If you’re wondering if you heard me right in the title of this blog post: Four Reasons You Shouldn’t Hire A Wedding Planner, you absolutely heard me correctly. Now-a-days, the wedding industry is saturated with all the things you “should do” the minute you get engaged. My goal today is to break through the noise and help you discern if this is ACTUALLY an investment that would be wise to make.
As a East Coast Wedding Planner, with over 15 years of experience planning over 200 local and destination weddings, I’ve learned to spot when a couple is truly in need of a wedding planner, or if it’s not worth the investment for their particular situation. Let’s take a look at the four reasons you may not want to hire a wedding planner:
1. If you’re bound and determined to make every decision for yourself
Hiring a wedding planner is an exercise of trust. It’s knowing that your wedding planner has your best interest in mind and trusting that they will, without a doubt, make the best decision for you on your wedding day AND save you money in the process. If you are an individual who doesn’t feel comfortable sharing your wedding vision with someone and trusting them to make the best decisions for your day, hiring a wedding planner may not be for you! If you can relate with this, just know that more control on your day also comes with more stress. If you’re in the position to take on the responsibility of every decision and the stress that comes with that, you may just be your own best option for a wedding planner!
2. If you have pre-established connections in the wedding industry
Porter Gale once said, “Your network is your net worth.” If you work in the wedding industry and have a vast network of wedding vendors at your fingertips whom you’re able to negotiate with, be confident in their service from having past experience with them, and have the close knit relationship with them to understand how they work best, then hiring a wedding planner may not be for you!
According to The Knot, an average wedding typically coordinates with at least 14 vendors from venues to stationers to florists, jewelers, lighting specialists, and everyone in between. A Lively Event (ie. me!) has been crafting vendor relationships in Upstate New York and along the East Coast for the past 15 years. Whatever vendor you’re looking for, no matter how niche they might be, I can assure you, I have a connection established with them already.
If you’re confident you have those connections pre-established and are confident in each of those connections' experience, service, and trustworthiness, then hiring a wedding planner may not be necessary for you!
3. If you are ready to navigate the noise of all of the opinions people throw at newly engaged couples
From my experience, the moment you get engaged, suddenly everyone feels like they have a say in every element of your wedding, from what dress style they think will look good on you to what venue their friend’s sister’s brother-in-law knows the owner of and can “get you a good deal” to whether you should have a religious ceremony or a non-religious ceremony or even what kind of food you should be serving on YOUR day.
I’ve seen so many couples get so overwhelmed with all of the opinions that are thrown their way that their wedding ends up being a jumble of other people’s thoughts and lacking the cohesion that every wedding deserves. I always tell my couples to cut the noise and use me as their go-to place for venting, getting educated opinions, and even a shoulder to cry on when the wedding noise gets to be too much. As a wedding planner, I serve not only as each of my couples’ sounding board, but as their defender, protecting their boundaries and allowing them to function in a care-free mindset for the entirety of their engagement AND wedding day.
If you have the social energy and finesse to navigate the onslaught of opinions, noise, and everything else that comes with the social element of your engagement season and wedding planning process, then hiring a wedding planner may not be for you.
4. If you’re organized as hell
Planning a wedding will likely be the biggest event you have and will ever plan. Sure, websites like Zola or Wedding Wire will provide you a quick one-size-fits-all wedding planning checklist for you to follow, but these sites won’t be able to customize your wedding to you and your significant other. These sites don’t provide feedback on how your wedding invites fit your overall wedding aesthetic and ensure you’re maximizing your site visits prior to the wedding. If you’re ready to think beyond the pre-made checklist and catch anything you might be missing ON TOP OF keeping all your vendor contracts straight and negotiating for the best price and thinking through your wedding, not only from your perspective, but also your guest’s perspective, then yes, you may be your own best option for a wedding planner.
At A Lively Event, we treat every wedding like our own, being the voice of reason, the negotiator, the shoulder to cry on, the creative brains pulling a cohesive vibe together, and everything in between. Whatever your needs, whatever your budget, we have the wedding planning service to fit YOUR day.
Feeling like a wedding planner may just be the best option for your situation? Let’s start the conversation today.
xo,
Katie
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