Wedding planners are pros at designing and executing a couple’s perfect wedding day vision, but if your wedding is less over-the-top and more go-with-the-flow, you could get by without hiring a wedding planner at all.
For couples on a tight budget planning a simple ceremony and reception, hiring a wedding planner may not be the best use of your funds (or the planner’s skillset). The wedding planning process is only as complicated as you make it, and plenty of couples have memorable, beautiful weddings without the help of a wedding planner.
Not every couple needs or wants a wedding planner, If you are working with a tiny budget, those pounds really have to be allocated efficiently. And in most cases, spending a big portion of your small budget on your wedding planner just does not make sense.
MEET THE EXPERT Emma Louise is the owner and wedding planner of Emma Louise Wedding Planner, a wedding planning and design firm based in the Bridgend area that orchestrates uniquely personalized weddings both near and throughout South Wales.
If you are not planning on hiring a wedding planner, here are a few things you should keep in mind to ensure your wedding runs smoothly.
1. Start and stay organized.
You will be getting a lot of emails with or without a planner either way, but they will multiply exponentially when you are planning a wedding on your own. Being organized in your email will really help you when you are in the thick of things. Organization is key to making sure nothing falls through the cracks. Keep a master list of tasks to get done throughout the planning process, contact information, and add dates and deadlines to your calendar. Many couples find that creating a separate email address for all wedding-related communications helps them keep the planning emails separate from work and personal emails, which can pile up quickly.
2. Book vendors early.
Wedding planners have deep networks of vendors they can reach out to for a last minute event. If you are not hiring a wedding planner for your big day, you are better off getting on your vendor’s schedule well ahead of your wedding day. Booking early will help ensure you get the vendors you want and reduce stress in the months and weeks leading up to your wedding once you know your vendors are locked in.
3. Dedicate a few hours every week to planning.
Wedding planning is a job, and if you are not going to pay for it in money, you will most certainly be paying in time. You do not want wedding planning to take over your life, but simultaneously you need to get stuff done. Dedicate an hour or two a day and/or a chunk of time on the weekend to wedding stuff. That way, you are still moving forward, but it will not consume your life.
4. Designate someone as your day-of manager.
It is expected that you will experience at least a little pre-wedding stress. There are a million decisions you have to make, contracts to sign, and emails to respond to. However, wedding day stress is completely avoidable if you designate someone to handle all of those last-minute decisions on the actual day of the wedding. They do not need to do everything for you, but you need someone as the point person who can make decisions on your behalf that is not you because you want to be able to enjoy your wedding day.
Your day of manager should be someone you trust to make the decision you would make without having to ask you, like a close friend or relative. Barring an actual emergency, like catering cancelling at the eleventh hour or your officiant coming down with the flu, you should not be involved in any of the minutiae of your big day.
5. Seek out advice from professionals.
You do not want to be getting your planning information from other [couples]. That is just the blind leading the blind. Couples are only the experts in planning their own weddings, while wedding planners often have tens and hundreds of different types of weddings under their belt. Following wedding planner blogs or other vendor’s blogs to get the tips and advice you need.
6. Lean on your vendors for their advice, recommendations, and referrals.
The wedding industry is a small world no matter where you are getting married, and many of your vendors have worked with each other and many other vendors on previous weddings. If you need a recommendation for a cellist, a live wedding painter, or another specialized vendor, chances are your photographer or another vendor can point you in the right direction.
You definitely do not want to abuse them or ask them for something that does not fall in their scope of work, but utilizing their help as much as you can will make the process easier and faster for you.
7. Review contracts closely.
Weddings are a big investment. Most of your vendors require a contract and oftentimes at least a partial deposit in order to secure the goods or service. Make sure to read all contracts carefully before signing so you know exactly what you are getting into when it comes to non-refundable deposits, cancellations, overtime and travel fees, etc.
8. Trust your vendors.
If this is your first wedding, nerves are normal. Your vendors, on the other hand, often work hundreds of weddings per year and know exactly how to execute a flawless event. That is why you hired them, after all! Ask questions ahead of time if you need reassurance, but at the same time trust that they know what they are doing.
9. Go with the flow and know when to let things go.
There is always going to be something that happens on your wedding day that you did not plan for or expect. The best thing you can do when that happens is to take a breath, accept it, and just make the best of it. If you let these little details get you down, you might be too stressed out to enjoy one of the best days of your life.
One hour before the ceremony, give your phone to someone else. Anyone who is trying to contact you an hour before you walk down the aisle should either know exactly where you are, or it can wait. Keep calm, relax, and enjoy this incredibly special day.
If after reading this and you still would like to plan your wedding without a wedding planner check out my do's and don'ts when planning your wedding www.emmalouiseweddingplanner.com/post/top-tips-for-wedding-do-and-donts
But if you have read this and thought actually I would like to hire a wedding planner check out my blogs in helping you to hire a top wedding planner www.emmalouiseweddingplanner.com/post/5-top-questions-when-choosing-a-wedding-planner
If you are thinking about a wedding planner why not book a free consultation with Emma Louise wedding planner and learn how I can help you with planning your wedding. www.emmalouiseweddingplanner.com/contact
Hope you enjoyed the read
Emma Louise x