Your engaged! And now the fun begins. Or will it? Planning a wedding is a lot of work. I’ve been servicing weddings behind the scenes now for a couple of years and have made some observations that I hope will help you decide on the right course of action for you to choose a wedding coordinator.
FAMILY & FRIENDS HELP We all have a person in our life who is that “A” type all the way. I’m that way myself, which is why I took on my daughter’s wedding. I did ask for some help from vendors, but on the day of, I had to carve out time to direct people instead of hanging out with my daughter and taking my time getting ready. Normally a pretty calm person, I was pretty stressed out. Having also been a couple of weddings who also had someone they knew – relatives in these cases – who wanted to be in charge, and it was an epic fail. However, if you’ve got free help, hard to turn that down. I truly believe it’s unfair to ask anyone to be a worker and a guest, so maybe let them help in the planning, but not the execution. Let your wedding party and guests be exactly that, with no additional duties before, during and after the day of the wedding. Recommendation: Day Of
THE BRIDE IS IN CHARGE I know lots of you out there are capable of planning an event. Maybe you do as part of your job, or in the community. However, when you are the star of the show, perhaps you don’t want to be the boss too, at least on the big day. Select your vendors, get the date set, then bring in a coordinator to wrangle all the details leading up to and day of to give you the amazing wedding you deserve. Recommendation: Partial
THE WEDDING PLANNER If you can, start with a planner immediately. Though I know some of you think it’s not in the budget, it really can be. One of the number one things a planner will do is find you the best venue, decor and vendors to work with what you have to spend and your vision. And they can negotiate on your behalf, plus help you narrow down the particulars. Timelines, appointment reminders, communication, are all handled with ease – especially the day of the wedding. You and your groom, plus friends and family, can relax and enjoy the day with a minimum of stress. I can honestly say the weddings that did have a full-service coordinator were pretty seamless. There were problems, but the coordinators ran interference and took care of decisions so the bride and groom didn’t have to be involved. Recommendation: Full Service
