I met with a wonderful new vendor on the Nashville scene and she and I were discussing what all as a planner we do for our brides and the benefits of a planner. She herself got married not to long ago and didn't have a planner. It was a very interesting conversation and she in turn wanted to write a blog posting about her experience and why every bride needs to have a planner's assistance in some way. See her experience here:
" My name is Marie, and I was a bride who chose to NOT have a wedding planner.
I felt good about this decision. I was having a very simple wedding, nothing that would require “professional help”, right? Along with simple, my wedding was going to be a low-budget affair, and that budget would have no room for the extravagance of a planner.
Except that on the day of my wedding I found out that a planner is not an extravagance or a luxury item meant for only the most upscale of weddings. No, I found out that a wedding planner is just as much a necessity as a groom!
The Bride Becomes the Default Wedding Planner
“Marie, do you want the groomsmen to walk out from the door on the left, or the door on the right?”
“Marie, where are the going to bring the cake?”
“The flowers are here, Marie. Where should we put them?”
If you don’t have a wedding planner for at least the few weeks leading up to the wedding you will become the default wedding planner. After all, it is your day, right? The one you’ve been dreaming about since you were 3 years old? So surely you know exactly how you want everything done and where everyone should be. The bride becomes the go-to person for every question anyone has about the wedding.
Trust me, this role as chief wedding executive gets old quick, especially on the day of. More than likely, you’ve never planned an event this big before so you’re unsure what the best way is to answer everyone’s questions. You’re also living with that nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something. Having a wedding planner around to shoulder some of the responsibility with you will bring you more peace than you could ever know.
Wedding Planners Keep You Focused
If you asked me what I wanted the theme of my wedding to be I would have used words like “simple” and “elegant”. Simple and elegant was the plan.
Simple and elegant, however, was not what happened. Between the blue ball gowns that were chosen for bridesmaids and the overuse of tulle for decorating, simple and elegant were not words that would be used to describe my wedding.
A wedding planner helps you line up your vision with your reality. It sure would have been nice to have a wedding planner remind me of my “theme” when I thought that disco balls would make cool centerpieces…yeah, not so much.
Wedding Planning is Their JOB
Looking back on my wedding day, I felt kind of like a freshman turning in a rough draft of a very important research paper. It gets you a grade, but couldn’t that grade have been better if you’d have had someone look over it and make revisions? Like I said, more than likely this is the first big event you’ve ever planned. Having someone who has “been there” and “done that” many times over with other brides will give your wedding a smoothness that you’re not going to get by “winging it”. Wedding planners have done this so many times that they see and think of things that would have never occurred to you because you are a newbie.
My wedding day was fun and it obviously got the job done (I’m married! Yay!). However, as someone on the other side of the wedding day I would say that the peace and advice that a wedding planner could have provided would have been worth nearly any price."
Every bride is different and every bride knows their threshold for stress. A planner, whether for day of assistance or planning assistance may be just the stress reliever, facilitator, and friend you need with you. Happy Planning!
~ Mary Alice, Nashville Wedding Planner
A Delightful Day
THIS POST RIGHT HERE IS WHY I FOLLOW YOUR BLOG!
I'm already married & a photographer (just moved from Nashville to Georgia), but I love the important info you put on here.
This one is going to be printed out & given to my brides who say they don't want a wedding planner!....and then I'll refer them to you. :)
Posted by: Kate Whitmore | August 04, 2009 at 07:00 AM
This is a great post! I hear girls ALL of the time.. saying that they can't afford to hire a planner.. you MUST find $$ to hire a day of. You MUST.
xoxoxo
Posted by: Tami | August 07, 2009 at 01:35 PM