Short answer…YES!! We’ll get to the long answer in a second. I actually never thought I was going to have a wedding planner because I’m as type-A as it gets. Now that I’m post wedding…If I was forced to give up a wedding vendor in order to have our wedding planner again, I would do it!! When people hear “wedding planner” they immediately see dollar signs, I know I did. BUT it is possible to get a planner without breaking your budget! Why the heck do I rave about wedding planners so much?! Well, I’m about to tell you!
*If you are in the market for a wedding planner, hire the BEST OF THE BEST Rachael Whitehead (Whatever is Lovely Events) before she’s full! She’s available for those in the Kansas City area OR you can become one of her virtual clients (very limited spots)!
The perks:
- VENDOR CONTACTS: I learned very quickly that the biggest perk about having a wedding planner on your team (and one not many mention); is their connection with the wedding vendor community! Especially in the era of 2.5+ MILLION weddings a year, having that connection is priceless! One of the best examples- we couldn’t get a hold of one of our favorite vendors via email; Rachael saw them at a wedding the following weekend and, BOOM, done! Having these relationships also helps you know you’re hiring someone reliable and that works well with your team.
- NO TIME FOR STRESS: As you probably would imagine, a wedding planner is there to help with all the bumps in the road and the STRESS. Having an issue with a guest (or family member? lol) stressed about getting things done? THEY’VE GOT IT! I had my fair share of “bumps” during my year and a half of wedding planning. The second I brought it to Rachael, I was calm. That is pretty hard to accomplish with someone as type-a as me! It’s like having your very own fairy godmother!!
- TIMELINES, CHECKLISTS, AND PLANNERS- OH, YES!: With a wedding planner comes the amazing perks of having lots of timelines, checklists, and planning sites to keep you on track. As a crazy organized bride, I would have said before my wedding that I could do those things myself, but after the wedding…I can confidentally say I could NOT do it on my own. Trying to figure out when to get certain things done is half the battle. Most of the issues I heard from other brides was about their day-of timeline and feeling behind!
- YOU GET TO ENJOY YOUR WEDDING DAY: Besides the vendor contacts, this one is SO IMPORTANT! Not only do you feel carefree on your big day knowing someone can handle the issues, but your friends and family can enjoy the day too! I have been to too many weddings where the family becomes the wedding planner and ends up missing majority of their loved-ones day. There wasn’t a single time during my wedding day that I was worried about something going wrong because I knew I had Rachael and her entire team there to tackle it!
- SOMEONE’S THERE TO STEER THE VENDOR SHIP: One thing I didn’t think about before hiring a planner was how beneficial they would be to the rest of my vendors! Your planner is there to rally every vendor, answer any of their questions, and is the only other person besides you who knows every detail of your day! More times than not, if you don’t have a planner, someone like your photographer becomes in charge of the schedule and has to wrangle too many jobs! Whenever I told my other vendors I had a planner, they were SO excited, and now I know why!
How can I make it affordable?
Whether you have a small or large wedding budget, it IS possible to get a planner that’s affordable for you! The right wedding planner will work with you to make it a good fit, after all that’s what they do for you throughout the entire planning process!
Other ways you can cut on costs? Hire a “partial planner”! If you want to be more hands on in the process or already have a good idea of what you want, this is a great option! If you want to learn more about the difference between a full and partial planner, Whatever is Lovely has a great article here!