Wedding Professionals-who does what? Part One-The Wedding Planner
Attend just one bridal fair and you quickly realize the number and variety of professionals that can be and often are hired to work the average wedding. From printers, to designers, to planners, to caterers, and on and on. So who are all these professionals and what exactly is their role in the biggest day of your life. Well, let me take you on the magical mystery tour of the average wedding and we'll find out.
We'll start with the very first steps in putting your wedding together.
The Wedding Planner- Whether they call themselves a wedding planner, wedding coordinator, or event planner, they can be basically the same thing. The only difference lies in what they do for you. The wedding planner, on average, does just that, plans weddings, while an event planner can plan any type of celebration or event including weddings. A wedding coordinator may or may not plan your wedding as they are more involved in the orchestration of the event and in many cases are employed by a planning firm. They may, however, pull together the final details near the end of the planning process, or simply orchestrate the event working through other professionals and never actually show up on the day of your wedding. Whatever they call themselves, the degree of involvement they have in your wedding will be dictated by their contract you sign, and if you find a professional that does not require a signed contract, you may want to consider finding someone else.
Attend just one bridal fair and you quickly realize the number and variety of professionals that can be and often are hired to work the average wedding. From printers, to designers, to planners, to caterers, and on and on. So who are all these professionals and what exactly is their role in the biggest day of your life. Well, let me take you on the magical mystery tour of the average wedding and we'll find out.
We'll start with the very first steps in putting your wedding together.
The Wedding Planner- Whether they call themselves a wedding planner, wedding coordinator, or event planner, they can be basically the same thing. The only difference lies in what they do for you. The wedding planner, on average, does just that, plans weddings, while an event planner can plan any type of celebration or event including weddings. A wedding coordinator may or may not plan your wedding as they are more involved in the orchestration of the event and in many cases are employed by a planning firm. They may, however, pull together the final details near the end of the planning process, or simply orchestrate the event working through other professionals and never actually show up on the day of your wedding. Whatever they call themselves, the degree of involvement they have in your wedding will be dictated by their contract you sign, and if you find a professional that does not require a signed contract, you may want to consider finding someone else.
A common misconception about wedding planners is that they do a lot of the labor especially when it comes to set up, decoration, and take down. This is strictly on a case by case basis, and typically, a wedding planner does not physically handle those tasks. You may find planners that also perform some set up, etc, but, this is not what you are contracting them to do. The more labor they put into your event in the realm of set up etc actually hurts their relationship with vendors that specialize in those services because it takes potential business away from the vendors.
A planner's basic responsibilities are:
A planner's basic responsibilities are:
- Email and phone consultations with the client
- Point of contact for all family or bridal party members through out planning process and event
- Guidance on developing a workable and realistic budget
- Managing, updating, and adjusting the budget as the wedding planning unfolds
- Assist with selecting vendors and setting up payment schedules
- Attending all vendor meetings
- Reviewing all contracts and assisting with difficult negotiations
- Assisting with coordinating paper products (i.e., invitations, menus programs, save-the-date, escort and place cards, etc) to stay in line with the overall wedding vision
- Assisting with menu planning and catering selection along with table decor to match
- Assisting with coordinating the style or theme throughout each component of the wedding
- Developing specific and unique "wow" factors for your theme as contracted
- Coordinating with all vendors the final plans, point of arrival and fulfillment of contracts thru end of events and distribution of final payments
- Designing and implementing time lines for all wedding events
- Coordinating out of town guests accommodations and transportation as needed
- Coordinating rehearsal, ceremony and reception in detail
- Assisting with transporting items from ceremony to reception site
- Assisting with complete seating arrangements for ceremony and reception
- Assisting with ceremony and reception decorations, table displays, sign in and memorial remembrances
- Ensuring wedding and reception events are cued on time and significant announcements are made per the couple's wishes
- Providing guidance on favors, etiquette and other trends [i.e., candy buffets, casinos, photo booths] associated with your wedding style
- Securing gifts, monetary items, personal and decor items of couple; assist with final clean up and fulfillment of
sThat's a pretty long list, and while not all wedding planners include all of those items in their list of services, when you see what you typically get from a basic planning package you can imagine the value of a good planner. Wedding planners often do many more tasks, and as more work is involved the cost generally goes up for more items, but, it's well worth it. As you can see, dish washing, cooking, food service, non of those types of tasks are included. In the case of items listed as "assisting" this simply means the wedding planner sees that these items are accomplished, and as said before, if the planner is expected to complete these tasks themselves, this should be clearly stated in the signed contract. Otherwise, the bride will potentially be expected to complete the task with the planner scheduling and following up to insure it is done on schedule.
Losing a detail in the vast amount of large and small tasks that need to be taken care of can be a huge problem if not caught in time. If the wedding planner you hire prevents you from having a hiccup in your wedding day schedule just once, the value of their service will be well worth the cost. Imagine having your guests waiting around for the music to start because the DJ was not updated to a change in the schedule, or he charges you for an extra hour of play time at an overtime rate because the schedule change required he be there later than originally planned. Just one detail can easily be lost in an event as large as a wedding.
In Part Two we will see what a florist or floral designer contribute to a wedding.
Losing a detail in the vast amount of large and small tasks that need to be taken care of can be a huge problem if not caught in time. If the wedding planner you hire prevents you from having a hiccup in your wedding day schedule just once, the value of their service will be well worth the cost. Imagine having your guests waiting around for the music to start because the DJ was not updated to a change in the schedule, or he charges you for an extra hour of play time at an overtime rate because the schedule change required he be there later than originally planned. Just one detail can easily be lost in an event as large as a wedding.
In Part Two we will see what a florist or floral designer contribute to a wedding.
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