the day? It is important that you and your partner decide early whether decisions will only be yours or whether your parents or other family members will be contributing.

Next, as you think of all the initial considerations, you’ll also want to figure out your overall budget. Talk with anyone who may be contributing financially to gather the information needed to set your maximum wedding budget. Before you start booking anything, it is crucial to decide how much you’re comfortable spending.

Lastly, talk with your partner about your top priorities for the wedding day. Perhaps your top priorities are the food, or maybe it’s having a live band. Regardless, it’s important to remember the must-haves as you begin to work through your budget and plan your wedding day.

2. Hire a wedding planner.

Okay, okay, I know I’m bias, but for many people, your wedding day is one of the most important (and expensive) days of your life, and I believe you should be able to enjoy it! Like your engagement, your wedding day happens once, and it will be over in the blink of an eye! So why not hire someone who will allow the wedding planning process to be stress-free and enjoyable? A wedding planner guides you in the decision-making process based on your priorities and budget. Planners help you mediate between different opinions throughout the process. Plus, they allow you to be fully present on the wedding day! There are wedding planners for all kinds of people and budgets, so regardless of how long you’ve been engaged, now is a great time to begin looking for a wedding planner who is within your budget and set up a few consultation calls to find the best fit for you and your partner.

Pro tip: Book your wedding planner before you book a venue. Your venue choice will have a huge impact on the rest of your budget and planning, and a wedding planner can make sure you’re making the best choice for your vision and budget.

3. Determine your VIPs and ensure they can attend on your ideal wedding date at your preferred location.

Your third top to-do after getting engaged is to determine your VIPs – your loved ones you can’t imagine your wedding day without. Check with them to ensure they can attend on your ideal wedding date at your preferred location! Being transparent with your inner circle is a great step towards ensuring they’re all able to make it to your wedding day.

All in all, enjoy this amazing time of being engaged! Wedding planning tasks can quickly pile up, but I encourage you to take a step back and a moment to breathe before diving in too deeply. Booking a wedding planner will save you time and stress when getting started, so contact me if you’d like to work together to plan your dream wedding day!

Booking a wedding planner will save you time and stress, so contact me if you’d like to work together to bring all your great ideas to life!


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