Articles - Miscellaneous
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)
