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So who needs a wedding planner?..

Once you have got over the thrill of becoming engaged there comes the time when you need to start planning your dream wedding. Not only is the process exciting but it can also be a bit daunting in some cases - the average wedding can take over 250 hours to plan! You may be looking forward to organising the whole day from start to finish yourself but once you begin, you may find it more difficult, time-consuming and stressful than you thought! Particularly if, like most people, you’re holding down a full time job, running a household and leading a life that seemed to have no free time even before you got engaged. This leaves you a few hours in the evenings and at weekends to plan and organise probably the biggest event of your life. That’s where the Wedding planner/organiser/coordinator comes in.

Wedding planners can assist in many ways. They are exposed to numerous weddings and suppliers so may well know the “best” in the local market because they have tried and tested them on many an occasion. You may think you’ve found the perfect venue – but who knows the ins and outs of what goes on at weddings there? Is the catering always to an exceptionally high standard? Does the venue co-ordinator actually listen to your requirements? Do your chosen suppliers always deliver the products on time, in perfect condition – and to your exact specifications? Not only do wedding planners have a preferred suppliers list – they may also have a blacklist! Sometimes suppliers may not have provided the high quality service required for a wedding day and if a wedding dress goes “missing” or the flowers were half dead then chances are the bride will have given feedback to her wedding planner and a note can be made on the blacklist. By knowing who the good suppliers are, as well as the bad ones the wedding planner has a map of the minefield with which you can avoid some nasty surprises

Costs

A lot of brides are put off by the cost of a wedding planner. The wedding is an expensive outlay and sometimes anything extra just can’t be budgeted for. But using a wedding planner effectively can cover the cost of her fee and also save you money too. Not to mention the huge saving of your precious time in the run up to the big day. Planners have databases of information and can recommend and source products and suppliers in a fraction of the time it would take if you were to do it yourself. They can often negotiate discounts with suppliers who will are sometimes happy to offer the planner a discount for her clients in order to bring the cost within the bride’s budget. Any discounts the good planner negotiates should always be passed on to the bride. Many planners, ourselves included, do not accept referral fees or commission and their recommendations are solely based on proven customer service, quality and value for money services as confirmed by the planner’s own research, clients and supplier competitors.

Here are some benefits of hiring a wedding planner:

1. A good wedding planner will offer free initial consultation whereby you can tailor-make a service to suit your budget
2. They can develop a schedule or timeline to work by, ensuring that nothing is overlooked and every detail is checked thoroughly
3. They can ensure your budget is realistic and recommend suppliers within your price range as necessary
4. They can create a spreadsheet of your wedding costs so that you can see at a glance how much you have spent on deposits, what costs are left to pay and when you need to pay
5. They usually have a database of preferred suppliers, chosen for their excellent customer service, personal and professional recommendations plus value for money services
6. The planners spend time building relationships with suppliers and are therefore occasionally able to negotiate discounts on services, which are passed on to brides. Good planners do not take commissions themselves on recommendations they make
7. Depending on your agreement, they can often attend your wedding to ensure things run smoothly. So if a last minute hitch occurs they are on hand to forestall and fix, so that nothing spoils your day
8. You are one call away from your personal "wedding helpdesk". If you have any questions in any regard just ask – the planner is there to help and give you as much information as you need
So to take away some of the strain and stress of planning your wedding consider hiring a wedding planner. Companies, like our own at Affiniti, will offer full or partial co-ordination of your wedding so you can utilise their services as needed.

For more details please contact Affiniti Wedding Planning by emailing Jo Hanby below. Discounts are available for those who mention “Net-Weddings”.

Article kindly provided by those lovely people at Affiniti Wedding Planning

(Click here to e-mail Jo Hanby at Affiniti)

(Click here to visit Affiniti Wedding Planning)