So You’re Engaged...Now What?

Hire a planner :). Seriously though, that would be my advice, even if it’s not us

First, you need to pick a day…it can be hard to hire a planner without a day in hand.  If you are getting married in a church then you need to get that day first.  Its easier to find a reception location after you have picked your church date because most people have a connection with a specific church.  Churches only have so many time slots available therefore you want to get your date booked there first.  

Now hire a planner…

Ok I know I keep saying that but trust me, its worth it.

Let’s go through some new wedding terminology

Planner- logistical, helps with vendor referrals, contracts, timeline, etc

Coordinator- Short term planner, deals primarily with logistics and timelines.  They do not usually help with contract negotiations, vendor referrals, etc. 

Designer-they deal with the creative design of the wedding  only.  

Now that I have told you all of that, toss it in the wind because everyone uses these terms interchangeably and some in the industry are even trying to change it.  My advice…Ask what they do 

Many people will want to hire a “day-of” coordinator but realistically there is no such animal. I do not know one wedding planner that would walk into a wedding on the day of a wedding and try to take care of everything.  A “day-of” needs to be involved for about a month, therefore the industry came up with a “month-of” coordinator.  

We here at Party and Be Married, have always made it our policy to become involved from the day we are hired.  Depending on what your needs are our involvement may only be reminders to make sure you are on track, or it may be vendor referrals and contract negotiation.  An average amount of time a planner spends on a wedding can be anywhere from 80-250 hours…and it can be many many more.  The point is we don’t want to be caught with things that are not done as your wedding approaches, that’s not good for you ( because couples start throwing money at things that aren’t done) and its not good for us, because as our name suggests, we are planners.  

In one of our next blog posts I will go through what a planner actually does.  Some, like us, do design work as well.  

So the takeaway is 

Hire a planner ( even if its not us)…save your sanity, get peace of mind, and give your family the ability to enjoy your day as well.  

Happy Planning… 

Dana 

Party and Be Married

562-756-2617