What Does a Wedding Planner Really Do?

Picture your perfect wedding day. The venue is breathtaking and unique, the decor is flawless and well thought out, and every detail of the day is executed to perfection. Behind the scenes, orchestrating this magical event is a wedding planner. Often seen as a luxury role, their job is far more integral and complex than what meets the eye.

The Art of Coordination When planning a wedding many couples from the start do not recognize that there is a strategy to how you book your vendors and the importance of the order you book them in. Most couples don’t know that the order they so randomly decide to hire people will greatly affect the flow and set the tone for the rest of their planning experience. This is where a wedding planner comes in. Who better knows how to properly hire vendors than a wedding planner who does it over and over for a living? Wedding Planners are the conductors of a complex symphony, ensuring every instrument plays in harmony. That occurs during planning process as well. Wedding planners are there to prevent the little bumps, extra fees, and they are there to always ask the right questions.

From securing the venue and vendors to managing timelines, unique floor-plans, and budgets, they oversee every aspect of the wedding. They act as a liaison between the couple and vendors, ensuring everyone is on the same page and that the couple's vision is brought to life. Most importantly they know what you want better than anyone else.

Wedding Planners are there for YOU Wedding planners are for you and you only. They are not just any other vendor who reaches out to you four weeks before your wedding to start learning more about your event right as you are wrapping up the major planning. Wedding planners are the only vendor on your wedding day who has heard every conversation, was apart of every booking, created every idea with you, curated the design, and studied your vision for the last year to two years. Most wedding planners will even know what filling should be in your cake and if you wanted baby’s breath in your bouquet or not… Wedding Planners are like your own personal assistant who has gotten to know you like your best friend and who cares about your wedding just as much as you do. (and in my case also becomes a full time texting buddy for frequent moral support and so they can send me random wedding things they bought off Etsy at 1AM). But all of this is what we do too and why we love our job.

Stress Relief and Realistic Answers Planning a wedding is overwhelming. As a wedding planner I often witness disappointment and extreme shock to wedding industry prices. Couples never know where to start, how to plan, or how much anything costs. Emphasis on the “how much everything costs.” I have had brides with a $5,000 floral budget show me their floral inspiration pictures with $30,000 worth of flowers in them. Imagine their surprise and disappointment when I told them how much it was. This is a common and universal experience. As George Banks once said “$250 a head?!” Or when he thought the whole wedding would cost $1,200 and Franck told him that that was a good estimate for just the cake.

Usually at this point it's easy to want to give up and feel defeated. But, a wedding planner gives couples the easiest access to the answers they need to hear, they share realistic prices and provide their long term vendor connections allowing couples to enjoy the process and feel secure that they are always making the best and most cost effective decisions. Wedding planners will share what is realistic for couples from the start with their given budget to prevent future disappointments which I know so many couples are familiar with.

Personalized Experiences Every couple wants their wedding to be unique, and a skilled planner knows how to tailor each event to the couple's individual preferences and will put in the work and effort to do so. They work closely with the couple to understand their vision and bring it to life. If you hire a wedding planner who also specializes in design like us, we personalize your design so your wedding doesn’t feel just like your friends who got married last month. That is the famous line I hear from my new brides when they show me their Pinterest boards “I just don’t want it to look exactly like my friends wedding who got married last month.” But, it can be difficult to track down and find unique things and discover the next newest trend. Wedding planners are highly involved in the industry and can almost always share new and fresh ideas to help make your wedding more unique. For myself, I am always educating myself on upcoming trends and the newest inventions so I can do and be the best that I can for my brides and help them create something unique.

The Day-of Execution Remember the art of coordination, how wedding planners are there for YOU, the stress free planning process, and the personalized design you had? All of that comes down to the day of execution and the wedding planners ability to produce your wedding flawlessly. This is where not just anyone could mimic the art of coordination that a professional wedding planner has grown to come so familiar with, this is where no one else can be there for you the way your wedding planner will be after studying your wedding so closely, and all of the stress free planning and personalized design that you see wouldn’t be possible without all of the wedding planners behind the scenes work and efforts. A well-planned wedding is more than just another celebration to us; it's someone’s core memories that will last a lifetime. A wedding planner's contribution to this lasting memory is immeasurable. As a Wedding Planner I am always honored to be apart of the beginning of your story and I never forget any of my couples and my ability to make them as happy as I did. From the first text or call to the final hug they give me at the end of their wedding night, everything in between may not be the luxury role people think it is but it is dedication, passion, and true desire to make sure they don’t ever forget how beautiful their wedding day was, and that is what a wedding planner really does.