You’ve just gotten engaged and now it’s time to start planning your magical wedding. Since this is a totally new chapter in your life and it can get overwhelming, allow us to say that a good wedding coordinator is worth his/her weight in gold. But before settling on the right one for you, here are some tips and tricks from us:
I’m sure a number of you have friends who are already in the bridal industry and are offering their services for your big day. But we recommend choosing a wedding planner solely on a professional basis rather than one who has a personal connection to you. Planning weddings can be stressful and there may be a few times where a bride may come across as bossy or pedantic. A relationship with a friend is one of equality and your friend may not take too kindly to being spoken to on the level of a hired gun. Another reason is that your friend should be able to celebrate your big day with you and not be working while everyone is partying away.
Ask to see your prospective wedding planner’s portfolio to see if the types of weddings he/she has done are similar to the one you have in mind. Feel free to ask questions about suppliers, locations, etc. A wedding planner who can answer questions easily and professionally is good to have in your corner. Be warned if the wedding planner starts to talk badly about previous bridezillas. You may be the next victim.
Any good wedding planner will have a master checklist of items that need to be accomplished from a certain number of months before the wedding leading up to the day itself. Be sure to get a planner who is comfortable doing not just the pretty things but the required boring items like filing for certificate of no marriage, church seminars, marriage license, etc.
A major part of a wedding planner’s job is pointing you in the right direction of suppliers who will make your day as beautiful as you imagined it to be. Feel free to ask your wedding planner for candidates about the suppliers they’ve worked with and which ones they would recommend for certain things.
There are a number of wedding planners out there that have beautiful portfolios or websites, but we recommend looking for a planner who has gotten a personal referral from someone you know. Look for people to tell you if the wedding planner was someone they genuinely enjoyed working with and made the experience as stress-free as possible.