When Should You Hire A Wedding Planner?
So the love of your life gets down on one knee and asks you to marry him…you say yes! All the excitement takes over, engagement parties, dinners, family & friends and the dream of your perfect wedding starts to become a reality. People start asking when, where, what colors, DJ or band, open bar…all the normal questions. At first most brides are so excited to start the process and set out to plan their wedding on their own. There are definitely people out there who can accomplish this task with grace and dignity…but for the majority of women, this is where a wedding planner comes in handy. You always want to hire a wedding planner BEFORE you NEED her.
There are a couple types of brides:
The couples that knows from the start that a wedding planner is a necessity and that is their first purchase.
The couples that start to set up a few appointments and leave so confused and with questions that they hire a wedding planner.
The couples that get their big things taken care of (the venue, the wedding party, maybe the food) and then decide that with their full-time jobs and social life…they do not have time to complete all the details so therefore hire a wedding planner.
The last but not least…are the couples that think they can do it all and end up way over their heads and are so frustrated they finally decide to hire a wedding planner to come in and revamp the planning process.
We do not want you to be the couple #4! Wedding planning is something that most people do ONCE in a lifetime. This process should NOT be stressful, frustrating, exhausting or overwhelming. This process should be fun! You are planning the day you get to marry the love of your life! Why stress over that? That is why we do what we do. Every bride has more than her wedding going on in her life…jobs, family, friends, trips, emergencies, commitments and life. That is why wedding planners can be your confident and support system when the rest of your life is happening as well.
The KEY clues that you need to hire a wedding planner are:
You are stressed out
You are not enjoying any part of the process
You keep adding last minute things you didn’t think about
You are arguing/bickering too much with your family/fiancé
You feel as though you don’t have enough time
You leave certain meetings confused or with questions
You are having trouble budgeting for your wedding
Or you are just flat out over it
We are here to help you in anyway you need. That is why most planners have multiple package options. MK for instance offers three packages: Week of, Month of, & Full-Service planning. We want to make sure that each couple is getting exactly what they need/want. If you are a DIY bride then the week of package is best for you! If you are a couple months out from your wedding and getting a little stressed out and frazzled, the month of package is for you! Now if you work full-time and know that you really don’t have the time to be planning your wedding 24/7 but know that you want it to be perfect and have the attention it deserves, a full-service planner is for you!
The most difficult situation for a planner and her clients is when the couple has started planning and backed themselves into corners. They have booked venues, purchased items, and wasted money that they cannot get back and regret choosing those vendors/signing those contracts. Planners have seen it all and for the most part fixed these problems to whatever extent they can. Also, planning a wedding can get pretty stressful and the last thing we want to see is families or fiancés fighting over money and decisions. We can come in and help smooth over all the bumps. Sometimes it is easier for us as planners to give alternative options without having a fight break out. We want to avoid any type of rocky water during this planning process.
The earlier you hire a wedding planner the easier it is to troubleshoot. Your planner and you can look ahead and troubleshoot possible issues, this allows for you to be more calm and confident about the little things that might be worrying you. Odds are, the planner has dealt with those little things before.
So before you get in over your head or start feeling stressed out…that is when you need to hire a wedding planner!
