With the economy taking a nose dive the trend has been for a lot of brides to scale back on spending and mainly coordinate and plan their weddings themselves. Wedding Planners do charge a fee for their services but some brides don't see the benefits. Wedding Planners are a tremendous help in working out a budget, day of wedding coordination and helping brides realize their wedding day dreams. Any thoughts on this?

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I just wrote a post on this today. I think in many cases (like mine) hiring a coordinator (or planner) makes sense. But I don't think it's necessary, and I think that brides can save money without a planner. Also, it really irks me that some planners will partner up with other vendors to get a part of their fee, without telling the bride. (Like a planner suggests a photographer, and then gets part of the fee the bride pays to the photographer for the reference.) If a couple chooses to hire a planner, the planner should work for the couple, not the vendors.

I always pass these discounts along to the client and I believe that is what most coordinators do as well.  The only exception (hasn't happened yet) would be when the wedding is on a very short notice and the guest list is huge!  Vendors tell me that they offer discounts to professional coordinators for a number of reasons. When there is a wedding coordinator, there will be fewer phone calls to their businesses, they have one person to coordinate with instead of trying to reach a busy bride, or deal with multiple friends and family members.  They know that someone is going to be present for deliveries at a time that is convenient for them and is going to keep an eye on their equipment.

At the wedding itself, vendors only have to concentrate on what they were hired to do.  So many times a DJ or a photographer end up adding to their duties things that a coordinator would do but without a picture of the event as it has developed over a longer period of time.  Coordinators can communicate with the vendors to help keep things on a schedule or informing them of changes that are going to have to be made due to key people arriving late and mishaps that are just going to happen because life still happens even if it is a wedding day.  A Wedding Coordinator is there to keep all of them informed of anything that might effect the timeline which has been developed with all of the vendors in mind.  I hear from vendors all the time that their job is made so much easier when a Wedding Coordinator is present.

I don't only work with vendors that give discounts, because many vendors have a great product or talent as well as great pricing.  I enjoy being able to pass on discounts to clients from vendors because it can make the difference in them getting the wedding they've dreamed of as compared to one they feel they have had to settle for. Clients in the past and recently have said that they were reluctant to hire a wedding coordinator, but later say hiring a coordinator was one of the best decisions they made.

 

Oh! I agree. I hired a coordinator because it was really the best decision I could make. I'm just saying it's unfortunate that some coordinators give the job a bad name by using unethical business practices. It's a real problem in my area.
I think it depends on your wedding.  My wedding for example, was NOT large enough to need a planner.  I EASILY was able to do it myself ... from 900 miles away at that.  However!  I am also in the industry... so maybe I have a bit more insight into things.  On the flip side!  From my stand point as a photographer.... YES YES YES YES YES please hire a wedding planner haha.  Unless you DO know the ins and outs of the industry and what to be ready for and what to plan for etc... HIRE ONE!  It will make all aspects of your wedding better I promise.  Your DJ will be able to just be a DJ and your photographer just a photographer.  At weddings without planners I spend so much time having to play other roles that I miss some things.  I have hemmed a brides maids dress 10 min before she walked down the isle... I have fixed DIY hair... and more.... not saying I SHOULD be the one doing these things.  I am a photographer, not a florist, mua, seamstress.  So... in short -- do you and your other vendors a favor and hire one : )

I'm seeing a lot of wedding professionals in this discussion who aren't Wedding Planners giving the thumbs up for clients to hire a Wedding Planner.   As a Wedding Planner, what can we do to help you educate the brides on the benefits of hiring us?  I know many vendors whose first question in an initial consultation is, "Do you have a Planner?"  They experience that reluctance, too.  

