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Do I need a Wedding Planner?

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So you’ve got engaged, told your families and friends the good news and shown the ring to anyone who looks in your direction. After all the initial excitement you start to think about your wedding and one of the first things you should consider is ‘Do I need a Wedding Planner?’

We've asked expert wedding planner Katie Dillon for her advice.......

Whether to hire a Wedding Planner is not a decision to be made lightly and is something that only you and your fiancé can decide. Consider the following:

Do you and your fiancé work long hours?
Do you both have stressful and tiring jobs?
Will you be getting help from parents, family or friends?
Can you do it by yourself?
Can you allow the time?
Do you want the challenge and responsibility of solely planning your wedding?

I am sure that you will get countless offers of help from all the females you know, some of whom maybe married or engaged themselves. But when it really comes down to it can you totally depend on them?
Will they be able to assist you with each and every aspect of the plans? Will you be able to work with them on such a stressful and complex project?

Planning your wedding will bring the full range of feelings and emotions. Understandably it is a very trying time, filled with pressure, stress and anxiety. Hiring a Wedding Planner will take the majority of this away and you will only feel excitement and happiness throughout it all.
Of course you will have important decisions to make but you will have a professional to guide you towards what is right for you as a couple and your wedding. Nowadays, weddings are becoming more and more elaborate and for many the bigger the better. Many couples are now trying to make their wedding different to ones they have previously attended……with this every emotion and feeling is multiplied as you already have more pressure on yourselves.

The role of a Wedding Planner is misunderstood by many people. All too often people believe they are reserved for the rich and famous, and this is not the case. Every day life consists of long working hours, busy social lives and demanding domestic responsibilities. When was the last time you properly relaxed? You probably can’t remember and right now are dreaming of a nice long soak in the bath, reading a good book with a glass of wine.

If you haven’t had the time to do something like this recently, where will you find the time to plan your wedding?

Many people believe that they will lose control of all the preparations if they use a Wedding Planner, something which couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact you will be in a much better position than if you were doing it yourself. Your Wedding Planner will provide you with regular updates and you will have clear timelines and schedules set out together with an accurate financial overview.

How can a Wedding Planner help you?

Well, it’s probably best to start with what they can’t do! Essentially a Wedding Planner is there for you and your fiancé, someone who plays a supporting role, acting as a valuable source of advice and reassurance throughout the whole process.

A good Wedding Planner will be able to tailor their services to meet your needs, taking care of as much or as little as you want. Your Wedding Planner will be able to guide you through the planning process right up to the day itself. One of the most important things to remember is that they are there to serve you so provided you tell them what you want; they will draw upon their expertise, knowledge, creativity and flair to help you create the wedding you have always dreamed of.

Financial Help

Another benefit to using a Wedding Planner is the financial control they bring to the situation. Many couples who plan their own wedding overspend for whatever reason. It may be because there is something which has been forgotten or even that you couldn’t find what you want or you couldn’t get a particular item within your price range so you opt for a more expensive option ending up over budget. It is certainly true that all the little things do add up. Your Wedding Planner will have to work within your budget and you will find that the real cost of a Wedding Planner to be very little with the savings you can make on other aspects of the day.

Free Consultations

The majority of Wedding Planners will offer a free consultation so it is worthwhile arranging to meet with at least two so you have something to compare.

It is incredibly important that you have an immediate connection with those that you meet and you need to feel confident in their ability to do the job. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; treat it as a job interview, in essence it is as you are trying to determine that they can be trusted with one of the most important days and events in your life. They should be confident and professional, enthusiastic about your wedding and also approachable, someone who you feel could sort out any problems or difficulties you face.

wedding planning

See the benefits straight away

Depending upon the level of service you choose, full, partial or on the day co-ordination, you will see the benefits straight away. Even if you go for a one-to-one planning session it will still be of great benefit to you as you will start off on the right track or be brought back up to date with the plans if you have a session part way through. You and your fiancé will be able to enjoy your engagement, spending quality time together instead of spending all your free time undertaking hours of research looking for a florist or a photographer, again even if you have a partial planning service you will know what you are looking for and also what to ask of them so the process will be much easier. If you select a full co-ordination package you will of course still be required to have regular meetings with your Wedding Planner and to attend meetings with your suppliers, but you will be able to enjoy all of this and you will be in a much better position and frame of mind to select them.

In short your Wedding Planner will be your best friend, confidant and your imagination; but perhaps more importantly they will stop you from becoming Bridezilla!

When meeting with a Wedding Planner consider asking the following questions:

How long have you been a Wedding Planner?
Have you taken any professional qualifications?
Did you start up the business from scratch?
Is this your full time or part time job? What else do you do?
Do you specialise in weddings or do you do other events?
What services do you offer? What prices are they? Do you have any special offers?
How many weddings do you undertake a year? (If they do other partial planning services how many couples do they assist per year?)
Will mine be the only wedding you do on the day?
Do you have an assistant to help you on the day?
Do you accept commissions from suppliers? Are these passed onto the client?
Do you take control of our finances or do we have to pay each supplier ourselves?
Are you present at all the vendor meetings?
How many hours are you present for on the day of a wedding?
Payment details- Deposit? Payment structure? Final balance? Refund policy in case of cancellation?
Do you have valid Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance?
Do you have a portfolio of recent work we can look at?

Hopefully this will have made you aware of the great benefits of using a Wedding Planner and I can assure you that you will not regret the decision to hire one. Ask your friends, family and work colleagues how their wedding plans went and I bet that a lot of them will tell you it was very stressful, time consuming although well worth it. So why not save yourself the stress and time and just enjoy being a Bride, after all life is hectic enough!

By Katie Dillon, Professional Wedding Planner & Co-ordinator, Director of Bliss Weddings

Tel: 07891 175 456
Email: katie@blissweddingsuk.com
Website: www.blissweddingsuk.com

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