Wedding Planner: Should you hire one?

 Planning a wedding can be very overwhelming.  So many details to attend to.  Actually you are planning two events, the wedding and the reception, and you want each to look perfect and be the day you’ve always dreamed about.  There is a plethora of information out there to help you do it yourself  if you’re so inclined.  In fact even the amount of information can be overwhelming.  Bridal Magazines, Wedding Shows on TV, Wedding Blogs, Twitter, etc. can all help give you inspiration for your special day.  However, if you feel you need and want professional help, a wedding planner can be invaluable. 

Although this list isn’t complete, it will give you an idea of where to start.  Some of the  details a wedding  planner would  point out to you to help focus on your vision are:

1)  Be realistic about your budget.  A good wedding planner can work magic with any budget, but you need to be firm about what you can spend.  In today’s economy, you don’t want to go over your head in debt for a wedding you can’t really afford.  There are many ways to make an event beautiful and elegant without spending $100,000.00 and this is where a wedding planner can really help.  They have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves. 

2) First determine what you want in your event design.  They would then know how to bring out your style.  Your gown style would be decided based on your event design.

3) Choose a location that is meaningful to you and do what you like, not to impress others.    Try to book your location a year ahead of time, they fill up quickly.  A money saving tip is to have your wedding early in the day or a Sunday.  We got a beautiful main ballroom in  relatively short notice (3 months)  because we were willing to do an affair on a Sunday night. 

3)  Look through portfolios of many florists before you decide who to hire.  Make sure they get your vision.  This is where bridal magazines are most helpful.  Get an organizer file, and cut out pictures of cakes, flowers, gowns, etc. so they can see what you like. They can help you save money by choosing flowers that are seasonal and use one type of flower for the whole arrangement.  Beautiful flowers doesn’t have to mean big budget.

4)  Carefully choose your photographer.  You will be looking at those pictures for the rest of your life and you don’t want to have regrets.  Your photographer is the historian of your wedding day.  Get formal shots and casual shots, color and black and white.  Get a good variety so you have choices of what you love.

Often brides are mesmerized by beautiful celebrity weddings.  One of our favorite wedding planning companies is Simply Natural Events.  They were recently featured in InStyle magazine for coordinating the wedding of actress Marissa Coughlan.

Look at the beautiful use of twinkle lights and the draping of the fabric.

I love the look  of  our Pear Candles  at each place setting.

I hope this will give you some things to think about when deciding if you should hire a wedding planner.

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