 

Maybe this should be a new discussion, but I'm seeing a great consensus here and would love to tap into your thoughts at the next level.  How can we as Wedding Planners help you to get the brides to feel their own pain or the pain they will possibly experience without a Wedding Planner, which in turn would help everyone out.  Some vendors will offer a discount to be passed down to brides if they hire a coordinator.  If discounts are offered to me I always pass that down to the client and it makes any particular vendor and myself look good to the client.  They really appreciate the discounts.  I love everyone's comments in this discussion and I love this industry!

I don't think the wedding planners are fully useful because the full satisfaction cannot meets in mind of couples.The wedding couples have the responsibility plan their wedding ,they are going to start the new life and they full responsibility .If you don't know about the wedding planning,then get suggestion from senior,well wisher,friends etc.There are lot of sites are available in online.My suggestion use wedding app and get more information of whole resources of wedding.
Hi everyone, I love this discussion.  Here is another twist in having a wedding planner.  I am a professional bridal consultant" A minor part of my training is counselling.  One of the things I courage couple to do is counselling and spend time in planning their marriage.  This is another reason why bridal consultant/wedding planners/onsite coordinators are important.  We give the couple time to nurture their relationships and balance the everyday activities. Too many times I see couples without planners, working on their wedding plans on their jobs.  They are consumed by the planning and that's all they talk about, so when it's over, they are picking up where they left off. We have come a long way from when I started in this industry, but we still need to spend time educating couples on how beneficial we are.
i think i ll have a  wedding planner  , cuz it saves a lot of time and  trouble.
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I think wedding planners prove to be quite a help in the wedding arrangements. Whether, it’s a Christian wedding or an Indian traditional wedding, the ceremonies of the wedding are bound to make you feel tired to the core and lessens your time of enjoyment. So, hiring a wedding planner reduces your burden and you can become the boss rather than doing all the arrangements by your own.

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I just read a great article about getting beat down by clients who don't see th... at Hey Gorgeous Blog, and this one comment really stopped me in my tracks:

"If you EVER need someone to vouch for what you say, from the “done it wrong” end, please please email me. My daughter got married 3 years ago and she and fiance planned everything beautifully, but the one thing my daughter felt she didn’t need was a day of coordinator and she was right, for everything up to the wedding. The day of though, I was the one carrying the flowers all over the city, putting together the table settings because the venue coordinator had not thought about how much time it would take and when the reception finished, the lights went out and I was cleaning up the huge room, loading up the cars with things that had to be taken. My hair and make up were ruined before the wedding because of the heat and all of the running and stress. I’d do anything for my daughter and while she was willing to change and help clean up afterwards, it was her day, and I was determined nothing would ruin it for her. And it didn’t. But as MOTB, I felt defeated. I had no quiet time with my daughter before the event, no pictures of she and I together, and to be honest, while it was her day, I wanted to be able to look back on the day and cherish it fully. I’m sad that while it was a beautiful day and the memories are great, there is a side of me that feels like I missed that MOTB moment.

When you don’t use a coordinator, you don’t realize how sorry you are until it’s too late. Someone has to do the anticipating of all the little details; it doesn’t just happen, fall into place, no matter how organized you are beforehand.

You are well worth your cost and I hope people realize that."

Such a shame.  I highly recommend reading the whole post and all the comments.

Sometimes as planners, we need others to speak up about our benefits in order to be fully understood. Gather feedback from photographers, caterers, mothers-of-the-bride -- all people whose burdens we planners have eased during a high-stress, once-in-a-lifetime, gotta-be-perfect event. One you can show your value through heartfelt testimonials and specific case studies (instead of telling a dry description of your services), there is no question of your value as a planner.

One last thought: why spend the money on a gorgeous venue, a catered dinner, flower arrangements, lighting, programs, menus, favors -- the list goes on and on.... if there is no one dedicated to making sure that the setup is correct, that you can enjoy your food, that the flowers go in the right place, that the lighting folks work in sync with the venue and the florist, that the programs/menus/favors and all the stuff the bride tirelesly DIY'd actually get put on the tables in the right locations and are enjoyed by the guests the way they were meant to be?

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