Do You Need A Wedding Planner?
Chances are, that unless you’re in the event management field or accustomed to throwing huge parties, your wedding will actually be the first large-scale event that you will be responsible for hosting. During the new, engagement phase, most brides are so elated that they get carried away thinking that they can just dive right in and plan the wedding in the twinkle of an eye.
A few months and probably several headaches later, reality sets in and the bride-to-be is flooded with thoughts like: “Who’s going to tell me what things cost? Is this vendor’s price fair? How will I schedule everything and everybody in? How can I ensure everyone is punctual on the day? Can I really rely on my family members to help me co-ordinate things? When will my rented items be collected? Who will help with the speech writing?” and the list goes on…
Here are my top 5 reasons that will hopefully convince you that a wedding planner is not an unnecessary expense, especially for larger weddings:
- Avoid Question-Invasion – Almost as soon as your engagement happens you’re going to be bombarded with questions from well-meaning friends, relatives and co-workers about wedding details. You’re probably not going to have answers to many of these questions just yet! To prevent question and answer overload, it’s best to hire a planner and let everyone know in one sentence that your planner will be handling those details!
- Stress-Less – Your wedding planner is going to be a sanity-saver, especially if you have a life outside of planning your wedding, which I’m sure you do! Your planner will give you time to study, plan for your new house, travel for work, work over-time, do your hobbies and exercise. He or she will keep you updated regularly and await your approval, so you will never feel out of the loop. This will make your wedding planning experience smooth sailing.
- Family should enjoy the wedding – Relatives will no doubt be eager to help but many will not have the expertise required, for example – liaising with sound and lighting or timing the food service. It’s best not to take a gamble on your wedding day, so it may be wiser to involve relatives in areas which don’t require much responsibility – such as distributing programmes and wedding favours to your guests.
- Experience Counts – Planners have contacts and experience that are all aimed at saving you money and time. They also have a good rapport with many wedding venues, which can give you an added advantage when it comes to issues such as: giving you extra add-ons and leeway on access time to the venue prior to the wedding.
- Mediator – Planners are there to help if you’re reached a crossroads and can’t decide on certain things – for example colours or décor. Their advice and knowledge will also help diffuse tense or awkward family situations that may crop up.
