Wedding Planner: Why hire one?
Anyone can plan a wedding, in theory! Select a date, find a venue, create a spreadsheet, allocate a budget, source some suppliers and voila! Yes, anyone can plan a wedding and be their own wedding organiser, so why hire a wedding planner?
A Wedding Planner is an Emotional Investment
Hiring a wedding planner is an incredibly personal investment. In the lead up to your wedding, we will speak, drink, dine, meet each other so often it will feel like we are a member of the family. The relationship is built entirely on trust and you will find we become your confidantes with whom you can share all your hopes and concerns with.
Every couple is unique with two personalities, different likes, dislikes and many opinions. Sometimes you have to take on board the opinions from the mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and it can all become very overwhelming.
When things get complicated and decisions have to be made, we offer the professional advice which can help the individual couple make the best choice with the best outcome.
Wedding consultations are extremely important and it will help you decide if you have rapport with the planner in front of you and if they truly understand your vision. Trust is crucial, they will be responsible in important decisions and ensuring the most important day of your life runs perfectly.
The Job Role of a Wedding Planner
Wedding organisers adapt their role to suit each couple’s level of involvement and requirements. As mentioned previously, no couple is the same. Some couples will want to have constant updates and meetings, others will prefer a Skype call when they have a gap in their busy work schedule. Sometimes you may be planning a wedding for a couple who live abroad, they will rely on you even more as it is unlikely that they will know the local suppliers and venues.
A wedding planner will have your best interests and budget in mind, at all times. With so many trends and must-haves many couples feel pressure when it comes impressing their guests. Wedding organisers do not judge, we can help solve troublesome situations and quite simply be at the end of the phone if you are having a mini meltdown. Some couples hesitate in hiring a planner as they want to organise everything themselves, they find it hard to relinquish control. That is where we become chameleons, we don’t come strolling in with our clipboards and earpiece and start bossing everybody around. We completely understand that you will want to be involved, it is something that we encourage as it can really help with the decision making. We work in a way that suits you and your lifestyle, we are there to help not take over.
Wedding Planners are Experts at Problem Solving
I will let you into a little secret. Even with a wedding planner, I can guarantee that something will go wrong on the wedding day. Maybe the florist will get stuck in standstill traffic or the wrong linen has been laid on the tables or the photographer has been rushed to A&E; yes, all of these have happened to us! Had the bride and groom been their own planners, they would have had to pull away from the guests to resolve the issue and lost precious time with their loved ones!
The role of the wedding planner is to resolve the situation before it even reaches the guests’ attention. Usually issues can be rectified without the bride and groom even knowing there was an issue in the first place. Wedding planners find solutions, have back up plans pre-empted and will create alternatives, bringing calm to chaos. You can’t fight fire with fire, the key is not to panic! Easier said than done I know.
As a wedding and event planner, I of course have encountered many …….. moments. I was organising a large dinner for 250 guests at a luxury London hotel. The guests were enjoying a glass of bubbles and canapés. The beautiful taffeta linen had just been laid on the 25 dining tables. The waiting staff were ironing out the creases, it was only when I noticed the large water like stains appearing on the top of each tablecloth. Were the irons leaking? No, however the wax that was sitting on the hotels under- cloth was indeed melting into the expensive Champagne fabric. Mass panic? No, quick thinking! The Mango Pie team knew that a supplier located only 30 minutes away had a similar coloured tablecloth and knew they held large quantities. It took a 5-minute phone call, one Addison Lee taxi and around 1 hour of telling our client that everything was on track and totally fine. The tablecloths arrived, the tables were re-set and just as the last fork had been laid, the guests walked in!
The knowledge and relationship we had with this supplier as wedding organisers was the reason why we managed to fix the issue before it was even noticed. Our ‘little black book’ of contacts and of course the quick thinking. It sounds crazy, but we work better under pressure!
Let’s Talk About Money
The delicate and sensitive words that most people do not like to ask, ‘what is your budget?’ Sometimes we are met with ‘I don’t know’ or ‘what do you suggest.’ When it comes to individual costs the sky is the limit. You can pay £20.00 for a bunch of flowers or £2,000. Based on conversations between the planner and the couple, it is our job to ensure that your vision and style works throughout and most importantly works to the budget that you give us. Wedding planners will know how to maximise your budget as well as negotiate discounts as they give repeat business to suppliers. If a couple were to go direct, the rate might not be as favourable, as the supplier will see that as a one-off piece of business. We will email an individual supplier sometimes up to twenty times to ensure that we get the right cost. Making sure that you are not being overcharged for any item also comes into consideration.
The Last Leg
The big day has finally arrived, and you have jitters, butterflies and all the other emotions that come with it. You won’t need to worry about what time the wedding car is arriving or if the flowers are setup at the church. We have you covered and as if by magic the biggest day of your life will run like clockwork and perfectly materialise in front of your eyes.
If you are looking to hire a wedding planner, Mango Pie have years of experience organising perfect weddings. For more information on how we can help please get in touch!