When I was getting married, I truly thought I had my planning down pat. In my mind, my organizational and wedding planning skills were in line with such dynamos as Martha Stewart or David Tutera. I have always been the anally organized person - legitimately, I have color-coded calendars, people...several of them. When I started planning my wedding, I made my planning binder, made several million spreadsheets, and started my own wedding website. I had this. Heck, I would even high-five myself at times just to remind me how good I really was (okay, well, not really but you get the point). So, why, you may ask, did I choose to hire a Day-Of Wedding Coordinator for my own wedding?
Let me start with this...when I got engaged, I had recently made the decision to leave my long-time career and start my own business. I was in the VERY early stages of my business and thought taking on planning on my own would be something I could handle and I did well. However, if I were still working at my full-time job, I probably would have hired on a full planner. Why? Here's the thing...planners can be what you can see on wedding television shows. But, moreso, they are a million things you don't get to see.
When you hire a wedding planner you are hiring an extra set of hands, ears, and eyes. A planner will help look for items that you want for you wedding (and often, in their expertise, already have the connections to do so). They will send numerous emails and make phone calls to vendors and venues so you don't have to do all of those mundane tasks. And, the most important part, is the day-of coordination...
Around the six month mark in my wedding, I decided on a Day-Of Wedding Coordinator. I began envisioning the day of my wedding and wondering how things would pan out. Sure, I could have myself and my friends and family help out with setting up the reception before my ceremony and I could have dealt with problems that may arise and I could pack a million little things to bring with me...but why should I? It's your wedding day, a celebration of your life and love that you are including your friends and family in. Rather than spending time setting up place cards with your bridesmaids, why not spend some bonding time at the salon or eating small snacks and just hanging out together? I had my bridesmaids spend the night the night before my wedding day...we played board games and drank wine and just had a nice time. The next morning, we spent the morning in the salon getting our hair and makeup done while sipping mimosas and having silly photo shoots. After we came back to my house and I hung out with my family and them and watched TV and ate lunch. I did not fall into that trap you hear so often of brides not having time to eat and relax. I can describe my mood as tranquil and calm. My wedding was perfect and I had not a care in the world. If there was a problem, my Day-Of Coordinator took care of it before I even knew it was happening. I was just happy.
When I began doing wedding planning and coordination, I thought very carefully about what it felt like to be a bride. When someone hires me for full planning, they get a VERY detailed binder of things that I needed help with. I tried to cover EVERYTHING and trust me it's GOOOOOOOOOD! No matter what level of planning people choose, I do a lot of services that the bride and groom just shouldn't have to. I call and email EVERY vendor the week before the wedding to confirm their set times and make sure they know what is expected of them. I also do vendor control the day of the wedding. I bring all items to the reception hall so you don't have to (place cards, guest books, card boxes, etc.) and then set them up. I serve as the contact person for you bridal party as well. I work with the venue to make sure all details are expedited properly. And the best part? The behind the scenes care I take with a couple...I bring an EXTENSIVE Wedding Emergency Kit with me to every event that includes anything from smelling salts to a curling iron to band aids to about 6 kinds of tape...it literally has more things than you could ever imagine you may possibly need (you get a list of these things when you hire me!).
I have seen a lot of crazy things happen at weddings...things that would make a bride lose her cool and stress unnecessarily. Don't you want to be able to just worry about being in love and having the time of your life? I did. Trust me, a Day-Of Wedding Coordinator is more than worth the money, and is honestly not that costly (http://www.posheventcoordinator.com/category_1/Weddings.htm). Find out today...it is the BEST money you will spend in your wedding budget!
